Would it not be more beneficial for me to help you to develop so that we can do business? Profit is a good thing. If you don't have the goods I want, perhaps you can perform services in exchange for my goods. You need eggs? Feed my chickens. We both win.

The dirty little secret of a free market system is that it simply not exist as we know it without the presence of an active government that creates amd mentains the rules and regulations that allow it to operate efficiently. .

that's the point...you would have to be the one to self regulate that matter if there is no third party to determine the best possible outcome... what if, unscrupulously, what you need is my population, because it is in high demand in your area? which i am willing to sacrifice because i do not have the resources to sustain them anyway?

This conversation is actually a great example of a free market at work. You obviously want to understand why I believe what I do. You are purchasing my thoughts. The price is your questions. The more you ask, the more I answer, much like at a store the more money you spend, the more you leave with. An economy really can be that simple. And the American economy once was. Or at least very close.

We have been conditioned to believe what you believe. We need government regulation so I don't screw you over. Free markets are inherently fair markets because you can choose if to do business with me or not. When government regulations kick in, the established entities are the ones who make the regulations to limit competition. Is that either free or fair?

Without limited liability laws the economy would not have access to the capital It needs, to grow and prosper. .

Actually, that's not true, and history bares out its fallacy. There was a reason the Sherman Anti-trust Acts were passed at the beginning of the 20th Century. Large corporations (i.e. Standard Oil of Ohio, Carnegie Steel, JP Morgan Banking) had gotten so large that they were able to actually stop the creation of new business - and their competition in this so called free market - from even opening their doors.

They did this much in the same way the Saudis are currently trying to put "frackers" out of business. You cut the price and even take a short term loss if necessary, in order to put start up companies with smaller margins out of business. Morgan did it with the banks (still are if you ask me), and Rockefeller did it with petroleum just to give examples.

If not for government intervention, these giants would have owned the entire marketplace and we'd of all been working for the "company store." Remember those, especially in the coal industry? Tell me how that is free market, to be so large that you can force your employees into your debt?

Deregulation has caused three recessions and two major depressions. The entire concept of "too big to fail" is counter-productive of the free market system and, in my opinion, the Sherman Trust laws should be used again.

The truth is America hasn't been a capitalist system since the 1890's. Our best growth and prosperity - the 1950's - actually occurred under a system that was more socialism that capitalism. Tax rates for the wealthy were as high as 91%, and the money was used to give housing and education to veterans, and build the infrastructure upon which our country moved its goods. Wages were considered reasonable, as the average blue collar job paid a modern equivalent of $35-40 an hour. Unions were strong then (more socialism) and the concept of a "reasonable profit" pervaded. CEOs only made 20 times what there employees did (as opposed to the 3800 times they average today) so we had a stronger buying class.

The thing about capitalism that is forgotten is that it is not the corporations or the wealthy that create jobs. Neither one of these has ever created a job that wasn't absolutely essential to the profit model. What actually creates jobs is a strong buying class. When employees make a decent wage, they buy things - houses, cars, tvs, clothes, trinkets. It is the ability to make purchases that causes an economy to grow, and if left to its own devices, capitalism will not stay on that course, because it has basic greed at its core.

Estelle, it is now his cow.

Pansy, that's not really the case. Supply and demand. If horses are in short supply and high demand, and cows are in high supply and short demand, I'll offer Joe more than just my cow in exchange for his horse.

In a free market money is God. You can sell anything in a free market, other people, children, women, whatever ...and you would give your life for this God with no limits. You love money way too much. No thanks we don't want your free market god.

The big monopolies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were able to shut down competition not because of free market capitalism, but because politicians can be bought. Is there ever a guarantee against corruption? No. But government intervention guarantees there will be corruption. With free markets, however, the choice to conduct business is there. If you have something I want, do you just give without receiving anything in return? Probably not. You will name a price. If I believe the price is too high, I won't make the deal. For example, I was at an event some time ago where there were beer vendors. The price of the beer was $13 per can. I like beer, but I'm certainly not going to pay that price for it. I chose not to drink beer that night because the vendor would not negotiate the price. Going back to the example of feeding my chickens in exchange for eggs, my incentive to be fair is that my chickens are taken care of. Whoever is feeding them has the incentive of receiving the eggs. Is it possible that someone would steal more eggs than the agreed upon number for the work? Yes, that could happen. But if I find out, that person will be fired and not receive any. If I don't hold up my end of the deal, I now have to feed my own chickens, which means I have less time for whatever else I may have been doing.

Thank goodness most of us would like a system that upholds fair Capitalism and can see the pitfalls of free market Capitalism. When your freedom comes at the expense of other people's freedom that's where I draw the line.

but these are optional commodities... free market may work on a small scale basis, which is why it was the ideal form of barter system in the earlier times when each population was self-sustaining and free market economics happened on more novel items exchanged...bigger and more extensive economies however, need regulation...

if you were really thirsty, you'd buy that beer even for more than it's worth... but since it's regulated not to go above $13 (for example), you can have some left over to buy more than just one...

and if you didn't have more than $13, you might end up having to exchange something far more precious to you, just out of desperation to quench your thirst...

too many factors will make free market fail... kinda like utopia... dog eat dog world... never gonna be properly regulated by either party unless there is a set limit for which to set standards against and abide by...

Capitalism has proven itself to be an extremely efficient economic model...Supply and demand works!...The problem is not in the construct, the problem is GREED!...When you have an economic model that gives control to the "owners" of capital, democracy will always suffer because political and economic systems are INTERDEPENDENT...Participants in BOTH systems can use their positions to compete for POWER and that is where ALL the problems begin and end...Dump the idea that a free market is good and government is bad (or vice versa) because both serve a "necessary" purpose...What's needed is an objective set of rules that specifically dictate governments role because, like it or not, capitalism today requires structure, security and ADAPTABILITY...It's governments role to frame these REQUIREMENTS in a way that is designed "for" the people because government "by" the people does not, and never will, guarantee assurance that it is indeed operating "for" the people....

I mostly agree with this. My support for free market capitalism should not be confused with a from of anarchy, which, in theory, would be ideal, but in practice only results in chaos. The problem with government setting the rules for any economic system is that said government will continually adjust those rules, not to advance economic liberty, but to advance the role of government.

I hear you loud and clear and have since the beginning of this thread ...I am NOT anti government, I am anti BIG government...But when it comes to capitalism, one can (AND SHOULD) embrace the concept and still be willing to admit that it is (has become?) as corrupt as politics....You cannot point the finger at one without pointing the finger at both because they are interdependent and you cannot solve a problem until you understand the cause...