Off Topic - cultural enrichment fridays on ORACLE-L (Churchill/Capitalism)

re: ongoing series: cultural enrichment Fridays on ORACLE-L

For your edification, scorn, or whatever:

http://www.cp-tel.net/miller/BilLee/quotes/Churchill.html

  "Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in    this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is    perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is    the 'worst' form of Government except all those others that have    been tried..."

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more quotes:

http://www.cyber-nation.com/victory/quotations/authors/quotes_churchill_wi= nston.html

---

http://www.cyber-nation.com/victory/quotations/subjects/quotes_capitalism.=
html

                    Making capitalism out of socialism is like making eggs=
 out of an
                    omelet.

                                         ~ Vadim Bakatin ~

                    Capitalism without bankruptcy is like Christianity wit=
hout hell.

                                          ~ Frank Borman ~

                    The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing=
 of blessings; the
                    inherent vice of socialism is the equal sharing of mis=
eries.



                                        ~ Winston Churchill ~


                    History suggests that capitalism is a necessary condit=
ion for political
                    freedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition.

                                         ~ Milton Friedman ~

                    Capital is a result of labor, and is used by labor to =
assist it in further
                    production. Labor is the active and initial force, and=
 labor is therefore
                    the employer of capital.

                                          ~ Henry George ~

                    The unpleasant and unacceptable face of capitalism.

                                          ~ Edward Heath ~

                    Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capita=
l is only the fruit
                    of labor, and could never have existed if labor had no=
t first existed.
                    Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much th=
e higher
                    consideration. Capital has its rights, which are as wo=
rthy of protection
                    as any other rights.



                                        ~ Abraham Lincoln ~


                    Capital is money, capital is commodities. By virtue of=
 it being value,
                    it has acquired the occult ability to add value to its=
elf. It brings forth
                    living offspring, or, at the least, lays golden eggs.

                                           ~ Karl Marx ~

                    Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the =
sacred
                    principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim=
: The fortunate
                    must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over=
 the unfortunate.

                                         ~ Bertrand Russell ~

                    The far right seeks to retain the material progress of=
 American
                    capitalism while removing some of its crucial causes a=
nd consequences
                    -- as though a bridge could be made to change part of =
its function by
                    blowing up part of its supports and part of its exit.

                                          ~ Ronald Segal ~

                    The first rule of venture capitalism should be Shoot t=
he Inventor.



                                        ~ Sir Richard Storey ~


                    What breaks capitalism, all that will ever break capit=
alism, is
                    capitalists. The faster they run the more strain on th=
eir heart.



                                        ~ Raymond Williams ~


------

http://www.winstonchurchill.org/cconwash.htm

excerpts:

Churchill=92s Relevance

Jack Kemp: Churchill always swam in deep waters. The essence of his 
vision was freedom. His greatest contribution was to preserve it from 
extinction by rallying people behind a noble cause. Imagine if there 
had been no Churchill to rally the British people and the West to 
defend the cause of freedom and defeat Nazism. Some modern writers 
would have us believe the British Empire would have thrived under 
Hitler=92s boot. That=92s not history =97that=92s nonsense.  

For Churchill, freedom was the organizing principle of international 
affairs. It was also his lodestar in domestic politics. And it found 
its most consistent expression in Churchill=92s commitment to 
capitalism. Churchill sought no "third way" or "middle path" between 
capitalism and socialism. "If you penalize the spirit of individual 
daring and initiative," he said, "then you are, in fact, abandoning 
the capitalist system, and you ought [to] go to the other extreme and 
weave the whole industry of the country into one vast structure under 
state planning."  

But Churchill=92s vision of capitalism was not a Darwinian struggle 
where the strong thrive and the weak suffer. His model of compassion 
was the good shepherd. In his conservative philosophy, a nation could 
not advance while leaving others behind. "We want to draw a line," he 
said, "below which we will not allow persons to live and labour, yet 
above which they may compete with all the strength of their manhood. 
We want to have free competition upwards; we decline to allow free 
competition to run downwards. We do not want to pull down the 
structures of science and civilization, but to spread a net over the 
abyss.  

These are some of the direct and vital contributions of Churchill to 
the debates of today: an obligation to maintain a strong defense; a 
belief in Western leadership to expand democracy; a commitment to 
capitalism for the sake of everyone in society. Those who think that 
conservatism only meant anti-communism only know half the story. We 
must do more than just stand against something. Our mission is to 
stand for something=97to be that "city on a hill," as President Reagan 
said so many times. That vision of freedom is the idea for which 
Churchill lived his life. All defenders of freedom stand on Sir 
Winston=92s shoulders. And thank God we have the International 
Churchill Society to perpetuate his legacy and to remind us never to 
"splash in shallow waters."  

...

    Reading Churchill

Patrick Powers: Great Contemporaries, published 1937/38, is too 
little known and appreciated for its political thoughtfulness. 
Churchill was a master at writing concretely about modern political 
life in a way which succeeded simultaneously in entertaining large 
numbers of decent democratic citizens and at the same time in 
exploring the deeper political question of whether or not liberal 
democracy is capable of being guided by first principles and governed 
by politicians of the first order who can comprehend, persuasively 
articulate, and effectively implement those principles. [It is] 
directly relevant for our current educational and political debate 
about the worth of studying dead males (and females) .... Churchill 
gives an unambiguously affirmative response. Of course he takes it