Capitalism

One more for the road here. What do you all think of Capitalism? Good, bad, so-so? Personally, I think it's revolting. I've friend books on Economics, politics, yadayadayada, so I'm not saying this from a "my job sucks, fuck you Capitalism" perspective, though that's also reasonable. I just think that it stunts personal growth, inhibits freedom, and, overall, dehumanizes humanity. (i.e.,"Is that your baby?!, according to this chart he owes xxx$ in debt!") Feel free to rant.

Oh well did you know the game monopoly was made to show what happens in a society run by capitalism. Heck yeah it sucks the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. We are heading into inevitable disaster if we don't change this system soon. I hate seeing the poor and homeless get marginalized. We need to change are attitudes and systems or we will be next in a soon coming future.

Hmm took a look at your profile. would like to talk to you about religion if you want?

I think it's pretty horrible. Leaves people putting more value in money than people. Makes people into greedy coldhearted self centered back stabbing assholes. I could go on and on about it. https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3428/3301146343_b550183008.jpg

Well, any system to its extreme form is bad. Pure, free-market, let the "invisible hand" does whatever it wants i.e. laissez-faire capitalism only increases risk of moral hazard, leading to riskier lending/borrowing and...boom, 1998/2008. Capitalism does have its virtues though; the notion of entrepreneurship, property rights, enforceable contracts and the like encouraged creativity and labor development. Today though...when you have government and red-tape restricting everything, self-entitled college kids who think they are "special" and should be hired because they have a liberal arts degree (no offense meant to any college students here in MO; this is specific to my previous college), widening income inequality (not as large as say Zimbabwe, not that it should be used as a base of comparison hah) and a government that continuously kicks itself in the foot, capitalism needs a new twist/take on things.

I'm not an economist or a philosopher, but I believe a capitalist society can work - if people aren't overly greedy. Look at Hong Kong - its the picture child for a successful capitalist state. The only thing that makes it worse than the US is there is a class divide, but Hong Kong has far lower rates of poverty compared to mainland Chinese cities. Of course, there's serious problems with the balance of power in Hong Kong, but from an economic standpoint, its very well off. I like Ayn Rand, and I attribute greed to something humans are born innately with - and I think that any successful society needs to hold citizens and businesses accountable, and in turn they hold the government accountable. If folks are up for it, I modeled an ideal politcal system once. It was mostly direct democracy with some features of autocracy thrown in, in a certain manner.

Well, personally, I'm not a big fan of the Asian capitalist model; I hail from Indonesia and Singapore and I can tell you this: the extent of competition bred by the government's take on capitalism is enough to drive suicides at alarming rates. This gets nurtured since young, mind you: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/magazine/inside-a-chinese-test-prep-factory.html?_r=0 Not sure if you've heard of Piketty's "Capital of the 20th Century"; his main thrust on capitalism is that yes it works, but with the more well-off accumulating more $$/capital (land, machinery, property, condominiums etc.), each successive generation has an increasingly difficult chance to climb up the social ladder simply because: 1) At any specific place and point in time, money and resources are finite (for every college student enrolled, there is another who did not make it to that college) 2) More well-off parents would groom their children to be more successful than themselves i.e. expend a lot of resources/tuition $$. Compare this with the less well-off kids. Getting into a decent high school/college only gets harder Another more radical theory that I've heard and have been thinking about is this: it's not capitalism that isn't working; it's education that widens the inequality. Think of the places where the most successful/wealthy people live in. Now, trace how many Ivy league/premier colleges are in that region. College and education now has become such an unfair rat-race where unless you are born a genius, chances are that you have more frat studs/sorority chicks/man-childs who really wouldn't be able to be where they are today if their parents did not invest the $$ and time to push them so. As a result, the less well-off who would work twice or triple as hard but did not have the $$ to invest in cram school just...fall off the race.

i think capitalism is good under certain conditions: 1. separation of government and corporation. 2. strong antitrust (no monopolies and no super corporation s) 3. low entry barriers by not burdening the lower class with uneeded work from the government 4. Strong consumer rights that hold companies responsible and liable for their actions.

Hmmm. Interesting points, guys. I, too, am a fan of Ayn Rand, however, I've never really delved deeper into her philosophy/moral beliefs. I also believe that capitalism does have it's merits, such as property rights, enforceable contracts, etc., but something underlying the entire concept seems inherently unreprehensible. I mean, how can you say things are finite, take all those things, monetize them, and then justify it by saying "well, they're finite, so we can't GIVE them away silly plebs!" I mean, well then let me get them myself without you forcing me to buy it? "nope, that's trespassing." I mean, really. We've strayed so far from anything remotely fair, even in theory. I think it destroys genuine religion as well. I mean, usary is prohibited in the bible, yet we print money like no tomorrow. Can't wait for the earth to implode .