When and how America decided that it's economic system was more important than the kind of society we wanted is the day that our form of capitalism went off the tracks.
We have crafted a capitalist systems that has elevated profits to that of a religious canon. Reigning in profits for the benefit of society has become a form of blasphemy.
And so America has lurched from panic to panic, from recession to recession and Depressions, great and small. And in these "economic down-turns" millions are disenfranchised of their jobs, their homes and often, their lives as they are no longer able or want to take care of themselves.
Meanwhile the obscenely rich profiteers either hunker down with their ill-gotten gains and wait for the economy to turn around or the more devious seek ways to profit further from the economic misery they created.
Our latest Great Recession or Mild Depression, demonstrates all of that and more as the corporate criminals of Wall St. and the Banking Industry continue to get bonuses for their failures, while working people are left jobless, homeless and bereft.

TARP is proof that corporate capitalism is a deeply flawed system.
For more information on how corporations are destroying the planet:

Provoking, witty, stylish and sweepingly informative, THE CORPORATION explores the nature and spectacular rise of the dominant institution of our time. Part film and part movement, The Corporation is transforming audiences and dazzling critics with its insightful and compelling analysis. Taking its status as a legal "person" to the logical conclusion, the film puts the corporation on the psychiatrist's couch to ask "What kind of person is it?" The Corporation includes interviews with 40 corporate insiders and critics - including Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Milton Friedman, Howard Zinn, Vandana Shiva and Michael Moore - plus true confessions, case studies and strategies for change.

http://www.thecorporation.com/index.cfm?page_id=2

I hadn't really heard of Representative Kaptur before. Great article, and thanks for the intro! I wish she were my rep.

Kaptur is an American hero, as is Michael Moore.

In that video it surprised me when she said "tar baby." I thought was only a derogatory word for black children but after checking wiki it turns out there are other connotations...

But obviously that's not what she meant. You gotta hand it to her for being willing to stand up to her party on the bail outs. I wish more of Congress had her willpower.

tar baby is from Br'er Rabbit. it essentially means the same thing as spider web - something sticky that you can't get out of.

it does have some racist connotations as well and is probably not the best possible term to use.

Socialism can't work, until people are able to co-operate, and are not willing to exploit each other through gang mentalities for frivolous purposes.

All we will really get is State Capitalism, where fear will stop innovation, and lead to loss of competitive advantage.

The reality is, when the value of capital is destroyed for whatever reason, the stocks tumble, USD rises, and many commodity based currencies tumble too.

And that is what the problem, is. Technically, socialism needs to be global, but the conflict of interests turn people against each other, partly because the option of co-operating does not come into the discussion, and most people do not take the time to co-operate.

The other problem is that military regimes as a rule depend on recruiting kids, who tend to be inexperienced and follow orders without using the power of discretion, and often get themselves killed in the process.

And the future needs young people or it will become top heavy with older people.

So maybe China and US will combine their efforts in some strange way, and become a super military power, a kind we have never seen before. They have the foundation to do that, considering China owns so much of the US debt, on paper anyway.

I doubt that is what Moore is dreaming about. He is probably dreaming about a world where the gap between rich and poor is a lot less extreme than we see today. But that would probably take profit sharing and some form of guaranteed annual income and lower wages for government workers. And such concepts do not sell popcorn at the cinema.

The other problem is the economy keeps people alive. And the economy is really about people. People don't always fit into neat little pigeon holes, easily classified into classes.

So what is expected is quiet different than what actually happens. You can predict what hundreds of people might do, but not one.

There can be many forms of capitalism, from the highly regulated "welfare state," variety to the unregulated "predatory state," variety.
In the past 30 years, thanks to a succession of Republican administrations and Congresses, we have seen our economy move sharply to the predatory state with the prompting of Milton Friedman and other economists of his ilk.
It has been an unqualified disaster for America's middle-class and for the world at large.
We can no more allow capitalists in the financial sector to act with laissez faire than we can allow doctors to practice medicine without a strict regimen of what they can or cannot do.
Allowing greed to run amuck is never a sensible option for any society, and we if we in America don't learn that from our current economic woes, then we do so at our peril and the peril of our children.