looks like the classes will move another inch apart.
6 feet deep and rich?
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somecognition :: a pondering of all things un-final.
8 comments:
So, ExxonMobil's net profit margin for the quarter is 10.5%. Apple's is 11.2%. Why is Exxon bad and Apple good? Just because Exxon's raw numbers are bigger? Let's put our thinking caps on.
when did I ever say apple was good? lets put on our less ctritical caps on.
Sorry, I should have tried to make my point in a nicer way. Maybe being a former Exxon employee makes me overly sensitive.
I was reacting to the common perception that if a company makes a lot of money, it must be ripping somebody off. Exxon is a gigantic company, so even with a modest profit margin, they show lots of profit dollars.
But on a percentage basis, Exxon makes a lot less on a dollar of sales than many other more-loved companies. Yet nobody criticizes them for immoral profits.
Which then leads to the question: what is a "moral" profit level? And who gets to decide the answer to the question?
OK, can we still be friends?
Why do we not have permission to be critical? I was gonna say something a bit argumentative to your statement, Roy, but nevermind now :)
Concerning Arnold's statement, here are my thoughts: Our nation is founded on the principals of freedom, individualism, and capitalism. Any moral code that we think we can maintain is rather hysterical. In the early American days, men were out all day making their deals and cutting throats (said symbolically). BUT, they were able to go home to their angelic wives, keepers of domestic and moral sensibilities. Those days are over- women do not pretend to be the "angels" anymore, and our moral codes are disintegrating as fast as the sugar you put in your coffee this morning. How can morality and capitalism coexist? They cannot.
But I can understand why you will think they can, and why you will continue to try. We are Americans, after all, and our options for survival are limited. We do what we think we gotta do.
um, the 8th commandment presupposes private property which insists capitalism. thus equating capitalism can too be moral.
arnold - i agree, good points made.
what makes the right to own property moral? yes, capitalism COULD be moral because we have freedom, but its not. capitalism calls for every man to be for himself... the direct opposite of altruism.
this might be a conversation to be had in person, rather than on blogger.
Interestingly, capitalism appears to be the only system that works. Communism doesn't and never did. I think that's because communism is built on a foundation of how people SHOULD be, and capitalism is built on a system of how they really are.
The only debatable question - and it's a big one - is to what degree capitalism should be restrained, constrained, or channeled. Your feelings about those things relate directly to your positions on taxation, immigration, outsourcing, and anti-monopoly laws, among others.
The more you lean toward restrictions, the more you favor socialism (which has its own variations).
Bottom line: people are sinful, and capitalism fits them better. But oddly, it also leads to the most prosperous societies.
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