>> And isn't that what capitalism is all about?
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> No, capitalism is about makeing a buck at any cost. Sweat shops are captialism unbound. The Black Market is unfettered Captialism. The idea that a economic theory that, when unregulated, leads to great suffering and abuse can be applyed to education is foolish. Part of capitalism is that each party becomes a preditior, captialism is based on the theory that someone is has to loose. Capitalism in education is a dangerous thing. And Private schools do compeate with Public schools already, if they want more students they can lower tuition. If a school distric has problem with teachers unions that is a whole other issue, stripping the school of funds isn't going to improve it.
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> Public schools are part of the goverments domain and the goverment has a responsibility to maintain and imrpove them. The school voucher system is just a way to pass the buck and shrink for that responsibility.
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> This rant brought to you by
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> Speed'I had a tough day'ball

/me steps onto the biggest soapbox he can find.

This is truly a gut-reaction interpretation. Capitalism in the strictest sense is an economic situation where individuals own the means of production. It is best encapsulated as, "Self-Interest." From a very liberal point of view, self-interest is reviled as selfishness. There are, however, very important distinctions. [Note: the near-definitive works on the ethics of self-interest are the 'novels' of Ayn Rand, who fled the USSR to come to the US] Self-interest never degrades others, and most especially never degrades one's self. Self-interest is seeking to be the best one can be; it sometimes requires great unselfishness.

Economic self-interest requires advancing the wealth of all people including oneself, for the reason that the market would otherwise fail, bringing one's ruin. Self-interest is by far the most efficient means to accomplish the goal of prosperity, as an individual can wield his or her own capital to far greater effect than a centralized agency. Part of this derives from the emotional attachment to personal property, the remainder results from faster turnaround and diversity of individuals' choices. Self-interest dictates discretion and wisdom, encouraging the populace to stay informed and enrich themselves educationally.

Self-interest in government mandates activity in political affairs and world scenes, again for the greatest personal benefit, which typically ensues from the greatest total benefit. (Freedom for all is the best guarantee of freedom for any.) An entire populace seeking their own self-interest maintains a strong control over their government, ensuring that laws are fair to all. When government strips individuals of the right to self-interest it creates dependancy on the system. Dependancy has a snowball effect for which powerful checks are necessary to retain freedom.

An effect of self-interest is that, by sheer luck if nothing else, some individuals will succeed and others will fail. Many current systems punish success by exacting higher and higher taxes as individuals gain wealth. This is absurd: far from decreasing the gap between rich and poor, such helps the gap to widen. The wealthy, following the same self-interest that made them wealthy in the first place, invest the money in ventures which benefit everyone. They hire more workers, raise wages, buy products, pay for services, deposit in stocks, give loans, lower prices, donate to charities, provide scholarships, improve the environment, increase competition, research new technologies, lobby for expanded trade, offer benefits, and create more wealth to put back in the cycle. (In short, trickledown economics works as long as people aren't liberal--"group gain" has a lowest common denominator effect.) Wealth is all that holds economies together; it is utterly illogical to hate the wealthy. [Note: I'm in the lower middle class.]

Monopolies offer short-term gain only. Given time, monopolies drive the economy down, and therefore are against self-interest. The black market destroys resources, and is therefore against self-interest. Sweatshops only thrive because of lack of competition/capitalism; sweatshop workers have no better opportunities.

Capitalism is not "making a buck at any cost." Capitalism is doing one's best to bring to fruit the greatest personal, and thereby total, gain possible.

gab"didn't proofread = weird writing"by