Congratulations To Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez For Her Upset Victory

There  was no "ist" in relation to our economy at its founding or today.   The government implements whatever solution it sees fit to engage the economy by a majority of its voting members.  There is nothing in our Constitution that demands those solutions fall inside of any specific economic ideology.   And thats a good thing.

PS - Perhaps DonDIego should look at the fiscal ramifications passed by the pro-Capitalism members of Congress this year before he lectures about Socialism and its unsustainable path 

Sanders/Ocasio-Cortez in 2020. Make America Venezuala!

Why not Make America more like Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Canada, England, France and so on? Socialism would have never come to Venezuela, but for the collapse of capitalism in that country. Socialism failed in Venezuela largely because they were a one trick pony dependant on oil revenues.  I note the economies of many states in the U.S. that were one trick ponies also failed despite their capitalistic system. 

[b]capitalism[/b]: an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.

So, . . . in colonial America who produced the horseshoes and buggy whips ? . . . who made the tinware and silverware ? . . . who built the clocks ? . . . who built the farm implements ?

Was it The Government ?  Or was it citizens and voluntary groups of citizens who did so for profit ?

If it was the citizens, . . . that is capitalism.  Whether they called it "capitalism" back then or not it was, in fact, capitalism.

DonDiego agrees the Constitution does not specify that any "ism" must define the US economy.

Nonetheless, "The U.S. is a 'capitalist' society in the sense that all people are entitled to accumulate capital, and the Constitution protects that as a result of our Natural Right to ownership of our own lives."

Ref: quora

DonDiego opines that private ownership of capital is significant to efficient, beneficial, and responsive production of those things which citizens want.  Socialism is typically less efficient, less beneficial, and responsive to production of things which the Government specifies people want.

Other folks apparently disagree with poor old DonDiego.  This is not an uncommon event. 

Every history book disagrees with you.

Answer to DonDiego's 2nd quick quiz....

Capitalists built the horseshoes, farms and clocks.    Socialists built the roads, docks, and schools.

Any spending the government does in the economy is by definition "not capitalist" in nature.   Were there taxes, public investment and public services in colonial times and thereafter?  If so (and it is so) then DonDiego's purist description of our economy is incorrect.

Any regulations and trade rules (like Tariffs) imposed upon the free market economy also void the definition of it being a "free market, capitlaist" economy.   Have things like that existed from day 1 through the present day?  yes - and in record number under the current pro-capitalist administration.    You can opine if those are good or bad but they are not attributes of capitalism.  

DonDiego never denied that the Government spends tax-money on services and infrastructure for the "public good".  DonDiego would pr'bly prefer that it did less "good" than PJStroh, . . . but nonetheless it did and does.

DonDiego also recognizes the encroachment of socialism into the basically-capitalist economy of the United States.  F'rinstance, privately owned toll roads and bridges were much more common in the 18th and 19th Centuries than they are today.  Practicality suggests multiple private road-systems are unsustainable.

But in Colonial Times and Today most commerce in the United States was/is between non-Governmental individuals/entities in a free market in which the necessary capital is owned by persons/businesses/corporations . . . the definition of a capitalist society

DonDiego also recognizes that Government "regulations and trade rules (like tariffs)" have impacts on otherwise free markets.  Politics is a bitch.  Practicality suggests "perfect capitalism" is likely unacheivable.

Nonetheless, most capital goods within the United States remain owned by individuals/companies/corporations, not The Government.

Does PJ Stroh contend the United States is not capitalist today ?

(Hint:

When the US-or-State Government builds a bridge nowadays, it hires a bridge-building company not owned by the Government, . . . i.e. a capitalist enterprise.

Before the Soviet Union fell, the Communist/Socialist-Government would employ the Government-owned bridge builder, . . . i.e. a Government-socialist enterprise.

Perhaps that competitive capitalist enterprises recognize the need to perform successfully to survive, whereas socialist entities have less incentive to perform well contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union.)

Done Diego writes:

"Does PJ Stroh contend the United States is not capitalist today ?

(Hint:

When the US-or-State Government builds a bridge nowadays, it hires a bridge-building company not owned by the Government, . . . i.e. a capitalist enterprise.

Before the Soviet Union fell, the Communist/Socialist-Government would employ the Government-owned bridge builder, . . . i.e. a Government-socialist enterprise.

Perhaps that competitive capitalist enterprises recognize the need to perform successfully to survive, whereas socialist entities have less incentive to perform well contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union.)"

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DonDiego should understand the "socialist" program of Medicare works exactly the same way.   The government doles out checks to private sector doctors, drug companies, and healthcare manufacturers.

Also, "socialist" Sweden pays for its bridges in  the same way.   

It should also be noted that US Conservatives' favorite examples of socialism (The Soviet Union and Venezuela) were essentially totalitarian states that served the oligarchies ahead of the general population.    I could make an  argument that the corrupt state of Liberia is a failed example of capitalism which also has more to do with corruption than any economic principles. 

The Scandanavian countries today are modern republics with democratically elected governments and legitimate checks and balances.   They draw the line much further in the socialist direction than we do in the UNited States...and remarkably they have budget surpluses, well educated workforces, and amongst the most competitve export-based economies on the planet.     Seems to defy reality doesn't it? 

Sigh, Don Diego doesn't understand American economic history, and it appears he doesn't want to because it doesn't conform to his preconceived notions. Sure there was what we would call today some small-scale capitalism conducted by tradesmen. It wasn't called capitalism because that term didn't exist back then. The term capitalism wasn't used until 1854.  So the idea that the country was founded upon or that we have always had a capitalistic system is ludicrous.  The economic history lesson I provided above shows that we had some very distinct economic systems depending on the time and the region of the country which can't be classified as capitalistic.

I have never objected to mom and pop capitalism like the tradesmen you discussed and neither does Ms. Ocasio-Cortez. In fact, prior to running for office, she advocated for small mom and pop type businesses. 

My problem is with the perverted form of capitalism we practice in this country where losses of big business are subsidized by the taxpayer but all profits are privatized. The banking industry, the airline industry, the automobile industry, the defense industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the oil and natural gas industry, the firearms industry, big box retailing and many others are run like this with the taxpayers providing massive subsidies, shields from liability were the taxpayers end up paying the actual cost of the product, and outright bailouts when the industry fails often through the results of deregulation and or monopolies in certain industries.  

It is an absolute perversion that it costs the American taxpayer around 4 million dollars a year for each Wal-Mart operating across the country. 

It is absolutely sick that rightwing activist judges have granted corporations the right to free speech and even the absolutely bizarre right where for-profit corporations with hundreds of thousands of shareholders have "sincerely held religious beliefs" that exempt them from following practically any law they want as it relates to their employees. It is disgusting that freeloading welfare queen corporations can set up their corporate headquarters in a low tax country by simply renting a PO there and avoid their obligations to this country all the while taking massive handouts from the taxpayers.

I have read the constitution quite a few times and I have never come across the term corporation or corporate rights. From my Jefferson quote above, it should be obvious the founders knew what corporations were and chose not to include them in that document. 

The sick form of capitalism we currently practice in this country is more akin to the fascist states of Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Italy where the government regularly fornicated with big business to the detriment of the people. 

If objecting to this perversion makes me a socialist so be it.