Re: Take Back Your Time Day

Constantinople wrote:
>
>It's state funding of the arts. It is not capitalism, it's tax-and-spend. Did 
>you really need to dig into ancient history to find *this* example? If this 
>is really your example, why didn't you bring up the National Endowment for 
>the Arts? And the fact that tax-and-spend is not capitalism, does not rest on 
>your idea that capitalism is the accumulation of money. In fact, the king 
>does accumulate money, and he does invest it (in armor and castles). So your 
>example is doubly confused. Your definition fails to explain why the king's 
>funding of the arts is not capitalism; in contrast my definition explains it, 
>since my definition excludes taxation, since taxes are not trade.


Seems to me that a lot of people willingly pay taxes in exchange for
social services and representation.  

I think your definition falls short of the mark, too.  If enough
people were to trade exclusively with one company for their services
we would soon see an encompassing, coercive social order imposed by
that company, similar to the State in many aspects.

Along with taxation your definition of capitalism might well exclude
union dues, investment, and debt.

Perhaps you are meaning to define capitalism as any form of trade
which does not imply a social order?