How good is capitalism?

Jonny Ingbar said:
Capitalism, or a modest version of it, is about the best current solution to a fair economic model that the human race has, albeit in time I'm sure it viewed as being unfair, perverse and rudimentary by our planet hopping future generations.

But it only works when profits are not the priority, at the expense of financial inequality, because when it isn't properly regulated and controlled, the gap between the have's and have nots becomes greater and greater.

It also angers me to see public money fall into shareholders pockets in the private sector. Its akin to selling the family jewellery and this government have been the worst for it.
Click to expand...
Can’t agree this government has been the worst here. Thatcher sold our utilities and council housing to her cronies for a fraction of their true value.
 
I think the system can be fine, it's the neoliberal version of capitalism introduced in the UK and USA that I can't stand. One of the main reasons of Brexit was to allow libertarians to further decimate society. They hated that the EU is at heart a social democratic institution that aims to create a wealthy society for all people.
 
Sisyphus said:
Can’t agree this government has been the worst here. Thatcher sold our utilities and council housing to her cronies for a fraction of their true value.
Click to expand...
And many other people made decent money from that, not just her cronies, some ordinary folk on the street were able to take advantage too. It's undeniably true that some didnt fare well, but it's not a unilaterally true statement that everyone was made less well off.

(I know you didn't make that statement BTW, not trying to put words in your mouth)
 
Sisyphus said:
Can’t agree this government has been the worst here. Thatcher sold our utilities and council housing to her cronies for a fraction of their true value.
Click to expand...
She did, the theory being that a competitive market would deliver the cheapest price for the customer.

What actually happened was the opposite.
 
WindyNook said:
Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…’ Winston
This also can be said of capitalism. Communist ideals are great but look where it has got us.
Click to expand...
Where has it got us?

If you're referring to Russia it's time you woke up.
 
Artie Fufkin said:
And many other people made decent money from that, not just her cronies, some ordinary folk on the street were able to take advantage too. It's undeniably true that some didnt fare well, but it's not a unilaterally true statement that everyone was made less well off.

(I know you didn't make that statement BTW, not trying to put words in your mouth)
Click to expand...
Have a look at the direction wealth travelled. Some nearer the bottom made a few bob but not enough to affect them long term.

Real wages dropped and have continued to fall since
 
Artie Fufkin said:
We do all have the opportunity to succeed, but you may have to work harder to carve out that opportunity. Public school then oxbridge isn't a guarantee; sure, it helps but I know far more successful people, including my brother, who didn't go that route, than I do who did (including myself as a former public schoolboy). Success is therefore baselined as how far you have travelled and what your starting point was: if you start already half way to reach the same point, that's less of an achievement in my view
Click to expand...
Survivor bias. Yes some will succeed against the odds but most will not. A kid bought up in a home with poor parents who have no interest in their education, living in a bad neiughbourhood, goign to a poor school, with no money is incredibly unlikely to succeed.
 
Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
Have a look at the direction wealth travelled. Some nearer the bottom made a few bob but not enough to affect them long term.
Click to expand...
Of course, that's a very fair point, it's the increasing elasticity of wealth distribution which is destabilising, but some did benefit long term, coupled with other factors that created that long term effect
 
Oooo said:
Survivor bias. Yes some will succeed against the odds but most will not. A kid bought up in a home with poor parents who have no interest in their education, living in a bad neiughbourhood, goign to a poor school, with no money is incredibly unlikely to succeed.
Click to expand...
We are the choices we make
 
Oooo said:
Survivor bias. Yes some will succeed against the odds but most will not. A kid bought up in a home with poor parents who have no interest in their education, living in a bad neiughbourhood, goign to a poor school, with no money is incredibly unlikely to succeed.
Click to expand...
I agree in so far as success potential will be severely restricted, but that doesn't de facto remove the opportunity. You still can and have to create your own opportunity in the face of adverse environment. Much harder to do of course, but opportunity will always exist and you can't succumb to circumstance, you need the fire in your belly. I absolutely take your point, but I don't believe in fatalism as a reason for lack of success
 
Capitalism ends up morally bankrupt, give me modern socialism: a state, really setup by the people to benefit the people, & freedom enough to do as the individual wants.. economically liberal enough to encourage commercial growth & idealism with fiscal measures to ensure profits are more equally shared..

No tax havens..
 
Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
Only if those means are open to you, and as far as this country is concerned, they're not.
Click to expand...
I'm perhaps not being clear enough cat: you have to push the closed doors open, break them down if you have to, but you have to want to. Very few opportunities are absolutely closed if you have the belief you can open them, but if your mindset is they are closed already you won't get to open them. A locked door looks like a closed door, you only find out the difference when you try the handle
 
Last edited:
BobUpnDown said:
Capitalism ends up morally bankrupt, give me modern socialism: a state, really setup by the people to benefit the people, & freedom enough to do as the individual wants.. economically liberal enough to encourage commercial growth & idealism with fiscal measures to ensure profits are more equally shared..

A socialist society would end up financially bankrupt. It’s not a system that challenges people when “profits are equally shared” . But if you do the 9-5 and work for someone else your never going to get what you think your worth .
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top