Ed, I like your post. A great qoute from Dylan: "Do I have any important philosophy for the world? Are you kidding? The world don't need me. Christ, I'm only five feet ten." I think capitalism is ambiguous enough in its ideologies that it creates both good and bad. One of the fundamental priciples behind capitalism is that everybody, from any class, has the oppurtunity to become wealthy. If you compare capitalism to the feudal systems that came before its beginnings, this is true to a degree. Unlike a feudal system, where people were born into wealth, and there was no upwards mobility of peasants, capitalism allows anybody to get a job, earn money, and become wealthy. However, what this ignores is that people still do not have equal oppurtunity to earn money. What I think a government in a capitalist society is responsible for is to see that as many people as possible do have this chance, that people are not born into poverty. The other problem is that when people do earn money, they feel that they deserve it because they worked hard. This seems fair enough, but it creates a feeling that if other people are not wealthy, it is because they didn't work hard enough. To compound this, people seem to think that just because they have the right to keep all the money they earn, that it is necessarily the right thing to do. People confusing rights with what is in the public interest is a big problem, as seen in litigation cases. I may have the right to sue someone, but does it mean that I should? Bill Gates (who is relatively philanthropic) does have a right to keep all of his 128 billion dollars, but is it serving the community that he do so? Just my little thoughts, I hope I don't come across as to confrontational, I am merely ruminating.