"Rage Against the Capitalist Machinery"

What do you think about the current protests of different anti-capitalist groups and their rage against the Wall Street greedy profit seeking bankers?  From what I have seen these protesters don't seem to have a very well defined set of beliefs other than that some bankers and businessmen make too much money and this money should be given to the government or to "the people" in general. If the capitalist system were replaced; what would you folks want to replace it with? Are you willing to give up your freedom of speech and assembly to an even greater central command and control economy if this centralized economic bureaucracy made sure that everyone received the same wages no matter what job they performed? (Except of course the political leaders as some people are more equal than others).

Are profits bad or evil? In a capitalist system, you are paid based on what the marketplace dictates through matching the wants and needs of the populace who can freely decide the goods and services that they wish to consume with the money that they earn from whatever field of enterprise people choose to engage in to support themselves.  Would you rather have the central government decide for you what you  can or cannot buy and what job and what wage you shall be paid?

Does the government really know better than the market economy the best way to allocate goods and services and balance the supply and demand of these goods and services?  Governments have no incentive to be efficient in their use of tax monies that they receive as the government workers do not have to answer to the marketplace or to shareholders. Plus, if a government agency were efficient then this agency wouldn't receive the same amount of money for the next budget cycle.

If the protesters don't like the "fat cat Wall Street bankers" then they are free to take their banking business elsewhere. Most things in life can be substituted with for something else. For example, if you are upset over the cost of gas, then don't buy gasoline. You can walk, ride a bike, or get a horse, burro, or camel. You can hire someone to take you on a rickshaw ride. You can convert to a grease car or buy an electric car.

If the protesters were successful in their efforts against the greedy capitalists to restrict corporate profits then what is the incentive to work hard or take business risks and capital investment to try to grow a business enterprise? Why bother to work to improve production of goods and services if the government will not let you be rewarded for your efforts. Do the protesters think people like Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney and other personalities are grossly overpaid?

It is fun to rail against "the establishment" when you are young and think that you can "change the world". "The whole world's watching, the whole world's watching, the whole world's watching". "Hey, hey, ho,ho, capitalist pigs have got to go!" But, unless you want to go back to a lower standard of living, and live off the land, grow all your own food, as all the business owners give up their companies then "raging against the capitalist machine" can have consequences as sometimes when you tear down something all you are left with is trash, garbage, or a worse situation than the present state of affairs. It is said that the only constant is change, but, change is not always for the better.