Socialism or Capitalism? That's not the point

One of the things that concerns me about the overall direction of our society is the lack of ability to seen topics and issues from a balanced perspective.  It seems anymore that we are driven to take a stand on a subject and then root for our side no matter what.  Like a sports fans who can see no wrong with their team or the players, we determine that our way is best and any other perspective is foolish.  One area this seems to occur in is in regard to economics.

Currently our nation is growing more and more embattled in the tension between Socialism and Capitalism.  The Capitalist view the Socialists as lazy freeloaders who wish to distribute the wealth they have worked hard to earn.  The Socialist view the Capitalists as greedy cutthroats who exploit the less fortunate to their own gain.  The problem is that neither form of government is better or worse than the other.  When looked at objectively, just about any sort of governmental system can work quite well.  Capitalism, Socialism, even Communism.  Big government, small government, no government.  All of them are capable of working quite well in theory.  The factor we forget to plug into these equations is that the problem is never the actual system.  The problem is always the people within the systems.  You see, each system has its pros and cons and the cons are almost always based on human nature.  Each system is open to exploitation and it is the exploitive nature of man that creates the weakness in every system.

So, perhaps the time has come for us to stop viewing each other as idiots for having opposing political or economic views as each system is equally valid in a world were everyone is honest and hardworking.  The problem isn't ideology.........its us.