Whattaya think of this?

[j2k4]

I reckon that capitalism very much agrees with you. And I also reckon that capitalism in it's purest form is as close as you can ever come to seeing what's the very best thing according rational egoism in practice.

Looking at it from my point of view, capitalism capitalizes on human frailty in a way that works for people who are doing alright inside of the system, although not for those who don't really have the proper killer instinct to really profit from working the system (the frail?). There's room for the latter inside of the system, but it's at the bottom of the pyramid, if that makes sense. But that's ok, because everyone can't live at the top.

I think capitalism needs people to inhabit the lowest point, else there'd not be enough consumers, and not enough motivation to strive upwards.

I'll start by saying MY version of capitalism doesn't countenance the predatory practices you find so upsetting - I find them to be problematic as well, and would work to eliminate them.

Funny, though:

The current secular modus looks askance at any attempt to "lay a guilt-trip" on the guilty, reasoning that such horrible social mores are the work-product of the "insane religious right".

You can see the difficulty of making these things work properly, but I always thought humans could manage some solutions, wouldn't you agree?

Another thing-

I don't know how one goes about eliminating the "bottom" rung of the social ladder; you can broaden it with certain financial practices and government programs, but it's still the bottom.

Let me try to distill things properly here, relative to your predilection for painting me with the brush of Randianism:

In a world where results cannot be guaranteed, but where a striving to widen opportunity will have guaranteed benefit, why would you want to institute entitlements that steal the one thing an otherwise unadorned individual can choose have - a drive or work ethic for it's own sake?

If I have the ability to run faster than you, or throw farther, or work longer before exhaustion, or think better or more creatively, why should my talents go unrewarded, relative to someone with less drive or talent?

If they CANNOT, then society should provide.

If they CAN but choose NOT to, what claim have they to any more than they earn or produce?

Many of the latter are spurred from laziness by a desire for greater comforts or more goods.

Motivation is where you find it.

I could go on, but.

[j2k4]

It just hit me how very little the above post has to do with the original topic

Yeah, but that's why we do this, and I have it on good authority the thread's author is totally ok with the fact.