As can any economic system, but give capitalism to people and this is what happens. If it's kept, no matter what you do with the government now, sooner or later it'll be like this again. Because it encourages that you earn more, and more.
Give any economic system to people and some will have more than others. What people are working for isn't material goods, but the guarantee that their lineage, their bloodline, will thrive in the future. This is no different than a single virile male impregnating as many women as he can get his hands on, decreasing competition for him and his in the long term. So long as his genes are passed on, he is doing as he was programmed to do by thousands of years of evolution. Capitalism is an extension of that need.
You can't say that the outcome will remain the same in the hands of all governments, with the only constant being capitalism. What I can state, however, is give any economic system to any government, and given time, that government will suffer the same illnesses of every other government in human history. The economic system doesn't matter, because in the end, those we've placed into positions of authority begin to believe they are, in fact, above the people they rule. Once that perception has been cemented in the minds of the people, those of the lower ranks strive to become a member of the higher ranks, because they, too, believe those with power rule over those without.
Think of it this way. Your and your neighbour each open up a grocery shop. Your business is going better than his. Soon, you save up enough money to open up another grocery shop. And then another. Your neighbour still has only one shop, but he's doing okay, he has more than enough to survive. Meanwhile, your business is doing even better and you build a supermarket. Even more money. Your neighbour's not doing any better, and some of his regular customers have begun going to your shops, decreasing his income.
Your wealth flourishes even more and you open up several more supermarkets, and then a mall. You already have enough money to clothe your children AND your grandchildren and get them through college (that's not saying you haven't earned all this), but your neighbour closes down his shop because there's just no more business with all the superior and probably cheaper supermarkets sprouting around. Also, no one can even open new shops, there wouldn't be a point because people don't need them.
This is how corporations are born. And then, people like your neighbour, since their business has failed, have no choice but to ultimately seek employment in one of these corporations, often for little pay. All because someone wasn't satisfied with simply owning a shop, or two, or three, and profiting from that. Now, this is a bit vague, but it's what it all boils down to. Am I blaming capitalism alone? No. But this is what happens when it's given to people. It's perfectly compatible with our nature, but then again, our nature isn't all that grand either, now is it?
I'm not sure what your point was with this. Are you saying corporations are inherently bad? Are you saying the man who owned the store and had no ambition should not be punished while the man with far bigger dreams should be held back? Capitalism breeds competition. To think that we should stop competing is a defeatist attitude, and frankly, it pervades the western world to the point where everyone seems to think they should be handed everything. My problem isn't with people making millions of dollars through their hard work and effort. My problem is with people who make that kind of money by exploiting the system in place, be it through tax evasion, loop holes or what have you. This is an important distinction because, remember, once upon a time capitalism did work. It was only through certain forms of backward government intervention that made it possible for corporate personhood to exist.
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I agree. Protesting alone solves nothing. What we need is a big ol' coup d'etat. Destroy everything, bring everything down and rebuild it better than before. Maybe this time around, people will actually realize that they need to work together, instead of against each other.
Do we, now? And will you be on the front lines, taking lives and giving yours? Everyone talks of war but very few understand it. And make no mistake, you are speaking of war. If the only route you can think to take is that of bloodshed, rest assured that what becomes of you will not be so different as what has happened to every class of warfighter once the war is won or lost. You will be discarded, because you are a relic of the past. We dare not risk infecting our new society with the poison that flows through your veins.
I agree again. But the way things are now, even the education system is in favour of the rich. And the rich are rich because of capitalism. It has allowed them to take a position where they're nice and secure no matter what, while no one gives a damn about the poor.
Everything is in favor of the rich, because money is a means to an end. So long as there exists an economic system of sorts, there will be a form of currency, and some will have more than others, fewer still will have more than most. You are completely missing the point, however. The rich are rich partly because of capitalism, but mostly because it is possible to avoid all forms of tax, because it is possible to buy favor with the ruling class, because corporations have the same rights as people, etc. These are the result of poor governing, not the logical endpoint to our particular economic system. This isn't a one point issue. There is so much you have yet to even mention, much less consider, that tie into this.
If it were replaced with communism, yes. But that's not the answer. It needs, at least in my opinion, to be replaced with something where the rich cannot have so much, while the poor have so little. I sound like a broken record already, but that's how it is.
There is no such system in existence.
Again, yes, the problem exists because the government abuses capitalism. But it's more of a problem of society than of the government. Like any idea, it can be used for good and bad, that's common sense.And it's simply human to abuse good ideas.
Society determines who governs and how. The two are intertwined. What you've stated makes it fairly clear you can't pass the blame to capitalism and call it a day.
Example: Omegle was a brilliant idea for people to meet, exchange completely honest opinions, or just have an ordinary chat, and yet somehow I feel that 80% of the time, it's used for cybersex and guys jacking off at their webcams.
Early christianity had some pretty good ideas about how things should be, and yet, less than a thousand years later, women are being burned at the stake for having blue eyes and red hair.
Again, what you're stating is people are the problem. Unless you intend to solve people, this isn't going anywhere.
This will keep happening, it's just how we are. Again, what we need is a system that's NOT that easily abusable. It's like giving scissors to a 2 year-old; you can do it, but if it pokes its blasted eye out, you're ******* responsible.
In the States, our system was not originally easily abusable. The scales were actually quite balanced. Where there is a will, there is a way. That goes for exploitation of a system as much as it does for wanting a hunky dory rainbow sunshine world. It took many, many years of bribing and policy changes to finally get this bad. Time is not on our side.
