The problem is unregulated capitalism, it consumes all that it touches and turns it into a commodity regardless of whether that makes any human sense or not. The lesson of King Midas would seem to have been lost on the people who promote this aspect of the market as something positive. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
Kevin Phillips, in Wealth and Democracy, has traced variants of this pattern as far back as 14th century Italy. It's like a bad software program in it's 10th iteration, chock full of all sorts of interesting "features."
Billy Ray Valentine caught the essence of the game in Trading Places:
"Oh, see, I made Louis a bet here. See, Louis bet me that we couldn't both get rich and put y'all in the poor house at the same time. He didn't think we could do it. I won." "When the abyss stares at me, it wets its pants." Brian Hopkins
