Money & The Economy

Occupy Wall Street: American Capitalism and Free Markets (Part 2 of 3)

The American economic system is the best ever devised; businesses provide commodities to satisfy a consumer’s need or want. If that business cannot satisfy the consumer or does not change, they simply go away. While our OWS protestors carry an anti-capitalist, anti-corporate theme, the greatest contributions to mankind have occurred under the very banners and some of the worst atrocities have occurred outside of these themes.

The main theme of OWS is the greedy one percent capitalist like Apple’s founder, Steve Jobs. Steve is the 43rd richest American. Apple develops products that have enhanced lives for nearly five decades. People voluntarily exchange their money to experience what Apple products provide. Throughout the nation, protestors took time from protesting to purchase the new Apple iPhone and pay tribute to Steve Jobs. So, how do people like Steve Jobs (RIP), Richard Simmons (worth $325M), Rosanne Barr ($80) and Susan Sarandon gain the support of the protestors and others are demonized?

One of the greatest environmentalist’s was John D. Rockefeller, the oil tycoon. You won’t find his picture hanging on the walls of Green Peace or PETA. But in the late 1800s, oil from whales was used for kerosene and they were on the verge of extinction. Rockefeller introduced a cheaper, inexpensive fuel that revolutionized our lives. During that time, the price of oil dropped from 30 cents to 6 cents a gallon. Essentially, the innovations of Standard Oil saved the whales but we would never know that.

The greatest form of economic democracy is the Free Market, and this only occurs with capitalism. As a consumer, you take your votes (dollars) to whatever business provides the best for their consumer. If that business does not satisfy the voter, you may take your votes elsewhere. Throughout our country’s history, businesses have never been too big to fail. Before there were behemoth discount stores like WalMart and Target, we had K-Mart and prior to that JC Penny, Sears and Woolworth. All these stores at some point appeared to corner the market and were too big to fail. The innovations these stores brought to retail sales provided us all a better life and ensured that our lives were made better.

So, when Occupy Wall Street protestors demand government intervention for protection, remember that this will be placing another layer of glass upon our society. It is these protections that actually protect these big organizations because it stifles small businesses to become bigger. It limits the common everyday man from their ability to provide for one another and us from reaching our full potential. Hopefully, politicians, bureaucrats and OWS protestors do not throw out the baby with the bath water, or bite the hand that feeds them…whether it’s invisible or not.

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Rich Mitchell

Rich Mitchell is the editor-in-chief of Conservative Daily News and the president of Bald Eagle Media, LLC. His posts may contain opinions that are his own and are not necessarily shared by Bald Eagle Media, CDN, staff or .. much of anyone else. Find him on twitter, facebook and

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One Comment

  1. Some of these protesters want something similar to what I want, except for one thing, they want it under the power of the government, and I want the same thing under my own God given right. These people are products of the government run, liberal/Socialist controled public education system. A system that was deemed “racist” and “discreminating” against Blacks because it was wealthy White liberal North Easterner’s who decided they were going to go down South and take the schools away from the White red neck KKK’er’s and give it to the people who deserved better treatment. What they forgot was to protect the “Standard of excellence” that prevailed throughout the nation in public schools which was about to put men on the moon with the most advanced technology known to man. Some of didn’t even exist yet but when given the challenge American’s came up to the task. That’s what the liberals who were in those “Freedom Rider’s” buses on their way to the Southern part of this great nation to right wrongs committed by people liberals believed were to backward and ignorant to understand what they were doing.

    This is the problem with what the OWS’er’s stand for. They think they represent what Capitalism should be, and part of what they demand, well some of them at least, but what they are missing is where that capitalism comes from. And where does it come from? It comes from FREEDOM AND LIBERTY of a people who believe in God, go to church, take care of their families, have responsibility for paying bills, that most of these kids down on Wall Street don’t even know about or what it’s all for, and these people who are trying to take care of their family and pay their bills on time, rely on the very free market system these protesters want put under the control of the very thing that has caused all the problems. Just like when the Freedom Riders acted on what they believed was a “civil rights issue” , the Occupier’s are marching to take back something that could be taken care of so easily with reform of some laws that were misguided to begin with.

