Robert Reich,The Bain of Capitalism

From Robert Reich (The Bain of Capitalism), from his website:

If what Bain Capital did under Romney was bad for society, the burden shifts to Romney’s critics to propose laws that would prevent Bain and other companies from doing such bad things in the future.

Don’t hold your breath.

This gets to the nut of it, I think: capitalism is not, or at least need not be, synonymous with the kind of rapacity and greed that makes it simply about making money. It’s fine to make money/profit, if you are doing so by enriching your community or nation. Even John Galt and his acolytes  provided services and materials – and did it better than anyone else. That was whence came their authority – NOT from their capacity to make money. If you make money by providing quality goods and services, meeting needs and wants, I will get in line to pat you on the back. If you make money at the expense of the welfare of others, by depriving people of the ability to provide goods and services, then how are you different from the Somali pirates or your garden variety con man or armed robber?

Certainly there is nothing fiscally conservative in that kind of plundering.