Is capitalism in the best interest of our country?

Pure Capitalism, and even restricted Capitalism, as the best form of economic policy is a thought conflict. We have learned this lesson many times and forgotten the lesson just as many. The most recent learning we as a society have encountered is the banking crisis we are experiencing. We now hate banks, even though they are a product of the Capitalist system we love so much.

Banks are and always will get rich off of a service they provide to the community. The community needs the services and will continue to support them. The community also ironically has a say in how the banks treat the people they serve, via public shares held claiming ownership in many of the national banks. Yet, as with voting, people either under utilize or mis utilize their rights as citizens and would rather complain than act.

While it's easy to see the ginormous profits the banks continually make on people as a whole and complain they are not serving the best interest of said people, they are serving the best interest of those people that matter most. Share holders. Share holders dictate what banks do, in that they want the banks to make as much money as possible. This unambiguous and unifying theme is the only real regulation on the bank. Sure there are superfluous regulations instituted by the Government, but they are easily manipulated. So, in the end the banks do all in their power to make as much money as they can. It is the definition of Capitalism.

Capitalism breeds greed and corruption. When people start to make money they want more and more of it. Not understanding their role in stock ownership, shareholders tell banks to make as much money as possible hoping they can make money along with them. When in reality any money they make from the stock price increase they will lose when the bank takes them up the backside with fees and interest on something.

Even with all this outrage about the banks, we are left with the two mainstays of the American dream. Green and Capitalism. They shall never be spoken ill of and they will always remain the driving force in this nation.