Summations Only

I believe there is veracity to that statement. However, the removal of individual initiative can occur in both capitalist and socialist models.Consider for example the amount of money that pours in from special interests such as big oil, pharma, the coal lobby, and so forth and how their efforts do much to stifle innovation in areas that would be deemed a threat to the bottom line of these institutions. Now that Citizens United was ratified by SCOTUS, we literally have created a situation where money, and who has the most of it, can dictate policy in our country.So sure, pure communism is destined to fail. But a pure oligarchy will fair no better IMO.

Combined with dictatorships. What is ironic is that one of the things that kept things somewhat 'afloat' in communist countries was the black market, as it fostered at least some level of bartering in exchange for certain services. Which is one of the things that Karl Marx mentioned. Not that I am any fan of his, it is a concern in a capitalist system in that a few corporations become so large, they actually begin to squash competition and absorb anything that might be a threat. And if either of those fail, they leverage their influence to push politicians to ratify their agenda. (Koch Brothers)
Guess that essentially demonstrates that if you are 'Too Big To Fail', it means you are TOO BIG.Too be fair, it's not like this situation is unique to the United States. It just seem more pervasive nowadays as the lobbying engine has grown to ridiculous proportions in recent years, combined with that asinine Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court.

My suspicion is attempting to ratify any such amendment would be an exercise in futility. My suggestion is to attack the cancer directly, which would be to severely curtail the lobbying of congress. How that could occur exactly, I am not certain. But ultimately, the lobbying of members of congress directly causes far more damage than a few billionaires like that asshat Sheldon Adelson, trying to sway an election by donating to a Super-PAC.

Anyone notice this lunatic Congressman threatening a reporter? And yes, he is a Republican.

Question: since the Birther in Chief (Donald Trump) and his rag-tag bunch of rube crazies have already established that someone not born in the USA cannot run for President of the United States, then how come Canadian born Ted Cruz appears to be exempt from any scrutiny?Oh yeah, I forgot. He's Republican and he's white. Edited by Diomedes, : Additional image added.

I agree.I have an Aunt and Uncle near me in Florida. They are retired and are pretty far-right Republicans. When the 2012 election was going through its paces, they thought with absolute certainty that Obama would be shown the door. Any poll that said otherwise was ignored. The dis-belief on their faces was epic when the final results came through.Note that they only news source they watch is Fox.