    If we want free of these people the only thing that needs to be done is to reform our banking laws that are allowing such things as the super profits that business will make if they are allowed to, whether what affect or impact taking those levels of profits will do to the economy, just like what taking the schools away from the very people who knew how to make a person learn how to build a Saturn V rocket that could propell four guys to the moon, would propell a financial system to heights never known to man. And don’t think that going to the moon or growing financial markets beyond numbers no one had ever heard of, didn’t spawn thousand of smaller businesses that feed off the technology or the financial intities produced on Wall Street, because both did.

    The protesters are missing the forest because they can’t see past the trees.

    1. A couple of things that I see wrong with what you are trying to say:

      Right off the bat, you say “Some of these protesters want something similar to what I want, except for one thing, they want it under the power of the government, and I want the same thing under my own God given right.” Understandable, as a conservative like yourself would want as little government interference as they can get, and that’s a perfectly fine viewpoint. However, when your suggested solution is to “reform our banking laws that are allowing such things as the super profits that business will make if they are allowed to”, I can’t help but laugh at the irony.

      Also, slight issue with the contradiction of “Freedom and Liberty” and the “people who believe in God, go to church,”. I mean, c’mon, it even in the same sentence! A person should be able to believe anything they want. I might not agree with your religious views, but I will fight against anyone who wants to takes the freedom of choice away from you.

      I can’t believe I’m saying this, but public schools are run and funded by the government. Increasing public schools would, in some viewpoints, be described as increasing the governments hold over our children, and those people would be quick to call it socialism. Taking those schools away, therefore increasing the ability to profit off of private schools, would fall right in line with a true conservative’s ideals. But, you state that the government shouldn’t take those schools away, as we need better education to return to the pinnacle of education, science and math.

      Basically, what I’m saying is that you need to look at your own argument and see the flaws. You can’t have no regulations, as big business would take over all economies, and we’ve all learned from history that this doesn’t lead to the most favorable conditions for human life. It’s a fine line between what you call socialism (from over regulations) and what I call blatant greed and disregard for other human life (a market of pure capitalism.) Some of your post just straight up didn’t make any sense, so please excuse me for any mistakes I have made in interpreting it.

      Sincerely,

      A Facebook Friend

      1. Onefbfriend,
        “You can’t have no regulations, as big business would take over all economies, and we’ve all learned from history that this doesn’t lead to the most favorable conditions for human life.”

        Would you please expand on this statement?

        This greed and disregard for other human life is a part of our existence, capitalism distributes this greed and has far less impact. To have a large government, history is quite clear that these governments are normally cooped by evil people or businesses (i.e. Weimar Republic, Italy, Lenin and Mao). This stifles the normal serf into basic instincts (survival) and kills the charitable spirit. I’ve never seen a starving man give away food.

        It is no regulations that keeps big business in check…more regulations puts that glass ceiling over our head. You’ll think twice when you go to make that $250,000 when it comes to taxes or go to hire that 50th person because of the affects of healthcare. These are the ceilings that are being placed on us…by our cohorts like GE/ Democrats and Haliburton/Republicans.

        Where does this leave you? Protected or oppressed?

        1. Brian,

          I was referencing the in the times of big business, before the “trustbusting” of Teddy and Taft (I can’t give an exact date of the top of my head). I remember reading passages describing the awful tenement life that the average factory worker lived through, disease ridden with no plumbing or running water. I also recall how the companies would own everything (grocery stores, apartments, other commodities) about a worker’s life, so a increase in wages for the worker would just result in an increase in other payments to the company, thus keeping the worker locked in an eternal cycle of debt.

