Darryl,

People act in their own self interest. My point was simple: capitalism is an economic system that harnesses the energy of people to produce goods and services by appealing to people’s self interest. It will always exist and it will be restrained by shared social values according to the level each society chooses.

But when a society “secularizes” and it no longer feels bound by a set of shared values, can government moderate capitalism or does it become an extension of capitalism?

Is a socialist form of government any better? or does socialism just become another form of corruption without the benefits of capitalism which at least continues to maximize a society’s production of goods and services?

Why do all socialistic economies collapse? Is it because the “concept of socialism” simply is not based on the nature of man? And if capitalism succeeds because it is based on the nature of man, what does that say about the nature of man?

As an intellectual you need to examine the nature of man and then ask yourself how do we moderate that nature in a way that really works? I initially majored in college studying the religions of the world in a liberal college setting. It is interesting that every society in history felt a need to codify its values in its religion. What did those societies understand, that you don’t.

We can have a separate argument over the existence and nature of God, but my point was simple, without a set of shared morale values, it is unlikely that any institution be it government or business will control corruption. Corruption is not limited to the wealthy, it is value shared by everyone to a greater or lesser degree.