Capitalism

[Mat]

I for the most part agree with you, but I perhaps lean to the other side of the middle. You would like pure capitalism if it was possible. I however think that pure communism would be a perfect solution, if it were not for that most annoying of human traits: selfishness, greed, pride, and laziness. We mere people are far from perfect, and this is what ruins the most idealistic dreams of communist planners.<P>The beauty of capitalism is the "you don't work you don't eat" principle. It forces people to get off their lazy duffs and work. Of course, welfare comes in to assist those unable to work and those clever enough to act as if they are unable to work.<P>Of course capitalism is ruthless, cold, and when carried to the extreme violates all principles of ethics known to man. As you said, Tailsteak, this is where the balance comes in. A quirk of fate can handicap an industrious man, ruining his chances of financial success--should this doom his unlucky children to a life of indigence? I say no. <P>So what's the conclusion? Well, we need a society where the workers are productive enough for the needs of the society. This productivity requires sufficient motivation. Hence the capitalism stimulus - work hard enough and you can get the stuff you want. (crude but effective!) However, we can't let the elderly go to seed...unless the populace was willing to implement a euthanasia program...which won't happen in the near future I'll wager! And we must have mercy on those who destiny dealt crushing blows. So Communism - in the form of welfare - comes into play. This welfare however should be <B>strictly</B> regulated to ensure that as few lazy scoundrels as possible manipulate the system.<P>Well there's my thoughts, hastily sketched out. I think that you and I are roughly on the same wavelength, but my post comes at the issue from a slightly different direction.
cheers,<P>ps I didn't check this post for errors...I'll probably regret that...so don't be surprsied if you find some!<P>------------------
-------David-------
Defender of Justice
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[ZOMBIE USER 68]

Wow... I really didn't mean to get political with that strip, but I'll take what I can get, right? <IMG SRC="http://www.keenspace.com/forums/biggrin.gif"><P>Er, anyway, I'm not really a capitalist or a communist. If I had to pick one system to go with, I'd choose moderate socialism (admit it, please: the USA is moving closer to a socialism every day) with strong, personalized, accessible state governments and a weaker national government. This might hurt our gross national product, but it would improve just about everything else affecting the country, especially unemployment and urban decay.<P>I really didn't have a problem with capitalism until something happened a few years ago. That something: Alex Rodriguez. Dude makes $200 million plus just to play baseball for a few years. That's not what his COMPANY is worth, not what his SALES FIGURES are, and not his CORPORATE PAYROLL. That is how much _he gets paid in cash money_. Nobody on God's green earth needs that kind of cash. Knowing that there are people in this country that are even richer than HE is makes me want to rethink the economic structure of this country. How much better off would the average American's life be if everybody in the country made no more than $200,000 a year, and all the extra income they would've made got spread around to factory workers and farmers?<P>------------------
-Capheine<P>Visit -Arrogance in Simplicity- at <A HREF="http://www.shaftware.com" TARGET=_blank>http://www.shaftware.com</A><p>[This message has been edited by Capheine (edited 12-10-2001).]

[Tailsteak]

Alright, Caph, you wanted to be controversial, so let's discuss stuff.<P>First of all, I would like to assert that Penelope Curz is merely <I>moderately</I> attractive, and that I dislike Poptarts.<P>But, on to Adrian and Eric's argument.<P>Pure Capitalism would be great, if not for one thing-- children inherit the wealth and position of their parents. I don't mind Bill Gates having a ludicrous amount of money, it doesn't matter to me. The plain and simple truth is, however, that he would be significantly less rich-- in fact, he'd probably be quite dead-- if fate had chosen to let him be born in Indonesia, or Sudan, or some similarly crappy country.<P>His children did not, at birth, deserve to be rich. They had contributed nothing as fetuses.<P>I would support pure capitalism if children were taken from their parents at birth, and placed in a standardized creche, where they all received the same opportunities for education and emotional development. That, however, is a bad idea.<P>I feel, therefore, that the resources of the rich should be used, in part, to support the poor. And, in saying so, I recognize that, in a global sense, I am one of the rich ones. I mean, I'm online, aren't I?<P>Of course, one of the things we have to take into consideration is that poor people are very often in their situation because of either personal or inherited <I>stupidity</I>. If I give money to the poor, I don't want to see them go out and get four kids and a drug habit because they think money is raining from the sky. I want to see food, shelter, medical care, and education.<P>Pure capitalism assumes that everyone is capable. Pure communism assumes that everyone is good. A middle-of-the-road approach is the only sensible option.

[Catral]

hooray for fascism!

[ZOMBIE USER 68]

Fascism has nothing to do with it.

[Nonpolar Covalent Bond]

I truely believe communism could work, just not with our society's values. We are all brought up being told things like "Be the best you can be!" Our society promotes rivalry and competitive spirits. Those things just don't go along well with communism. If we could somehow promote teamwork and, for lack of a better word, a Borg Spirit.

The way I see it, communism doesn't work because people's competitive spirit gets in the way. Everyone has it. Everything we grew up on encouraged it. We are a rebellious nation. We fight the Borg because we value our individualism. Being a Borg might be happier and healthier for everyone, but we would rather be sad and sick than give up our individualism.

I'm not saying this is a bad thing. I'd rather die than be a worker ant. But with our values in place and every form of media backing them up, communism is impossible.

Yeah, I'm crazy, but my doctor says I'm not a danger to others.