>I think you see Capitalism as
>a system that exploits the
>weak for profit, while I
>see exploitation as the actions
>of evil men...not a function
>of capitalism itself.

Capitalism = Exploitation is a Marxist concept. In reality, if the market determines the wage/price etc., then there is technically, no exploitation (including those making pennies a day, making soccer balls in Pakistan). Unfortunately, in reality, the market will leave some of in very, very poor conditions and others in very, very rich conditions. If you want capitalism, there is no other way about it. Of course, humane capitalism has been tried throughout the world, especially in Latin America and Africa. Unfortunately, these experiments have failed miserabley, and required a step away from true free market capitalism in order to even be attempted.



>No matter what kind of government/culture/belief
>system you have, you will
>have people exchanging X for
>Y....you will have people accumulating
>X so that they can
>acquire Y. As long as
>you have that.......you have capitalism.

as long as you have private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market...you have capitalism.

The main point here, is that those with the most resources, get the most goods (ie the free market).

>How you make money OR X
>so that you can acquire
>Y is important, E.g. Ethics
>and how you treat people....do
>you take and then give?
>Or do you give and
>then Take.

Your talking on a very simplistic micro micro level. The economic system has a life of its own. Not to mention how the economic system shapes our own ethics.


>Capitalism isn't evil by nature, evil
>men can make it so.......

It is "evil" by nature because it puts money above all other things (ie efficiency in economic theory) thereby necessarily leading to "evil" results.


>Take it further, economics did not
>enslave Blacks so many years
>ago...PEOPLE did......separate the actions of
>man from.....from goals/concepts/resources.

The economic system shaped the actions/ethics/goals of people/enslavers. The enslavers acted in a certain way because it profited them.

>Besides, we all know that it
>has roots in Afrikan cultures
>anyway.

I thought collectivism and community were a large part of African cultures? These ideas go against capitalism which focuses on private property and competition.





In capitalism, there will always be a large group of poor people. Maybe you feel, as long as they're not Black, it's OK. In which case, I can understand your support of the capitalist system, because Blacks COULD theoretically take the place of another group. In that case you're no different than those who are currently in power and causing suffering on a mass scale.