The End of the Consumer Church in America

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It would serve the common good to make more when there is a high demand.
 
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Hildebrand:
It would serve the common good to make more when there is a high demand.
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And that is exactly what happens – when the demand (and prices) go up, more suppliers enter the market.

Which is why buying up a lot of homes and letting them deteriorate unoccupied is a money-losing strategy.
 
vern humphrey:
Which is why buying up a lot of homes and letting them deteriorate unoccupied is a money-losing strategy.
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People buy a few properties in booming markets and wait a few months. Then they sell it at a higher price.

If you say this does not happen, then I agree… it should not happen. 😉
 
vern humphrey:
And that is exactly what happens – when the demand (and prices) go up, more suppliers enter the market.
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And I am not saying that our economic system never serves the common good. However, the common good is not much of a motivator here.

Many of the motivators are greed, sloth, lust, and avarice.
 
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Hildebrand:
People buy a few properties in booming markets and wait a few months. Then they sell it at a higher price.

If you say this does not happen, then I agree… it should not happen. 😉
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Absent any proof that there are a significant number of houses sitting unoccupied and kept off the market, I think we can agree that by and large it doesn’t happen.
 
vern humphrey:
Absent any proof that there are a significant number of houses sitting unoccupied and kept off the market, I think we can agree that by and large it doesn’t happen.
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Then my point about it is moot in this debate. 😃
 
vern humphrey:
See how educational these forums are?
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Yep, I learned that during the housing boom, people did not buy a few homes and soon after sell them to make money. 😉
 
vern humphrey:
From your previous posts, I think I might be pardoned for thinking you meant it when you said you didn’t “believe in free trade” and wanted tariffs to prevent other countries from selling goods that could be produced here.http://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon12.gif
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This time I wanted to avoid an off-topic debate concerning China’s persecution of Christians, forced abortions, military threat, etc.
 
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Hildebrand:
This time I wanted to avoid an off-topic debate concerning China’s persecution of Christians, forced abortions, military threat, etc.
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Let me explain. Free Trade is a generic policy. You seem to be proposing that if **any **nation persecutes Christians and so on, then ALL nations should be penalized.
 
vern humphrey:
Let me explain. Free Trade is a generic policy. You seem to be proposing that if **any **nation persecutes Christians and so on, then ALL nations should be penalized.
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Those who advocate free trade want free trade with virtually everyone, including potential enemies.
 
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Hildebrand:
Those who advocate free trade want free trade with virtually everyone, including potential enemies.
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You have some proof for that wild, broadbrush statement?
 
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Hildebrand:
I plead the home-buyers. 😃
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I now know free traders are opposed to free trade with China. Thanks for the correction, VH. Where did I come up with an idea like that? 😉

(Real enemies: Iran, Syria, North Korea etc

Potential enemies: China)
 
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Hildebrand:
I plead the home-buyers. 😃
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That isn’t proof.

You said:
Originally Posted by Hildebrand
Those who advocate free trade want free trade with virtually everyone, including potential enemies.
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That isn’t even related to home buyers – and certainly your response doesn’t amount to the proof you were asked for.
 
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Hildebrand:
If Canada has a socialized health care system, then we Americans have a socialized education system. Vouchers would help break our social educational system and give Americans more freedom of choice.
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I agree 100%. However this is called competitiion not co-operation. Schools compete for parent’s vouchers by offering the highest quality of education for the lowest price. Co-operation leads to cartels and price-fixing.
Catholic schools produce a high quality education at a relatively low price. This is not achieved through competition, but cooperation.
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Again this is NOT co-operation, unless you can tell me who they are co-operating with. The Church is not profit driven but morally driven to provide education. For many decades it achieved this through the use of unpaid religious. Now with lay teachers there educational bill is enormous which is why here in Australia they accept government money and so sadly have become state schools run by the Church. The Church has a moral obligation to provide education as part of its calling. Others do not.
Imagine if Catholic Schools were run as profit driven factories.
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See above
Real world example of cooperation within a certain industry would be the guild system.
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I repeat you seem to know little of history. The guild system was a closed shop which encouraged price-fixing, discouraged new entries into the market and imposed excessive regulation on their industries. The guild system was not destroyed by capitalism it collapsed on its own because of its inefficiencies.
What is desireable is the restoration a guild-like system (cooperative associations of small capitalists) as a non-governmental regulatory agency… promoting cooperation within industry toward the common good.
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This is just naive. Maybe if we were all Christian living in a communal utopia this might just work. But in an imperfect world this is just a recipe for tyranny. Who decides what is the common good? What penalties will apply to those who don’t co-operate for the common good? Will people be coerced into working for the common good? Remember the Communist system was designed to promote the “common good” as were numerous communal experiments - they ALL failed.
Get rid of much of the government (federal and state) regulatory agencies. They hurt more than they help.
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On this however we agree.
 
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