/atheism/ - Atheism

As an American I left high school economics with the simplistic message that capitalism is the best system and that Adam Smith said the marketplace is most efficient when people act in their self-interest. Of course, he wrote that in his first few pages of a thick book, and no one gets to the later parts where he talks about the exceptions like how unrestrained avarice can be detrimental to society.

The principal also applies to the marketplace, and says nothing about morality, or how we "should" act. The principal of "Tragedy of the Commons" demonstrates a circumstance where if everyone acts in their own interests a public resource can be depleted to the detriment of everyone. For example, when there are no pollution controls and every company is allowed to save money by polluting as much as they can, you end up with toxic rivers.

As I studied, I saw countless examples of companies screwing over everyone else to save money. Love Canal, Enron, Freddy Mac, and Walmart come to mind.
At the other extreme we all know Communism didn't work because of inefficient bureaucracies, and human laziness when working harder doesn't directly benefit you. That's why I'm now believe in a mixed economy, to bring my country closer to European models. We should continue to encouraging entrepreneurialism and competition, but there should be more income redistribution laws and taxes here, because otherwise helping the needy is always a minor afterthought for large companies.

More socialism is why most European countries have a better quality of life, especially in Scandinavia, and Germany's economy is also doing fine even though they have better laws to protect their laborers. Australia may have a slightly lower mean GPA than America, but they also higher medium GDP per capita than America, which means more people have enough money to have fewer hardships and be happier. Other countries generally live longer while paying less for healthcare, and there are safety nets and longer vacations.

With less extreme income inequality there is less conflict, fewer very poor people, fewer underpaid shift workers, and fewer super rich CEO kings that jet around in leer-jets while bragging about how much good they're doing with their philanthropy.

Any thoughts on the best economic system? Let's to keep the discussion more intelligent and use your own thoughts or research, without speaking the platitudes you heard lobbyists chanting on, say, Fox News.