`The game of poker exemplifies the worst aspects of capitalism that have made our country so great`.-Walter Matthau

Capitalism and Poker

Introduction

Capitalism , in the eyes of the world , is America . While the United States has been and is associated with numerous words , symbols , and icons like McDonald 's , Coke , Disneyland , IBM , and now Microsoft and Google , these identities pale in comparison with the aura of Capitalism America 's basic economic and political philosophy remains undiluted by the passage of time , untouched by social , economic and cultural developments , as raw , as aggressive and as stressful as it was a couple of centuries ago , when it wrested global political and

economic leadership from Imperial Britain . Great Britain was , at that time the largest mercantile nation in the world , and its greatest empire ever while the United States was no more than a rag tag assortment of cotton farms and factories in a far away ex colony on the other side of the Atlantic

American capitalism was brought in by hard working , combative and shrewd immigrants from different European nations . While it borrowed its basic concepts from the teachings of Adam Smith , it also added large heapings of ruthlessness , and took out the last vestiges of compassion and fellow feeling in its evolution into a system that enabled the United States to take on the world and bring it to its knees . The United States , in a matter of decades , after the close of the American Civil War , swept past the UK and other European nations to become the world 's largest economic and military power , a position it has not just held but enhanced in the face of numerous threats and competitors . The mushrooms that arose over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 are stark reminders of the utter ruthlessness the United States can use to protect its community and way of life . Japan , the Soviet Union , unified Germany , and the EU , have at various times been thought of as strong challengers to the United States but have managed to come even near its worldwide hegemony and dominance . The latest challenge comes from China and India . While India is largely dismissed as too soft to take on the US , China , many observers feel , can possibly match the United States in the amorality of its political and economic objectives and launch a serious challenge

What does Poker have to with American capitalism

Well , for one it is the most popular card game in the United States . It became popular in the early days of the United States and spread across the country , played with equal concentration , avarice , and focus in steamships , bars , hotels , and casinos . Tuxedo clad poker players became as integral to the American ethos as sheriffs , cowboys , and East Coast slickers . Every gold find increased their numbers and poker became an integral part of these temporary shanty towns . Fortunes were made and lost , and lives snuffed out across the green tables . The activity generated its own folklore and numerous poker quotes emerged and flourished as the game gained in popularity . One of the better known of them...