          I would agree that greed and selfishness is part of the human nature, unavoidably. However, I would say that pure capitalism doesn’t spread the greed out, just enables it. With a system of pure capitalism, people will do whatever they can to get ahead of the next guy. I’ve never seen a hungry man give away food, but I also don’t trust the man with an abundance of food to provide for those who can’t for themselves.

          Don’t get me wrong, capitalism is a good system. Without regulations, however, those with the power and money can do anything they want to those without, which creates major injustices in my morals at least. I hate paying taxes as much as everyone else, but I realize that it’s necessary to pay for public education, our army, and various other benefits that “big” government provides.

  2. As far as I am concerned, anyone who is a member of the Communist Party USA, Marxist Party, Socialist Party USA, Nazi Party , or any derivitive of those parties are automatically guilty of TREASON. And if you think I don’t know what I’m talking about then look the word “treason” up in the dictionary you will see that treason is collaboration with those outside/inside the country whose ideology/intention is to overthrow the duely elected government of the United States of America. These people marching openly in New York City, and who admit and show tee shirts and with their mouths declare they are members of the Communist Party are traitor’s. These people should be arrested by the FBI, investigated to find out who else they know, are affiliated with because some are affiliated with Islamic terrorist organizations like Obama is, have their citizenship revoked, and deported to the Communist country of their choice. There, they would be much happier and be living under the kind of government that they are trying to overthrow this country and make into, and there they would be required to stay for the rest of their lives not ever being allowed to come back to America for any reason what so ever, banned from entering the country. I don’t care how long their family has been here, this has nothing to do with their family members unless they to are members of the Communist Party, in that case they to will have the citizenship revoked and also deported along with the other person.

    In the case of the Socialist Democrats who are members of our Congress, like Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Berney Sanders, and 79 others in just the Congress, and one member of the Senate also need to be empeached from office, investigated, have their citizenship revoked, and deported from the United States. And if you think I would let them take all the millions of dollars they stole from the Amerian tax payer, or were paid by someone or something while in office, that would be ill gotten gains while a Socialist Party member. And lied to the people who voted for them, misleading the voters into thinking they were a Democrat, as millions of American’s are Democrats for example, like Roosevelt who was also a Socialist, but did not tell their constituents what they really were, would be guilty of committing fraud in order to obtain personal gain and Federal office disguised as a member of a party that is not concidered a threat to our National security. That alone would get you in prison for decades, but I would rather have them out of the country so that they could not ever influence some unsuspecting person that they were a good American, and were patriotic. No, these people are the opposite of patriots. They are subversives, and radical militants.

    And I would order the cops to immediately arrest anyone who was holding a sign like these scumbags down there on Wall Street. These people have no business protesting anything capitalistic because their actual belief is Socialist not capitalist. And since they are opposite to the rest of the country, I would say that these people aren’t the 99% of anybody. But rather whatever percentage all the people who need to be deported for being members of parties that are intent to overthrow my country!!

    1. Please, watch this video from 2:30 to 4:30.
      https://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/tue-october-18-2011-calvin-trillin

      The basic argument against your statement is this: these people in the streets are not, in fact, committing treason as you suggest. Protesting is not treason. MLK was committing treason? Please. Non-violent protest or boycott is totally allowed.

      Also, I don’t think you can honestly believe the things you said in your second and third paragraphs. The Cold War is over, my friend. Do you honestly think that Obama and the Democrats in Congress are are secretly Socialists that intend to ruin all the apple pie, baseball, and machine guns that we all have come to know and love? Please, tell me you’re joking.

      I can’t really take the time to dispute the rest of the things that our wrong with all the stuff you wrote. Please, take a step back and attempt to reason through things from the other guy’s side. Don’t be filled with hate. Please, no hate.

