QUOTE(mipadi @ Apr 1 2009, 10:13 PM)

Oh, sure it's worked -- for the bourgeois. Capitalism has done its job of keeping rich white men rich, there's no doubt about that. But the working classes? Capitalism supplies them with just enough to keep them from doing anything drastic about their situation. Plus, the working classes are socialized through education, etc., to believe that they can improve their situation merely by working hard.
Well, it is true that if you do work hard enough, i.e. get an education and better your situation financially, and know how to manage your assets, you can make a good living. Sure you will still be in the working class, but you can be more than just categorized as 'having enough to keep from doing anything drastic.'
I honestly, don't think that we can blame the government whole heartedly for our situation going on right now, and probably past times. We as a society, I feel, are no longer taking the responsibility for ourselves that we should. We've become accustomed to new programs, and relying on the government for provisions, and I feel that the government is not there to provide, but to protect.
The government shouldn't be worrying about the homeless, or widows, or elderly. That's up to the community to volunteer and come together and provide. Sure that might be a form of socialism, but at least it's not enforced. I feel that over time and through the generations our society has become desensitized and now we've got these ideas that the state should provide for us, and they are through various programs. They shouldn't. The government should protect. That's what laws are for. Protection.