Is capitalism a danger to your health, your well-being or even your life?

The last two major disasters may point in that direction more than just about anything else.
For quite some time I have been a firm believer that capitalism and greed are born of the same seed.

The Massey Energy coal mine explosion could possibly have been prevented but for the unwillingness of the mine operators to spend a few extra dollars to improve safety.
The BP Oil Platform explosion - reason for it as of now unknown - but what is causing the real problem there that 200,000 gallons of crude oil are seeping from the mine because BP did not provide for emergency cutoff valves as other countries like Brazil, require. Here again, cost appears to be the problem, unwilling to spend the extra few bucks. [see note at end].

Not all capitalists fit the mold of 'greedy'. There are exceptions like George Soros, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and I am sure a few others who have given away large sums of money to help the less fortunate of this globe. The ones obsessed with greed are the ones you can hear almost daily on cable TV and talk radio. They are the ones you hear spouting 'more tax cuts' and 'more money to keep in my pocket'.
As long as greed supersedes safety, this condition will continue and only an agency with authority to fine or close down facilities not in compliance with safety can make can impact, and as much as greedy capitalists complain, the Federal Government must oversee, fine, and shut down if any violations are a danger to people.

The lesser problems are the those whose greed is satisfied by acceding to their demand for ever increasing remunerations of salaries, bonuses, residuals and other benefits. Investors demand dividends which companies provide by raising prices, rates and fees. Nike will raise the price of sneakers above $150 per pair and jerseys above $100 each, sunglasses near $300.00 to satisfy sports personality's demands. How much does it cost to produce these items? Less than 10% of their retail prices? Banks will increase fees and penalties to usury levels to satisfy stock market investors and Congress reduces Capital Gains tax rates to less than the rate for ordinary income, even though there are thousands, maybe millions whose only income is derived from Capital Gains. There are the working class people who are able to save some money into a 401k account, earn 'untaxed Capital Gains', except at the time of withdrawal those Gains will be taxed at regular income rates, and there are no tax breaks for a portfolio that has lost money.

Everyone should realize, that what Reagan called the 'Trickle-Down Economy', where not much, if anything, trickled down past the CEOs who are more like sponges than humans, it is really a 'Suck-It-Up Economy' where those at the top suck up what little the working public possesses via high Credit Card interest, usury bank rates and also high prices for those goods that have a name attached. How else did Tiger Woods become a billionaire in less than a decade?

As the words of the Preamble to the Constitution did not say that Haliburton, AIG and Goldman Sachs are to 'promote General Welfare', it is WE THE PEOPLE via our chosen Government that was chosen for that burden, meaning that it's the government's responsibility to supervise those crooks&liars

Huffington Post: "The mine, about 30 miles south of Charleston, has a significant history of safety violations, including 57 infractions just last month [March 2010] for (among other things) not properly ventilating the highly combustible methane."