[Superman]

Friends, you know I hate to raise controversial concepts here, but I want to hear your thoughts. A friend recently mentioned something to me that will not exit my thoughts. He says that most societies, probably every society, contains people who are natural capitalists, and other people who gravitate toward socialism. Now, before you say "Duh!," let's look at that.

Some folks just want to live in harmony with other folks, be good stewards of the environment, watch out for each other, achieve synergy (2 + 2 = 5), be happy, be secure, help and be helped. Barn raising, pooling our money to build schools, roads, etc. We're not willing to take something that someone else can better use, just because we can. Competition is fine, but it's more of a sport than a lifestyle.

Then there is another group. Take what you can get/defend/keep. Life itself is a competitive game not a cooperative game.

The socialists like to live in a community of socialists
The capitalists understand each other.
The capitalists are semi-happy living in a community with socialists, though they consider the socialists to be non-contributors and whiners.
But the socialists detest the presence of the selfish capitalists. If these people are competitors rather than cooperators, then they'll eventually win by sucking up all the money and other resources.

So, these two groups cannot effectively coexist in the long run.

And maybe we're seeing that played out on this ball-shaped community, not just nationally.

discuss.......