Comments on: The Age of Vanderbilt http://www.onpointradio.org/2009/05/the-age-of-vanderbilt On Point is a live, two-hour morning news-analysis program, produced by WBUR 90.9 and NPR. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:01:09 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: JP http://www.onpointradio.org/2009/05/the-age-of-vanderbilt/comment-page-1#comment-17012 JP Thu, 14 May 2009 15:27:09 +0000 http://www.onpointradio.org/?p=14295#comment-17012 At least men like Vanderbilt actually built things that improved the lot of the country, even if he was ruthless in his ambition to create monopoly... very different from the wealthy today who build or create nothing, but instead manipulate only paper and illusion to enrich themselves at the expense of others. At least men like Vanderbilt actually built things that improved the lot of the country, even if he was ruthless in his ambition to create monopoly… very different from the wealthy today who build or create nothing, but instead manipulate only paper and illusion to enrich themselves at the expense of others.

]]> By: BHA http://www.onpointradio.org/2009/05/the-age-of-vanderbilt/comment-page-1#comment-17007 BHA Thu, 14 May 2009 15:07:57 +0000 http://www.onpointradio.org/?p=14295#comment-17007 Vanderbilt, like all other 'personal' capitalists, stretched any available law to his personal financial gain. Due to their greed and immoral actions, we have laws against monopolies. Every time some greedy person or corporation goes well beyond reasonable in their quest for money, the government has to make new laws to slow them down. The 'As long as I get mine' attitude is what drove the world economy into the toilet, started by the collapse of sub-prime mortgages but exacerbated by the greed of those packaging them as investments such that they could not be traced. There is a difference between Capitalism in the economic sense of earning and investing money to grow your business and the economy and Capitalism in the sense of "make ME rich" with no consideration for society as a whole. Vanderbilt, like all other ‘personal’ capitalists, stretched any available law to his personal financial gain. Due to their greed and immoral actions, we have laws against monopolies. Every time some greedy person or corporation goes well beyond reasonable in their quest for money, the government has to make new laws to slow them down.

The ‘As long as I get mine’ attitude is what drove the world economy into the toilet, started by the collapse of sub-prime mortgages but exacerbated by the greed of those packaging them as investments such that they could not be traced.

There is a difference between Capitalism in the economic sense of earning and investing money to grow your business and the economy and Capitalism in the sense of “make ME rich” with no consideration for society as a whole.

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