Defending Capitalism

One thing that I get frustrated about is the seemingly universal practice of maligning that which benefits one most. It happens a lot regarding the United States, but here I'm especially thinking about capitalism in general. Here at the University of Sussex, it's generally assumed that we're all a bunch of happy anti-capitalists. I was once approached by a young woman who asked if I wanted to recieve some free issues of some magazine or other. Hip to her jive, I asked if it was generally anti-capitalist. She looked at me as if I had just asked the faith of the Pope. I declined the offer.

Here's a nice piece by Clive Crook (oh the irony) that asks a question I've been asking since I got here: "Why Does Capitalism Get Such A Bum Rap?"

Personally, I blame Marx. And also, as the article suggests, a pervasive forgetfulness concerning a little thing called the 20th century.