  3. And the little poster on the ground in the picture at the opening of this article up on this page is such a deluded lie. And what it says is, “Private Property creates crime”. I can’t think of anything more moronic if I tried. So let me get this straight, if I own something, somebody is going to want it and they are going to try and steal it from me so I won’t have it anymore, they will have taken it from me. Well, okay, but what happens if I have a job and just save up the money and buy something again. What is that? Am I guilty of contributing to the existance of crime? That if I don’t want to have someone wake up one morning and suddenly decide they are going to start stealing, then I had not ever own anything. Is that about right? Only a totally stupid person would come up with something stupid like that!!

    The private ownership of property is the outward sign of FREEDOM!!!!

    1. Private property is the pillar of freedom, but our local governments are taking this right away through Master Plans and zoning. They have essentially taken away our right to make the decisions of our own property.

  4. That makes sense and I agree with your premise. I consider myself an “Individualist” to where the government is intended to protect the individual over the collective. I believe our argument is in alignment…just that normally the middle class are the ones that’s given because they have compassion and abundance. And a government that protects the individual, protects the middle class.

    We do not need a big government to provide education, our army and the other benefits, a responsible one would do just fine.

    1. One fbFriend,
      As my response is riddled with grammatical errors, I hope it makes sense but I wanted to expand on the size of our government. It should be large enough to support the requirements of the Constitution. Education should be moved to the local level.

      1. I think Education moved to the local level would be wrong for a couple of reasons.

        1. It would be too much to manage at the local level. How local is up to the specifics, but I don’t think the average city or town has enough income (without increasing taxes) to support a school. Even though I (and WILLOFLA) went to a relatively prosperous public high school in a rich community, we still couldn’t keep all the teachers we wanted, even with the government’s help. In poorer communities, it would be even harder to keep even a couple teachers on payroll payed from the town’s budget.

        2. It would be too hard to standardize the curriculum between schools to make sure everyone is getting the education they need. The amount of different, specific agendas that each school has would be astounding, and I think that education based locally would be of more benefit to the richer than the poorer, further reducing the opportunities available to the underprivileged.

        I too think that we have kind of similar views, (at least more similar that me and Will’s) and I appreciate the rational tone and lack of hate-filled rhetoric. It makes me a lot less frustrated when trying to make a point, and I hope that I can keep that stuff out of my writing as well.

        1. As I use to have the same exact belief with standardizing the curriculum, but the Dept of Education (inception since 1980) has proven to be a dismal failure. Our schools were far better when our education system was locally driven. There was some money trickle from the federal. And stats prove that children are failing in education. Even the politicial class use it to justify immigration.

          Our school systems have gotten out of control and dysfunctional. As for standardized tests, it seems that our older generations did quite well before we centralized our education system. Now, we have indoctrination rather than teaching.

          You have a point with the funding but it looks like federal funding has been going to other programs. But now our schools receive federal money with strings attached. Our school have become bloated and are held hostage by Unions.

  5. Facebook Friend,
    To begin with I never said anything about protesting was treason. It’s obvious that you are quick to defend your Constitutional rights, but you fail to see that protesting as a member of a world wide organization that is responsible for decades and decades of murder, spying, overthrow of governments, enslavement of millions of people and is right in our own government controling the lives we are trying to live, taking our rights and liberties away from us each and every day, is okay as well. It’s not. These people who you deny are members of these organizations who hold the positions of Congrassman or Senator, or some other high government position “I have to be joking”, is your belief? You are asleep my friend, you need to wake up and realize the the Communist marching next to you in New York is someone who wants to take that freedom away from you with whatever means available. Just because they aren’t using some kind of beat down of you and aren’t throwing you into a gulag doesn’t mean they aren’t planning such things for those of us our here who oppose their very existance in my country.

