THE ESSENCE OF CAPITALISM

mmm. I'm not convinced the boy's parents were poor by Russian standards, albeit to afford it they could well have been cash poor in Russia (but not in offshore Cyprus bank accounts). It is, after all, wildly expensive to send a child to a foreign boarding school (particularly a top English public school...) for many years and then pay in full for their overseas university education. They would have to been saving for hundreds of years (and hiding the money from the Communists during those years) to have managed that on an average Russian income.

Ivanhoe. Why do you put slashes /// around your typed words? It makes you appear aggressive, and I'm sure you are not.

Rabbitstew. I was saying that even thought this young boy of 16 had poor parents, he told me that they had saved for years to put him into a top public school, so that he could attend our universities. (the school being linked to top universities).

I was saying even in a country like Russia, were it seems if you are poor you have very little mobility, one can get on, with strong parents behind you.

[in how it is possible for others to gang up on someone and make them sound like a troll when these people are not being entirely reasonable themselves.]

Not sure it's helpful to introduce the former Soviet Union and the Cold War into the discussion? Particularly with reference to any side "winning" the Cold War, when neither side managed to cover itself in glory. I don't think ivanhoe answering these questions would be staying on the initial subject, tbh. Not that I have any helpful opinions on the initial OP! Just interested in how it is possible to gang up on someone and make them sound like a troll when under the surface they are not being entirely reasonable, themselves.

Will now slink off to bed...

Not sure I understand your point about ex-communist Russia and a Russian boy at a top English public school, complimentary?

Ivanhoe. I can see where you are coming from. I was brought up extremely poor (but then all of my freinds were). I lost my mother at 10 and my father brought us all up.
I did two degrees of my own back without the help of my father, who bless him, was so proud I could get into prestigious universities (as a mature student). I have done very well.

My sister on the other hand is sometimes completely defeatist and sometimes tries to push her defeatist attitude onto her neices! Where as I insist my neice has the brains to go to university she says" I don't think she'll go" She does not dare say it about my children, as she knows what she would get!
Sometimes I think she will doff her cap, if she ever passes a student from Eton! Do you get my drift?
I have visted Russia, an ex-communist state,
I did not like what I saw, the poor are so down trodden. I spoke to a boy recently from Russia who boarded at a top public school , his parents had scrimped and scraped to send him there. Here I believe with the will and the determination (and encouragement of freinds and family) you can do well for yourself. You have to have the drive to do it though. I've done it in extremely difficult circumstances, and will ensure my children do well, in whatever circumstances
I find myself in.

People are trying to have a conversation here, but you are not even answering a few simple questions. If you can't stay on subject and engage in the debate, then don't be surprised when nobody takes you seriously.

This is getting on my 'nerves' 'opportunity is spelt with two ps!

Yeah, I agree ivanhoe is either an idiot or trolling. Some rather simple questions have been asked, but he/she hasn't be able to answer any of them. So either, they don't know what they are talking about or were shit stirring and, erm, don't know what they're talking about.

ivanhoe - have lived in both socialist and capitalist countries. In practice, one can be cynical about either system.

Are you more concerned with absolute or relative poverty?

Ivanhoe clearly has no better ideas, if any at all.

He's just trolling.

Ivanhoe isn't proposing anything. Just whingeing that other people seem to have money and they don't.... Some take the way things are set up as a spur to improve themselves, strive harder and exploit any advantages that come their way whereas the Ivanhoes of this world think it's all some massive conspiracy designed solely to keep the poor in their place. If anything keeps the poor down - ironically - it's a combination of welfare dependency and the defeatism displayed by Ivanhoe. Imagine if they were your parent! "No point going to school or making an effort lad because there's no hope for the likes of us".... Bollocks to that.

Ivanhoe there are basically two approaches to running an economy - one is the free market approach (capitalism) the other is a centrally planned economy (communism being the purest example, along with totalitarian dictatorship).

In the modern world most nations are some mixture of free market and central planned economies (even modern socialist nations are pretty reliant on the free market).

What exactly are you proposing?

"Then give an example of a way in which business can act without any state intervention, whatsoever." ??????????

"Accumulation of wealth is a crime" is communism, not socialism. That is what you believe. Therefore, communism is your "bag".

Not that anyone cares, I imagine.

Can you grow a pair and answer the question?

Why do you think Soviet Russia and its dominions failed?

Yes, just answer the questions posed. Would like to hear your answers.

Most people don't start off on the streets. They may start life in a children's home or belong to a Karen Matthews type. But then they get 11 years minimum state education. Theoretically, even they should be able to embark on life age 16 literate, numerate and - because of the NHS - in good physical shape.

Someone who is on the streets as an adult has had to have a lot of bad luck or made a lot of mistakes or both. Yes, it's difficult for someone like that to get back into gainful employment. But that's true after 60+ years of a socialist-inspired Welfare state.

Can you lose the "////", by the way? I don't know what it's supposed to mean and it's a bit hard on the eyes.

ivanhoe - Answer the question please so we can have a (hopefully) interesting conversation here. You should be interested in why communism failed if you are so enamored with it as a system.

Unless, of course, you are in denial.

You do know that communism failed, right? That all those miserable little dominions of Soviet Russia embraced free market economics as soon as they tore down the iron curtain.