Think about your writings, you do not trust people, you think they are inherently evil and must be controlled by the government (who are just other evil people). Why you believe that a group of all powerful leaders will be less evil than individuals is beyond my comprehension. Maybe it reflects more of a “hope” on your part and less of the reality of what you see. Since, you seem to be suggesting that people become “less selfish” when they are elected into positions of political power and can be trusted more than the same person as a businessman…

To show you how dumb that sounds is under your theory, Trump is more trustworthy as President then he was as CEO over his company. The same guy is somehow transformed when he becomes a politician. You will dispute this statement, but it is what you are suggesting. Trump the capitalist can’t be trusted so we need to trust Trump the politician to fix things. There is a role for regulatory control, but rest assured those controls almost never apply to politicians (which is why they are so dangerous).

In many ways, you acknowledge one of the singular truths of the Bible, that all men have “sinned” and fall short of the glory of God. Substitute the word “selfish” for sin and you understand capitalism. In the end, that puts you alongside Christians in their view of mankind.

Capitalism is not inherently evil, it only seeks to satisfy what people want (selfish desire) by providing them what they want an affordable “cost”. “Selfish consumers” want the best possible quality at the lowest possible price and selfish producers anguish over how to do that at a “profit”.

How often when the average person buys a product, does that person spend a lot of time worrying about how much money the person who made it earned (unless they think the person is making to much). Do they wonder why a shirt is so “cheap”. You attack the wealthy as somehow different from the rest, when they are just like everyone else, just more successful.

Now you do raise an interesting issue. American capitalism hails from Europe and European capitalism grew up alongside Christianity. For centuries Christian beliefs exercised a lot of “control” over capitalism. Some of that control was expressed in what was called “just price” theory. Under “just price” theory, there is a “fair” price one should charge and no more. Under unrestrained capitalism, the idea of “just price” goes out the window and the seller charges “what the market will bear”.

So perhaps what you are really lamenting is not capitalism, but the lost of Christian morals and values which acted as a control over “sin” (selfishness).What you are hoping for is that government will replace religion as the “moral” conscience of man. Sadly, I think you are misled and misleading others. Your issue is not with capitalism but with the loss of Christian values and morality (even if you do not subscribe to Christian religious beliefs). You want “compassionate” capitalists not despotic socialist leaders. That is the real issue that you are struggling with… to me the only way for that to happen will be if enough of us use our purchasing power to purchase from ethical companies whose behaviors we endorse… that does not mean they are not capitalistic but rather that they temper their capitalism with values and morality that cause them to do the “right thing”.

But relying on consumers to park their own selfish desires and do the “right” thing is equally difficult as trying to force producers to operate less selfishly or asking politicians to park their selfish desires at the door when they get elected.