Someone will have to make the guillotines

It is very sad to see capitalism die. It is even sadder to see it replaced by something odious that walks and talks in its name.

There is no capitalism if some actors are not allowed to fail. There is no capitalism if gains are private and losses are public.

There is no Democracy if elected officials of all colors reverse their pledges once in power. There is no Democracy if irreversible measures are passed shamelessly against the clear will of the people.

There is nothing worse than taking the same position whatever the state of reality. The current situation should not be fought by communists who think -wrongly- that what they are fighting is capitalism. It should be fought by capitalists and democrats of all sorts who realize that capitalism and democracy have been murdered and replaced by a cleptocracy, run by feudal lords, where all but the few at the top are to be medieval serfs.

As things are, there is no shame in fighting alongside the communists, socialists, anarchists (or for that matter their equivalents in the right) even if they are fighting for the wrong reasons - there will be time to reform our lines later on. It is far more shameful to fight, by mere habit, by the side of those who happen to carry the flags we once stood by. A political party is not a football club. There is no lifetime allegiance to a flag or a denomination, but to a principle. People in all these camps can certainly agree that we do not deem acceptable to spend the rest of our lifes in medieval serfdom for the benefit of a few rich criminals - those of us with libertarian inclinations should agree with that most of all.

It is not capitalism if winners are fixed; it is not capitalism without social mobility; it is not capitalism without meritocracy; it is not capitalism if the tough rules of the market are not obeyed by all equally.

It is not capitalism at all. It is just a few rich people who got to the top, who then failed miserably, and rather than accept the market's verdict, bought the politicians and got the state to bear their losses. Not content with that, they get even richer, ruin the rest of us, and dare to call for cuts in the very social programs that are more than ever needed to help the people they have ruined. That these very same criminals should dare speak of "fiscal responsibility", while again indulging in their bonuses, is a cruel joke. That politicians should claim that they cannot interfere with the free market - when they interfered beyond all reason to preserve these people, and in doing so ruined their nations! - is all the proof that is needed that they are in their pockets. It is not capitalism, and it is not democracy. It is a bunch of rich people who took over the system for themselves. It is nothing less than a coup.

I predict that if this isn't stopped soon, at least some new manufacturing jobs will arise. Someone will have to make the guillotines.