@powder For the most part yes, better than socialism. Most inventions and innovations etc exist today because of free market capitalism, which encourages competition among businesses. Socialism is nothing more than redistribution of wealth, and no one else has any right to my hard earned income.

@powder The government has no business bailing out the banks, but that's another story. I never "exploited" any resources at the jobs I had worked at, you're stretching credibility on that one, and besides resources were meant to be used. On the outside government control of utilities appears good, but more often than not throughout history when governments gained that much power tyranny and or absolute control over the citizens occured. I don't know where you live, but the US government was not setup to be a socialist machine, government is for running basic financial needs as a country and to address any grievances the people may have. I suppose it was a little harsh to say all of socialism has failed... afterall, it did succeed at establishing bigger government and making people more dependent on said government. Don't blame capitalism for the wrongdoings of government officials/politicians. Competition is good, the prices of consumer goods are kept in check, lack of competition spurs unreasonable prices that hardly anyone except the extreme wealthy could afford. As for the last part of your comment, I couldn't tell if you were asking a question or stating a point, your last sentence was jumbled there, replace what? Editing your comment did not make the last part any clearer.

@powder Those services are fine where I'm from, and there aren't many other countries who have what we have and run their country like we do. When the government controls utilities like those, that's not freedom. I personally know someone who was US born but moved to a country that is socialist, and she regrets her decision and wants to move back. If more countries went the free market route like we do, we would have something more to compare with.