has americas view of capitialism been as shaken and in doubt as it was in the 30's?

What I am 100% sure of is that we DO NOT live in a free-enterprise economy.

We are socialist in that we provide all sorts of benefits for the lower classes (welfare, medicaid, food stamps, etc.) without making the lower 50% pay any Federal Taxes.

We are Corporatist in that the corporations and unions are the primary lobbyists for regulations that weed out small businesses and unskilled labor.

We are Fascist in that the government has the authority to decide if you can make a living or not through regulations and permitting. For instance, it costs over $2000 just to register an new business with Federal, State, and local governments. If you don't register, you will get arrested and/or fined. The government does not care if you just want to put food on the table- that is until after they get their cut.

You are required to get a government permit if you want to be an interior decorator, a car dealer, teacher, personal trainer, private investigator or an accountant, drive a taxi, ferry, or truck, open a bank account, business, or gym, give manicures, massages, or facials, sell real estate, insurance, loans, or food, go fishing, hunting, or trapping, sell crops, medicine, liquor, or cigarettes, build a fence, an addition to your house, a well, or a barn. In some places like Milwaukee, Wisconsin, you need a license just go out of business!

Children are being fined for selling lemonade and chocolate chip cookies from their front lawns. A fisherman was recently fined $500 for setting free a whale that was caught in his net because he did not call government agents to assist him. Business owners have to file a 1099 form with the IRS for every transaction over $600. You can be put in jail for 90 days for giving tours of Washington DC without a license. An Amish farm was recently raided for selling “unauthorized” raw milk. Philadelphia now requires bloggers to purchase a $300 license.

Today, there are taxes on accounts receivable, building permits, capital gains, commercial driving licenses, cigarettes, corporate income, dog licenses, income (federal), income (state), income (local), federal unemployment, food licenses, fuel permits, gasoline (45 cents per gallon), inheritance interest expenses, inventory IRS interest charges (tax on top of tax), IRS penalties (tax on top of tax), liquor, luxuries, marriage licenses, Medicare, property, real estate, septic permits, Social Security, road usage, nearly all sales, recreational vehicles, toll roads, school, state unemployment, telephone federal excises, telephone federal universal service fees, telephone federal, state and local surcharges, telephone minimum usage surcharges, telephone recurring and non-recurring charges, toll bridges, toll tunnels, trailer registration, vehicle registration, watercraft registration, utilities, vehicle sales, and worker’s compensation. This isn’t even remotely all of them!

Taxes on tea and stamps don’t sound like a big deal!

Different local and State governments are considering bans on soft drinks, fatty foods, happy meals, and salt. In Massachusetts, certain cities have banned owning more than three cats, and even made it illegal for children to play tag, because it is “dangerous” and “exclusionary”. The EPA has actually questioned whether to pass extra taxes on farmers because their livestock supposedly emits harmful gasses when they burp and fart.

The citizens of our country have become so far removed from what our founders experienced, that even the most revered intellectuals of our time rarely recognize the damages that have been caused by government. It isn’t that their hearts are in the wrong place- their brains are.

The real question is what can be done about it.

the american view of capitalism is very messed up.

no matter who owns a company, the workers, the government or individuals it has three things that are absolute.

1 demand of product produced

2. supply of product produced

3. profit

if the government were to own all business it would lose the tax revenue from the business. it would have to make this up. all business has what is called cost of doing business. and these costs are there regardless of who owns it.

russia tried for 90 years and failed. china is becoming very capitalist and encouraging our capitalist businesses to move to them and becoming more capitalist than we are. socialism is a failure. and anyone that thinks the man running a business will work for the same wages the janitor does is insane. even though they are equally important to the everyday operations, it ain't gonna happen. does the head of china live like a peasant? did russia's leaders live like the workers? there will always be rich and poor. there will always be have and have nots. the difference is that the usa was built on a different scale. we always had the chance to go for the gold. and many did and do. the ones that cry for what they consider equality are the lazy or greedy or the ones that think they deserve a free ride to the top. it ain't gonna happen no matter who owns the business.

Capitalism produces three things; greed, competition and shortages. If you begin with evil when building an economy, its unreasonable to expect a different result other than evil with these three characteristics. Capitalism starts out warm and fuzzy but turns very vicious and ugly as time goes on. Only those at the very top, or those who fantasize about being at the top, believe capitalism to be a viable market alternative. We have no choice as a nation other than to accept more government involvement, or face collapse.

When FDR was campaigning he and and running mate stated that "Hoover is leading America down a path towards socialism" now I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like the "hands off" approach that is taught in history books

i don't think so,i think people are starting to wake up.

i hope capitalism wins out because it's by far the best system.

i hope capitalism falls and does so hard...real hard. socialism (meaning real socialism and not the fake kind current countries use) is the key