On Sun, 29 Apr 2007 18:00:46 +0200, Martin Hotze
wrote in :

On Sun, 29 Apr 2007 15:10:07 GMT, Larry Dighera wrote:

That is my point. Today's Capitalism demands that producers meet the
lowest price in the marketplace, or face insolvency.

And that, my friend, is exactly how it is supposed to work. MArxism
see things totally differently... the way you do in fact.

Unfortunately, you seem to be unable to understand my point of view at
all. I don't know how to make it any clearer for you.

Larry, what you try to explain is a system that some countries in Middle
Europe tried and still try. It is called something like social free-market
economy (it might got lost in translation).

Thank you for your input.

Unfortunately, I seem to not have made myself clear at all. I'm
describing the shortcomings of pure capitalism. I'm not advocating
any particular system or remedy. I'm just interested in discovering
how those shortcomings a of capitalistic system I mentioned might be
mitigated, so that ALL benefit, producers and consumers alike. After
all, producers are victims of ever decreasing prices just as consumers
are victims of the loss of US jobs.

As it is, the producer who is able to offer a product at the lowest
prices in the marketplace, regardless of the consequences to society
and the environment as a result of the methods used to achieve that
price reduction, effectively dictates the quality and ethics for ALL
producers of that product if they want to remain solvent.

Free market and capitalism at every price is not always the best way to go.

I have no problem with free-market capitalism if it doesn't drive
better and more responsibly produced products from the marketplace and
export US jobs to other countries.

As you stated, in some cases
it might make sense to buy local (for different reasons: to save jobs and
generate money locally, to cut transportation, to cut down emission on
transport, ...). Some people go directly to the farmer and buy their
products off the farm at higher prices than the 'same' product would cost
in the supermarket. There are different reasons for doing so.

Yes. Recently consumers have begun so have the choice of buying the
at the lowest price, or buying the best or most responsibly produced
product. I would like to find a way to reward those producers who
want to produce quality, responsibly produced goods made with US
labor, so that impact of their reduced market share is mitigated.