Is Capitalism sustainable?

[willy_ph]

Had a discussion in a Global Politics seminar about whether or not capitalism is a sustainable economic system.

Your thoughts?

[OuTpaTienT]

Yep.

[Epidemic]

That is pretty funny.

The alternative???

Communism?

Socialism?

Name a more stable system than capitalism.

Barter was the only longer standing system. But it had flaws. It is hard to make change for a cow.

I guess if you used mice as pennies, rats as nickles, cats dimes, dogs as quarters and chickens as dollars you could make change

[daveleau]

Well, as long as the law of supply and demand is not messed with, it will be sustainable. The US became a dominant world power, crushing its foes and scraping and clawing its way to the top with capitalism.

BUT, the politicians of late began whittling away almost immediately at the model we proved to be dominant. We are eating ourselves away from the inside out. We are slowly conforming to the model which we soundly trounced over the past 2-3 decades. No, we are not becoming communist. We are becoming a socialist nation like those throughout the world we trounced in the global economic arena. Until we allow for enterprise to fight it out (while at the same time policing the ethics of our companies), we will continue the decline we have been slipping into since the middle of the second term of Bill Clinton. Our medical field is one such example. Doctors are jumping ship quicker than ever because they are being handcuffed by the socialist government constraints and the dreaded evil HMOs. Our medical profession is much worse off than before the reformation of healthcare. The same goes for welfare of all sorts. We are constantly giving money to those that do not work, where they should be trying to make a living. We handcuff ourselves and we are dragging ourselves down.

Bring back the capitalism of old where competition is king and our first concern was not that of the worst off, but of how to ethically gain a foothold and IMPROVE OURSELVES. (this all falls back on the idea of taking responsibility for one's own self and not relying on the govt to do it for you (socialism).

[CERuppel]

Hoorah for DaveLeau!

Police the ethics is a thought that just makes so much sense that the pols have to run away from it.

I say get the money out of office and let the people run thier companies without owning the goverment and the situation will straighten itself out.

Capitolism like all forms of goverment needs to be taken in moderation, or it will go to the extreme.

But it is still better than the alternative... (Dictatorship, Socialist, Monarchy, Aristocracy...) All have worked in the past, but the long term have one thing in common: They were not total. They blended part of one with some of another and dashed on bits of something else. Sort of like our 'democracy'.

But it has gone off the deep end lately; allowing corparations to set up paper in timbuktoo just so they can avoid 99% of the taxes, but at the same time giving them US trade status as US corps... Or trading depts between partnered companies, but 'losing' the retirement money into the parent companies pockets. Or...

Just read the paper, some of this gets reported. (Makes you wonder about the stuff that doesn't get reported...)

Short answer: Yes... I think...

[the jester]

Is Capitalism sustainable?

if you've got enough cash, yeah

instability usually encroaches when the lower tiers of the pyramid react (Russia 1917 being a good example)

a purely achievement-oriented society as envisaged by daveleau has repercussions locally, nationally, globally

the flipside of that (i.e. "handouts" to the unemployed) would be equally unpalatable on a large scale

so if your society is ultra competitive then you'll always have x% of the population unemployed, which is a recipe for crime/blackmarket, so the employed taxpayer will fund police and prisons; or you have the harmonious "total employment" situation, but taxes are still high because you need to bring workers' skills to an acceptable level through education and state pensions become expensive because the state can't levy those taxes from corporations as they relocate in more competitive countries

show me utopia and I'm there

[necromancer]

Dave, well said, I agree. Isn’t socialism the first step towards communism?

[the jester]

Dave, well said, I agree. Isn't socialism the first step towards communism?

Define both terms and how one might lead to the other, because that's a mighty broad brush

[ClubMed]

Capitalism is an economic and political system, where the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned. It is also a social system, of which the core is the principal of individual rights.

In order to maintain and sustain capitalism, one needs a stable and sustainable legal and political system. The rights of the individual must be protected at all times, they are crucial to the capitalist system.

Many people seem to think that capitalism and socialism are two completely different things, and that capitalism is good and socialism is bad.

Yet capitalism is a social system because it requires the rights of the individual to function. Without the protected individual, there can be no capitalism.

Money is not needed to maintain a capitalist system, money (among other things) is one of the by products of this system.

The rule of law must be upheld and protected, the individuals and their rights must be protected, so too must the right to property be protected which is an integral part of capitalism.

Edit: To answer necromancer /edit.

Socialism focuses on the individual, whereas capitalism focuses on growth and production of the individual.

Socialism and communism are very distinct and it would be a grave mistake to mix the two up.

[the jester]

so willy_ph the jury is bickering (plato's republic can be interpreted too loosely sometimes - or maybe that was the plan )

you started it; what's your erudite verdict?