Good call.

Startups are all about capitalism though aren't they. They are capitalism in action.

Yes, I'd kind of assumed that being pretty comfortable with capitalism was a given for those using this site, even though we may all have differing views on exactly how to best run an economy/country in terms of the details. (And that discussion is most certainly best left to some other site, or preferably, over a good bottle of Italian red wine:-)

I of course recognize that capitalism is all we have. It still pains me that politics in the USA are corrupted by corporations and that a billion people live in absolute poverty. Still, the average standard of living is higher now than it's ever been.

I just can't get past this feeling that there's something horribly wrong with our society... from pharmaceutical companies keeping AIDS medication locked away to an invasion of the Middle East to take their energy. This can all be explained through rational self-interest but it's pretty horrific to contemplate. Is there a better way? Will we ever achieve real Globalization?

Can and will global poverty be solved before humanity achieves a post-scarcity economy?

"a billion people live in absolute poverty"

They live in poverty because of a lack of capitalism, not because of capitalism. You might find this hard to believe but every poor country has a lack of capitalism. Check here: http://www.heritage.org/index/countries.cfm there's not a single contradiction.

If you really care about the poor I challenge you to take a few hours to read this PDF just to hear the other side of the argument: http://www.mises.org/books/conquest.pdf

Feel free to email me at lockster 4T gmail d0t com if you feel like a friendly debate ;)