A thought on capitalism

During the time of imperialsim the imbalance of resources was created, and to this day they are being upheld by the conduct of the wealthy in the capitalistic system.

Capitalism is no bar against amoral conduct of individuals. It does not empower a person based on his moral beliefs, his intentions or the community's trust in him. It empowers him based on his skill in aquiring wealth with absolutely no regard for methods.

So where communism failed because of the amoral conduct of the individuals set to govern, capitalism "works" because it allows for amoral conduct without collapsing the system. So greed is rampant, as you say.

In today's world, the ideals that define us as something more than animals, the ideals that lay at the foundation of any sucessful nation, are not encouraged in the individual. For most people, the extent of selfless effort they make to serve the community amounts to paying their taxes, and there's grumbling about that too.

It's what brought down the romans in the end as well. Material wealth blinded them from the moral decay that was slowly making them incapable of the level of conscientious thinking that was required to run a successful empire.

I dont get where this thread is going, but capitalism is just an economic system, a model of how to measure work and distribuite resources as needed. I think Cyracuz is confusing capitalism with the economic policies of countries. Just like socialism can be applied as it was meant t0 be, it can be a system everyone is poor and opressed except the very elite, and it has been. Similarly, capitalism can be tweaked to work and not starve anyone to death, or it can be tweaked to make someone's wealth grow exponentially until everyone else dies of hunger.

Its not the economic system that is at fault, it is the laws that define it. Taxing the rich more than you tax the poor, for example, as a form of preventing the rich from overgrowing, wouldnt make it cease to be capitalism.

CI
I know that your capacity to understand is better than what you offer to HH.

Capitalism obviously benefits us materialistically.
But in order for it to do that there must neccesarily be poverty. Greed and selfishness are the two most valuable traits to succeed with capitalism. It is my opinion that we are suffering moral decay as a result of it.

Well, it may be as you say, manored, but the capitalistic system itself is merely an ideal, is it not? The policies of countries and other big economies are what make the rules by which we trade.

But in light of your post, let me ask a question for anyone to answer.

Would you say that the way we conduct our global affairs through capitalism is morally justifiable?
I think no.

Free Enterprize is Nature 's Way:
the Law of Supply & Demand in free operation !





David

Not all "capitalists" operate under greed and selfishness, but I will agree that the majority fall under those adjectives. Balanced against the benefits of mass food production, products, and services, I see it more as a benefit rather than a negative.

Well, frankly it supplies more crap than it demands. Greed demands and drives it. Do you think we should cater to this animal impulse in ourselves, or should be perhaps define our values so that we grow on them instead of our hunger.

Cyra, You look at capitalism with a great deal of myopia. You fail to see the benefits of capitalism, because you have made up your mind that it is immoral.

I think that depends entirely on where you are in the world, I would say.
Of course, we cannot blame capitalism for all of the troubles that plague poor people. But we can blame capitalism for how we have succeeded in trading with them in such a way that we get what we want x100 and they get barely enough to survive. It provided the means, the men and women who make the desicions lack the integrity.

Well, the point is to make the MOST of human life,
by having as much FUN and freedom
as we POSSIBLY can cram into our years n decades.





David

You blame capitalism for the world's poverty; your logic needs adjusting.

No, CI. I am well aware of the benefits.
But the benefits are material, and I think that the focus we have today on material possession isn't is grossly out of proportions.
You could even go so far as to say that we are wasting resources while we know they won't last forever.

What you restrict as "material" is not true at all. The mass production of food and material goods provides for feeding, housing, and other "appliances" that help us live better at reasonable prices. Study a little about Henry Ford and how he created the assembly line production of cars that made it affordable for more people. Drugs that many of us take to help us with our health are developed through companies that do research under capitalism. The radiation treatment I got for my prostate cancer will allow me to live without cancer for the rest of my life - if I'm lucky. The PSA test I take every year to ensure that the cancer has not returned was developed by a capitalistic economy.

China used to be a basket case of no wealth; they have become the second largest economy in the world, and more Chinese are enjoying the fruits for their labor because of capitalism.

It is a fact that some nations are locked in perpetual poverty because of the conduct of those who had everything, because they simply came and took it.
It was called imperialism, and ever since those times, the imbalances that were created have been entrenched by trade agreements forced on those who had no real choice in the matter.
Natural disasters plague some parts of the world because of deforestation of the foothills of the Himalaya. Of course, for every honest researcher who will give a factual recount of the situation there are ten who will work to support anything they are paid to support.

The logic is simple. If you can't blame capitalism for the world's poverty you cannot blame it's wealth on it either.
It is all about who owns what, and the deciding factor is who manages to take what. Nevermind who should have what, according to what we can all see some desperately need.
Perhaps it's fair, in the sense that it's nature's own way, but the objections of my conscience are also nature's way, and I know I am not the only one experiencing them.
In this matter, if I am more right than you it will be because more people agree with me than with you.

Not all wealth are created equal; some have earned it honestly with hard work.

We would still have the resources if we didn't have the conviction to think of them as the very purpose of our existence. It was a means to an end, to farm food or cut wood for building houses or anything else. It used to be to survive, but that need is covered many times over for some of us, and the means have become an end in themselves. To own as much as possible.

Like I have said before, I do not think there is a more efficient way to govern our collective resources than capitalism, but I fear that unless we can find a different approach to how we conduct our business through it, it will grow to a monster that will eat us alive and leave nothing but hungry bellies and greedy mouths.

And what is your "different approach?" Good luck; you ain't gonna find any.

The problem seams to be that Capitalism support itself through Growth and Development when the Planet has Limited Resources...it cannot go on forever !

Check this out ! 8 videos, very well worth, paying attention !
Here´s the first:

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-QA2rkpBSY

That is a fact right there. Unless we find infinitely renewable energy. But then even capitalism would be pointless.

I have ever argued against limited resources on this planet, but that's an argument that will go nowhere. The world is hooked on capitalism and progress to grow their economy.

That humans are now developing alternative energy sources is only a drop in the bucket against the use of raw materials that depletes this planet.

I won't be around to see the demise of humanity, so I'm not worried.