Worldwide poll: Vast majority say capitalism not working

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The BBC has commissioned a poll by Globescan to ascertain what the views are around the world regarding the collapse of the Soviet Union, which followed the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.

Opinions were gathered from 29,000 people living in 27 countries and it was in the U.S. and Poland that 80 percent or more of the respondents considered the fall of the Soviet Union to be a "Mainly a good thing". In Germany itself 79 percent of those questioned were also of the opinion that the end of the Soviet Union was a positive thing, with 76 percent in Britain and 74 percent in France agreeing with the German respondents.
However in Egypt approaching 70 percent of those asked about the Soviet demise felt it was a bad day when the USSR came to an end. Some 50 percent of Ukrainians and 60 percent of Russians agreed.

The "defeat" of the Soviet Union was considered by many as a victory for the proponents of the free market, as well as for the populations of Central and Eastern Europe.

Yet the recent global economic crisis seems to have shaken people's faith in the efficiency and validity of a lightly regulated market.
When asked by Globescan how they viewed the current state of Free Market Capitalism, large numbers indicated that problems existed, but they felt that reform and regulation could remedy the situation. Only 11 percent of the participants in the poll believed the system currently in place to be working well.

Those in the U.S. and Pakistan were the strongest supporters of the current system, some 20-25 percent responding that the system "Works well and increased regulation will make it less efficient".

Furthermore significant numbers in France, Mexico and Brazil, 43 percent in the case of France, thought the current system to be "Fatally flawed", believing that an entirely new system is needed. Overall 23 percent of the 29,000 people polled considered the current system irreparably damaged.
Additionally government intervention to ensure a more even distribution of wealth was supported by the majority in 22 of the 27 countries included in the poll.

Globespan survey: Poll:Wide Dissatisfaction with Capitalism " Twenty Years after Fall of Berlin Wall

BBC report: Free market flawed, says survey

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I believe a highly regulated capitalism that allows for the workers to also do well could work. It was on the way to working, I thought in the 1950s.

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Capitalism might not be working but the breakup of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall isn't about economics so much as it's about the end of the totalitarianism that wasted 15 to 30 million lives.

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I have no doubt the better system won. From a point of view of maximum goods to maximum people. But where is the restraint on having too many goods, and too much power in the hands of those who control the goods. Capitalism is only slightly older than Communism. Perhaps it will have its Berlin Wall tumble, except we will call it The Wall Street tumble.

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I thought of you today, Walter, on the 20th anniversary of the falling of the Berlin Wall.
There was a story on NPR today. Actually there were several.
In one, according to the story, an East German official made a statement, reportedly, that travel restrictions from East to West and back would be lifted "soon." When asked about how soon, he said, a bit confused, "now." And the wall came tumbling down hours later.
Another story talked about how the Western intelligence had deduced that the wall might be coming down a month or so before it actually happened. Despite President Reagan's highly quoted demand "Tear down this wall..." President Bush and particularly British PM Thatcher actually tried to slow down the process, fearful of what a combined and independent Germany with a strong Mark might become.

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@realjohnboy,

that was an interesting item on All Things Considered

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@panzade,

Quote:

15 to 30 million lives

I read that several times trying to comprehend the number of people, the amount of suffering...it is beyond comprehension.

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@Ionus,

Oh, they quibble...should we count the Gulags? How about those that were tortured and died after they were released, from their wounds? Does starvation count?
How about 20,000 Polish officers massacred in one day in the Katyn forest?
The day the Soviet Union ceased to exist, I let out a long sigh...

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Thanks Walter, you made my (working) day.

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@Walter Hinteler,

Very interesting, Walter.

Thanks.

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I believe we are emphasizing the wrong syl-la-ble. It is not the economic system in question, I believe, but the fact that society has seemed to reach a point of diminishing jobs. That is not capitalism's fault, but that western societies has an under-educated work-force for the functions that may pay a wage in the future, in my opinion. I believe western society is in a transitional stage, between a day when one person's labor was essential, and a future day when a person can be valued in a yet to be known function.

The only question, in my mind, is whether until that future day arrives, will society have to turn into a welfare state?

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@panzade,

We do tend to equate communism with totalitarianism, and capitalism with democracy, don't we?

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@roger,

Well, let's think of a communist regime that espouses capitalism...China?

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@Walter Hinteler,

Quote:

Worldwide poll: Vast majority say capitalism not working

Do a vast majority even know what capitalism is.

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@rosborne979,

It is a belief in the major city of your country.

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@Ionus,

No, Ionus, it is not a 'belief' here. It is simply a fact of life.

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@Merry Andrew,

Ok. It is simply a fact of life in the major city of your country. Let me know if I am getting warm, because politics and economics no longer seem to have sharp divides like communism and capitalism. What is China ?

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@Ionus,

For that matter, what is Singapore?

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@roger,

Sing what ??? Anyway, if capitalism is not working, then stop paying it.

These things have a way of self-correcting, it just depends on how much hardship and grief you are prepared to tolerate in the mean time whilst waiting. The danger in interfering is who gets to do it, what is their motive, and how certain are we they are right in their actions.

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@realjohnboy,

I've been in "the East" last weekend (and a couple of times since the fall of the Wall).

I've been to "the East" in early 1989, prior to the falling of the Wall.

I've been to "the East" (mainly East Berlin) during GDR times.

I've never believed that people could change to our system - remember: even their parents lived/grew up in a totalitarian system. [I even got a degree for that 'belief', in political sciences, in the 70's Wink

]

Coming back to last weekend: the 'normal' citizen I've met ... is really actually wanting back the 'good old times' ("well, not everything was good, but ...").

On the other hand, many here in the "West" think, we paid too much - remember: we got 17 million new citizens from one day to the other. 17 million, who didn't pay a single penny/cent to our health insurances, social security fonds etc but participated fully from the first day onwards; plus all the other 'things' like new roads, streets, railway lines etc which catch the eyes of visitors ... .

It will last some more years until the full integration will have happened ... such, as Germans from the North or Bavarian fpreigners ( Wink

) like CJ and Thomas are integrated.

And I just want to add that most never have seen/expeienced the US-style capitalism: we -still- have the Free Social Market here, though a lot less than 10, 20, 30 years ago.

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Worldwide poll: Vast majority say capitalism not working

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