Kos

Daily Kos: post is by Rick Shreiner, who says, “I am unique, like everybody else.” My comments are not enclosed in quotes but R. Shreiner’s are. So, use the quote marks to verify that. Fonts are flawed on blogspot and difficult to work with (in my opinion).

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A basic tenet of free-market capitalism, as practiced in the US, follows the Darwinian principle of "survival of the fittest."  Each economic entity, whether completely new, or some variation of an existing concept, must, like every additional species in our evolutionary chain, squeeze out competitors to assure their own survival.   

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But, if that were the case you would be drummed out of some industries. In other cases, people just would not like you and you would not be a success. In the real world, this is already impossible. Certain persons may or may not say that capitalism is like this, but there is no such capitalism. Even if some of these persons claim they are only doing pure competition, nevertheless they are not. They usually get all kind of help and have all kinds of friends, which is why historical “capitalism” works in the first place.

“Those that most successfully adapt to market demand tend to thrive   ”

Such a one is not adapting to market demand, he is adapting to his society.

Although few persons  “   would actually deny the value and importance of free market economies, almost every consumer should [would also] demand that pursuit of profit must maintain ethical standards beyond reproach.  ”

This is impossible. Beyond reproach? They won’t get that demand satisfied of course. (He is Swedish; “should” may read more like “would” here.) No one has that kind of control. What limits unethical behavior is only society. The society itself is the only thing that can limit that. This would happen in an informal “cultural” way. Unfortunately there is always corruption in the capitalistic system such as we have seen in the last two centuries. It needs to be minimized, but it is regulated in a more innate, cultural way, by the society itself, not by cops or something.

Again on the topic of corruption, or, this time faulty products for which the profit motive is to blame: “

consumers often have negligible influence    “

Society has to be the influence. No, consumers do not have much influence, in a narrow way, but the relationship is more system-wide.

He (the Kos author) makes capitalism the enemy. If so, who is the friend? It is government. So, that is a problem with the piece. It is unclear who is the friend or source of help or succor. The people? The gov.? Who, then? You have to locate capitalism a little differently----more within the fabric of the society itself.