Naked Capitalism has published the post Democracy. Capitalism. Socialism. Choose Any Three of the Above by Steve Roth. Roth concludes with the following thought about people who want to eradicate one or more of the three choices:

But regardless of their relative political power, all of these ill-considered, utopian, faith-based, tribalistic anti-isms are a bane on the body politic. At this point in our evolution, capitalism, socialism, and democracy are necessary for any country’s prosperity, economic freedom, and economic well-being. And they all need improvement — just as we’ve been fitfully improving things for hundreds, even thousands of years.

When I voted for Barack Obama, I thought I was voting for a balanced politician. I liked his supposedly leftist positions, but I also thought that he understood the benefits of capitalism well enough to not want to abolish it. Little did I know that he appreciated capitalism so much that he could not see its flaws that needed correction.

I also like Roth’s explanation of what a politico/economic system is for.

Assume for the moment: the dream-goal of a polity, or at least of an economy, is to deliver widespread or even universal thriving and prosperity, economic security, and economic well-being.