What is Occupy Wallstreet?

[kandrathe]

You as a capitalist can't imagine people getting happiness out of other things than just money, wealth and possession. But what about the good education and understanding of arts and literature common under Russians during the cold war? What about pride in what you do instead of because of what brand of shoe you are wearing?

I'm not wearing shoes. I'm telecommuting today, so I wear my slippers and am sipping a nice cup of hot tea. Debating with my internet friends over the lunch hour. Happiness currently is a warm, purring kitty in my lap. You do know that I'm not really an investment banker, and my experience with Capitalism is mostly tied up in trying to figure out how to get my wife's twisted spine healed, my home paid off before I retire, and get my two sons through a good college. When I apply myself, I can make good money investing, but I find it tedious and it doesn't make me happy.

Tolstoy is not happiness. Dostoyevsky is not happy at all. Chekhov? Nope. I'm coming up blank. What is this happy Russian literature you speak of? Now, artists, like Baryshnikov, he was happy, especially after he defected to the west.

Anyway to get back to the argument of the kid in India. Capitalism is fun when you are born in the right family and country. Again, I am not at all proposing a communist society but please bare the differences in mind when making comments on this topic.

From what I've read about Commune living, the biggest problem the people have and fear is that if/when they decide to leave, they have nothing. The same is true with Communism in general. If you have nothing, even without the totalitarianism, leaving it is impossible.

I am not trying to convince you; we have had this discussion many times here so I know better. But I just hope you don't get your 'facts' about communism only from a Johnson infomercial.

Who is Johnson?

I am not dismissing any ideology or system I just don't think it is fair to say capitalism works when you have 5 billion people living in poverty. The fact that other systems might be worse is not an argument in that discussion.

How is China doing since the reforms?