    You have to understand something and that is Communist have been using very sutle methods to gain your trust for a hundred years. They are experts in persuasion and can make you suspect your own parents of being what they can subversives. But the moment you ask them to identify themselves and they proudly declare they are members of the Communist Party, then you know right then they are the subversives. They have disguised themselves and called themselves “Progressives”, or “Liberals” or they may lie entirely like Nancy Pelosi does and just call themselves Democrats. But what you have to watch for is WHAT DO THEY DO. That is the dead give away. Like Obama, he has associated with Marxists and Communists all his life. Even his father which he likes to imitate was a Marxist. Obama’s mother might as well been a Communist and worked for the Ford Foundation and known Communist front group that disguises what they are by acting like a humanitarian organization. What they really do is influence legislators by their heavy funding of the Democrat Party, Socialists within it to make more law taking your rights away.

    And yes Facebook Friend our government right now if full of Socialists, Marxists, and Communists in very important positions of authority. Do you want names? I can give you a few, I’ve already mentioned Nancy Pelosi is a member of the Socialist Democratic Party, Barney Frank, Berney Sanders and the list goes on and on. Right now there are 82 members of our Congress who are in the Socialist Party. They’re not patriots, they aren’t Democrats, they aren’t friendly towards America, and they have written and/or been signers on bill after bill that has torn this nation of ours down so badly that parts of it are destroyed and we’ll never be able to get them back.

    I cannot name all the bills, but every single Democrat bill that seems harmless is a Socialist and/or Communist backed and/or authored bill that do nothing but take your money, rights, freedoms, and liberties away. And they do it in order to shove America closer and closer to the brink of disaster, monitarily, morally, towards their end and that is the New World Order. You deny it because you don’t know what you would do if you found out that it was true. What would you do, since you are in with all these people, some of them are your friends? Would you call you Congressman? I doubt you’ve ever called your Congressman. He would deny it anyway because I have a very conservative Congressman, and I have asked him to refute or verify that these people are Socialist and he won’t use those words. He like the others call them “Progressives”, because our representatives are held to a honor code of conduct. They won’t go around and call these people what they really are, even though they know it to be true. Those rules were made by the liberal Democrats in order to protect the identity of the guilty. But we all know who they are because you can look up the information on the internet straight from the Socialist Party’s website. They have to list member’s and what they are doing, etc.

    Wake up brother, because it’s later than you think. And what will you do if you find out that some of your friends are Communists? You’ll have to do what you think is best for you, but you had better get as far away from them as you can. The FBI is watching every one of them. And as soon as we get a man in the White House who has the balls to protect this nation like he’s supposed to, they all will be arrested. Do you want to go to prison or be deported? Get away from them if you cherish your freedom.

    1. Please then, tell me what the Democratic Party is supposed to do. There are extremes on both sides, and I think all the extremists are crazy and mostly wrong, but you can’t call every Democrat in Congress a Socialist. If you still believe so, please link me to this website where they list their members so I can read it for myself, as I am unable to find it in my limited google search.

      To prove you said protesting was treason:

      Point 1: “As far as I am concerned, anyone who is a member of the Communist Party USA, Marxist Party, Socialist Party USA, Nazi Party , or any derivitive of those parties are automatically guilty of TREASON.”

      Point 2: “These people marching openly in New York City, and who admit and show tee shirts and with their mouths declare they are members of the Communist Party are traitor’s.”

      Just clarifying, protesting in OWS does not equal a membership in either the Communist or Socialist party.

      I also have to believe that I’m better informed politically than you, as I haven’t heard even Sarah Palin call the ENTIRE Democratic Representation in our government a cog in the Socialist plot to overthrow America. If you are set on these beliefs and refuse to look at it from another, not so radical perspective, then I can’t really do anything else. I just hope people like you are in the minority, as a majority population with your beliefs would be a sad, dark America indeed.

  6. Capitalism is the cornerstone of our nation. Without it we would be a people to be ruled over, like Great Britain was which caused our forefathers to flee. It’s Freedom that enable’s Capitalism. And like our forefathers said the with freedom comes “responsibiilty”. We have to have the same kind of controls over business that our Constitution provides for government. Because without them both government and business would be out of control.

