The Wire

David Simon on where the show goes next

marc0ni...

Excellent article, although I'd take issue with Simon's assertion that
the Greek represented any form of "capitalist." He was a Vice lord,
pure and simple. Dealing in the Vice trade is not equivalent to
providing goods and services that people need.

massello...

Sure it is. It's just doing so outside legal boundaries. The rational
pursuit of self-interest without regard to anything else might be called
"pure" capitalism, but it is also sociopathic capitalism.

Ian Galbraith...

Pure capitalism is sociopathic.

marc0ni...

Except Simon doesn't make any distinctions between "sociopathic"
capitalism and healthier forms of capitalism. For instance, capitalism
makes it possible for more people than just the "rich" to fund
charities.

tomcervo...

Trouble is, all we see is decent capitalists being undercut and shived
by cutthroat capitalists. Every county has seen the local merchant,
with an old family history of fair dealing and communtiy spirit, run
over by WalMart or another mass chain.
The story of America in the last half of the cnetury has been the
transformation of citizens into consumers, and we're living with the
results.

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Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity
opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment.

Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.

...Albert Einstein