HCAalum

You've commented that the US economy is moving towards the state-run model used in China and you've seen the effect of that first hand. There are many people in the US who think that's not a bad thing. Can you briefly summarize the top 3 benefits and top 3 disadvantages to this model?

and thank you so much for the Gold! that's my kind of gold standard!

In case anyone is curious, here is a Youtube of one such cartoon about capitalsim. Sorry for the ad in the beginning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2auI6Uz3D8I

I think you are right on the money about this. However, I think that this lack of consensus is a somewhat recent development. One can, believe it or not, find cartoons produced by major studios in the fifties and sixties explaining capitalism in pretty basic terms. I can't imagine such cartoons being made today. I think that more people are becoming aware of this and that we will see the rise of an alternative economy - barter, off-the-grid transactions, etc.