    So what is causing our government to be out of control now? The same safeguards seem to be in place, and the finance and industry have what seem to be the right number of regulations on them. So what is the problem? The problem which caused the collapse of Freddie and Fannie are regulations cooked up by the Socialist Democrats are regulations which allow to much freedom for the banking, housing, investment, etc. to get bigger and bigger our of their own greed and ability to take more and more from the market share. Like Georger Soros, who is only good for about eleven billion, I’m sure would like to get his hands on a hundred billion. He could buy the control of many more things if he had that much money. See, the Constitutional controls placed on business and industry keep uncontroled money making from happening, which leads to greed.

    It’s not the same thing if a person makes $250,000 a year and the government puts regulations on them so they can’t get any bigger because that is nonsence. Those people have very little power over their situation with that much money due to the fact that it all could disappear in the blink of an eye. Those people who make that much either have their own small business, or work for some corporation. The business could fail, and the corporation could move overseas and not take the person with them and lay them off with no golden parachute. But, when you have the kind of money Soros has, it can be put into certain kinds of investments instruments and his money generates more and more money. Then when it gets so much he can do that all over again and make even more. But the point is, Soros no longer has to worry about losing it, and doesn’t have to work for it anymore. It makes it’s own money. Wouldn’t that be nice. But you won’t get there if you are only making minimum wage or ten bucks an hour. All you will be able to control is keeping your electricity on for another month, and a six pack in the frige.

  7. The Tea Party rallies for the past couple of years have indirectly said the same kind of theme that the Occupier’s are saying. The problem is the Tea Party has the only solution that can be applied in a Constitutional Representative Republic that has Capitalism as it’s financial and monitary cornerstone and that is to return to the Constitution for solutions to a runaway government that is spending out of control. And that is to throw out the Socialist Democrats that are allowing the excessive spending and bailouts, all which are unConstitutional, and get the government back under control of the people. Unless it’s not to late. Like I have said there might be some parts of our society that are so damaged by the uncontroled spending that to bring them back under control might do as much if not more damage to them as the uncontroled spending has done to them. What I’m talking about is how the Socialists have set up rules and laws that the Black communities operate by. There as so many Black people who are completely dependent on government help that ripping them off of it would be worse (the impact keeping them and even more of them on Welfare forever has on the economy which the Democrat Party made that way in order to keep taxpayer money obligated forever). So what will have to happen is some obligation of taxpayer monies will have to continue to be spent for awhile in order that Blacks can be weined off of it over time. How much time I don’t know, but it seemed like it didn’t make that much of a negative impact on their lives when the Welfare Reform Act took place. They fell right in line with what had to be done in order for them to continue to draw checks and go to school.

    That is until Obama removed the law by Presidential Decree because he said the Act was racist. Well, you dumb butt commie, was it racist to keep Blacks on benefits when they were perfectly able to work and go to school before the Act took place? That’s what your Party was doing for them. See, there are people in the Socialist Democrat Party that want to keep them on Welfare because it keeps them poor and voting for Democrats who keep promising them the Party will punish those responsible for their poverty. Really? Who? White Christian conservative Republican’s? That’s why the Act is NOT racist because we want them out working and making a good living so they can see what was done to them by the Democrats. And do you know what? The ones who got out, go a college education or training and went to work have discovered the taxes it took to keep the Welfare system alive. And they resented Blacks they knew who were still on Welfare, and those who were working now and paying into the system didn’t like the fact they were taking care of those still on benefits they didn’t deserve to be on.

    As far as all the controls that the Democrats removed over the many years that has led us to this day, all those laws aren’t controling anything except keeping the right controls from being made to replace what the Democrats cooked up to keep things like they want them. Our society will surely collapse under the weight of all the wasted tax money going to pay benefits to people who need to be working is Cloward-Piven, and Obama is using that and other things to keep things out of control as long as he can.

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