Originally Posted by Ch'i

But what do you think about the shootings Ustwo?

Originally Posted by rofgilead

Ustwo:

I just don't see how capitalism will change how governments choose to operate though?

Both Russia and China now have a market economy - and both are maintaining hardline political control over free expression and political discourse. Both countries have corrupt legal systems that benefit the ruling political party and prevent citizens from holding their governments accountable for tragedies and massacres.

The 80's viewpoint was that the free market economy fixed political problems. This was another utopian viewpoint like communism - and it has in all cases failed to acheive positive political effects. In the United States the free market failed to magically make the environment cleaner - it required political regulation of industry to make this occur. In Russia, the government has basically become totalitarian under the rule of Putin, even with a free market. In China, the central government is just as powerful if not more since the introduction of the market economy.

And further - global free trade was supposed to solve the problems of international relations. Has it? No - in the United States we have lost our entire manufacturing industry (which is serious, if we ever were in another large war - we need manufacturing). And we have become politically handcuffed regarding China - they pay for our enormous Trillion-dollar federal debt (not deficit - which is 200billion) by ownership of bonds. And our economy relies enormously on China's cheap goods, so we can't say politically unfavorable things to China or have any negociating power regarding countries like North Korea.

The market is the market - its not a political solution