Greedism #OWS

Generally, I'm a fan of capitalism. I like knowing I have the freedom to innovate anything I want and try to sell it, should I ever think of a fantastic idea that will help society and, in turn, my wallet. But rampant greed and government corruption have perverted our financial system into something that's called "capitalism" but really isn't -- I'm not sure what to call our system, actually. Feudalism? Greedism?

For example, in our financial system it would be incredibly difficult for someone as poor as me to raise the capital needed to found a business. Personally, I can't even get a credit card right now -- nevermind a business loan. But suppose I did have an idea, a business plan, and a loan and got off the ground. What happens then?

Further growth requires that other investors believe in my ideas, which is why capitalism works well in conjunction with democracy because investors are able to vote with their dollars. If investors believe my ideas are profitable, they are supposed to be able to invest in my company by purchasing stock in hopes that my ideas will cause the stock price to grow, increasing the return on their investment. And with stock dollars giving me a fresh infusion of capital, I am supposed to invest that capital in growing my business: hiring more people, producing more products, and selling more stuff.

As long as a business grows, everyone's happy. Right? Investors are richer, the company is growing, and more jobs are created. In a capitalist system, everyone should be happy with this.

You would think.

What if I told you a month ago that you could invest in a business whose quarterly performance would increase by 39% compared to last year, ending at $29.28 billion in revenue. Additionally, that company just released a new product which sold 4 million units in three days, breaking sales records. If you had the clairvoyance to see that all of this would happen, would you believe in the company? Would you jump at a chance to buy that stock?

Well, if you bought Apple stock last month, you would have lost money yesterday because the stock price lost 6.5% of its value. Why? Because investors didn't think Apple grew fast enough.

Yes. Really.

Ponder that notion for a minute or two, then ask yourself exactly just how greedy are the one percent? Then ask how democratic this system is, since people like you and I -- who would invest in such a company based on how they are growing right now -- are too busy cobbling together enough money to eat, so we don't have the money needed to voice our opinions on an open market.

That's not capitalism, that's an extreme addiction to money that needs to be recognized as a mental illness. After society recognizes this as an illness, it must be treated with medication, therapy, and in some cases temporary institutionalization of the sick.

Instead, our politicians and media embrace this sickness. They claim it's normal capitalism -- and that's the problem.