i intend to make this brief because i know you are a very busy. my friend and i were arguing the core concept of socialism vs. capitalism. he said that if there is no incentive for profit, then no one would do anything (no doctors, lawyers etc…) i have no rebuttal for this argument. i am aware that taking a loss for the better good, like fire dept. and police as well as education is an acceptable loss, but he claims that if everything is private then everything is more efficient and so forth. is there a way i can convince myself and him that a society can exist without the desire for profit and still be efficient (everyone goes to work).

Actually, there are millions of rebuttals to that argument in this country alone.  Ask your professor, librarian, fire fighter, or police officer what motivates them to go to work everyday.  I’d be surprised if any of them said it was to pay for their Bentley.

I’d say your friend’s argument, that no one would do anything without the incentive of profit, is cynical.  What’s more, it sounds like your friend is making a veiled (and lazy) argument against health care reform.  If you include fire and police service, as well as education, in your list of services worth paying for with tax money for the common good, why not health care too?  Tell your friend that making the leap from adding health care to the common good list to making everything socialized is deceptive at best.  In so many ways, health care is more important than any of the other three (fire service, police protection, education).