I'm not a capitalist or a socialist. I'm a bit of both. I'm an American
The U.S. has a mixed economy which exhibits characteristics of both capitalism and socialism. A mixed economy embraces the free market when it comes to capital use, but it also involves government intervention for the public good.
I've made my fortune with Capitalism. My brother has $15 million dollars rising up the ranks of fortune 500 companies. Are you kidding me? I LOVE Capitalism.
But we also went to public school. My dad worked for a union, which our government made legal back during FDR. I like social security and medicare. And everyone knows without a referee that looks out for workers, corporations wouldn't be paying any of us what we are worth.
Here are a couple of headlines for those who haven't had the time to study both economics and history: There is no such thing as a "free market." The "middle class" is the creation of government intervention in the marketplace, and won't exist without it (as millions of Americans and Europeans...
www.thomhartmann.com
The middle class is a new invention of liberal democracies, the direct result of governments defining the rules of the game of business. It is, quite simply, an artifact of government regulation of markets and tax laws.
When government sets the rules of the game of business in such a way that working people must receive a living wage, labor has the power to organize into unions just as capital can organize into corporations, and domestic industries are protected from overseas competition, a middle class will emerge. When government gives up these functions, the middle class vanishes