Here is an interesting idea, profitless capitalism.....

[whistle]

<snip from 3/4 down in article>

Profitless Capitalism
Most companies use resources and human labor to generate profits for absentee owners, whether corporations, sole proprietors, or stockholders....The company will maintain the highest prices for consumer goods that the market will bear, while simultaneously paying the lowest wages that the workers will tolerate. The company employees receive a fraction of what their true labor is worth while the quality of the overpriced goods is kept at a minimum. The owners, non-working profiteers, will sacrifice even human health and the environment in their greed for excessive profits. In general, owners who do not actively participate in the operations perform no function other than parasitism and the existence of such a practice highlights a fundamental flaw of capitalism -- corporate non-entities are guaranteed the right to profit while human beings do not even have a guaranteed right to subsistence

<snip>

The beauty of profitless capitalism is that it puts all the people to work directly for their own benefit. Instead of the fruits of their labors being drained off as profits and diverted to useless enterprise, their efforts are immediately and directly used for improving the quality of life. The people would be actively solving all of their most pressing problems instead of sitting in stagnation. All of this from a simple shift of paradigm.

Profit is the icon of the modern economic world, leaving the quality of life a casualty of mindless competition. It's time for the US, as de facto leader of the modern world, to consider abandoning capitalism and taking the first step towards a future where the entire human race, not just the privileged minority, could be wealthy enough to solve our more important problems. Perhaps until all diseases, social and otherwise, are cured, this should remain a non-profit world. Since most of us are bonded into non-profit employment anyway, the only differences we'd notice would be of the profound kind.

<excerpted from: Anti-Capitalism, Modern Theory and Historical Origins> http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/w/x/wxk116/antic/

I had a professor who used to say, "The main objective of American business management is to raise the price of their goods and services AND lower the quality in order to maximize profit. In other words, buy cheap, sell dear!" How true it seems to be under Bushonomics

[On the Road]

1. I Think There is a Huge Potential for No-Profit Corporations

AAA (the American Automobile Association) is an example. National Geographic and the Smithsonian are also private entities designed not to operate for profit.

Credit unions are another example:

A credit union is a cooperative financial institution, owned and controlled by the people who use its services. These people are members. Credit unions serve groups that share something in common, such as where they work, live, or go to church. Credit unions are not-for-profit, and exist to provide a safe, convenient place for members to save money and to get loans at reasonable rates.