Please remember that capitalism isn't merely about private ownership, in capitalist countries, many goods are public(traffic lights, street lights, roads, schools) and in Communist countries many things are privately owned(cars, furniture, clothes).
Well, obviously capitalism is easy. Easy, at least for people to relate to. But the world is counter intuitive. So much of what we know to be true was not ascertained by merely observing what happens in everyday life. In most cases, some form of investigation was required.
Capitalism, especially the sort that is exported by the West, is easy to get into because it's basis is in human nature.
but Ernesto Guevara had this to say,
It is very easy to claim that in capitalism, the individual has the option
to satisfy or to express true human nature. A child has one toy, and wants two. That child gets two toys and wants four. This is human nature, isn't it?
But when a whole society behaves in the same way
or when it becomes a monopoly, oppressing the less fortunate is that human nature?
This system blinds people also to invisible forces. People are lost in the idea of the self made man. I won't deny that for most of my life I thought that a man was measured this way as well. But no one realizes that there are forces that give them more opportunities to succeed than others. Capitalism uses freedom as a front to expand it's borders, but freedom is at an untold cost.
Instead of putting the rest of my content into paragraphs, I'll have to do a Nietzsche, that is, to continue in point form.
What I don't like about capitalism:
1) It seems to have skipped ahead of itself, saying, "look, at the rate we're progressing, we'll be on Pluto in no time!" without realizing 'we' means 'us privileged few'. If all the world cash spent on military funding OR fast food OR bail-outs were diverted to providing farmlands for the poor, we'd be able to advance as a human race instead of forgetting those who sew our clothes in sweatshops.
2) When I look at the endless rows of tissue papers, coffee beans, potato chips, etc, I'm not amazed by the capitalists capacity to produce, I'm thinking, "don't we need just one or two brands, making, supplying and researching specialized products?" Instead, we're packed with a billion different labels. Even Proton and Perodua are wasteful. Why would we need TWO Malaysian car companies that don't know how to make cars? This IS NOT an insult to their efforts, all I'm saying is that they are simply re-badge-ing old Japanese cars without having the right skills for the job. I'm aware of the dangers posed by monopolies, but I do not withdraw my previous statement. I am confident that consumers have no idea what their dollar votes do and that the capitalist system is to blame(more on this later)
3)Marketing. You see, the one thing about capitalism that does it some degree of justice is the demand-supply graph. In many socialist countries, severe famine has occurred because they lack privately owned farms, so farmers don't get to price food according to the the aforementioned graph(which usually makes things easier). Essentially, what the demand-supply graph does is it sets (y) price when (x) quantity is provided. Without going into detail, it's an efficient way to make sure resources are efficiently allocated. So, when a product isn't favored, it drops out of the market and is replaced. When there's marketing, it all goes topsy turvy. With marketing, firms MAKE you WANT things by exploiting your emotions. McDonalds puts up a poster of a juicy looking burger, all of a sudden demand SPIKES, even though you KNOW that the actual burger is going to look tiny and pathetic and will probably taste like salted cardboard. I fail to see how marketing makes people aware of quality goods. What happens if McDonalds spends 80% of its cash on advertising and 20% on the burger, while Carl Jr Burgers spends 20% of its cash on advertising and 80% on the burger? You still pay the full 100%(maybe even more), but you're more likely to cast your dollar votes in the inferior product.
4)The power of the few. Bill Moyers once talked about mythology. After reading his book on myth I no longer saw the need to nit-pick every aspect of religion. I thought it was at LEAST semi-justified. When he talked about systems, he explained that most systems were to aid the individual but at a collective level. Societies usually understand common wants, then create a system that benefits the many. But what makes people miserable? Layoffs, quitting, going to work from Monday - Friday, and not having money, to name a few(that relate to capitalism). This system no longer benefits the individual. Ever since the rise of corporation, only a handful of owners enjoy the benefits of capitalism compared to the millions of employees. A million people will work to fatten the wallets of their slave driver, called the CEO in the modern world.
5)Consumption. Humans never NEEDED to buy this much before. The fact is, when combined with the wretched powers of marketing, capitalism is willing and able to feed a single person with a weeks worth of food. Money talks. In the modern capitalist world it screams. Landfills are one of the many by-products of capitalism. A firm is not obligated to deal with the product it sells once it leaves the shelf, unless of coarse, there's a warranty. Even then, who deals with all the packaging? Who's to blame for the tons of unused plastic? Who pays for the ads and excessive amount of boxing and wrapping that comes with something as tiny as a pen?
6)Opportunity cost. Firms are reminded by economists of the dangers of sharing, helping, caring or even spending money on research, as every dollar spent is a lost income opportunity. Why spend money finding a safer, more intelligent product if the rival product is going to do that next week? We can just copy his designs! What about the Haitians? There is real money to be made in the country North of it where we can supply our food and make real money out of it(unless they advertise their efforts, then it becomes a soulless act of kindness).
7)Transfer of blame. A corporation like McDonalds is NOT a human. It cannot feel, speak or decide. When a CEO is blamed, he shrugs and excuses himself by saying he's acting in the interest of the share holders. When the share holders are blamed, they shrugged and say they were not involved in the decision making process. A modern day public firm is an organization that is completely unblamable. The laws that protect it are the laws of capitalism, the law of the land. Externalities are absolutely disgusting. It is what happens when someone (like a person living in a 3rd world country) is directly effected by a transaction made between some other person and a firm. Basically, if Toyota sells ME a car, and I pollute YOUR air, it's YOUR problem, not mine or Toyota's.
7)It is legal to be unfair. That is what capitalism stands for. And that is what's worst about it.
2 comments:
Capitalism's flaws are fatal in many parts of the world, and it's appalling to think that in this time of "unthinkable wealth" there are still people who live in such dire conditions.
However, I cannot be persuaded into thinking that communism is of any practical advantage to the concept of equality. The ideology itself is noble in purpose, but of little practical value when applied to actual, real-life situations. I'm sure you've studied it a lot more than I have and I do not doubt that you're already aware of some very prominent flaws in its method - one being that the inherent behaviour of man makes it almost impossible to conform to the ideals of communism without contradicting one or the other.
The West won the Cold War precisely because they succeeded in making communism look like utter crap. They made the world economy theirs - through their form of capitalism, I suppose. Communism just wasn't good enough. Since we can say that we're unhappy with capitalism, than I think we're on high enough moral ground to say that there's something with the human behaviour that allowed it to work in the first place. Capitalism isn't a system that was devised overnight by the Americans or the Europeans - it is in fact a description of the gradual progress of the way transactions occurred over the past few centuries. (Communism, on the other hand, IS a system especially created to counter this.)
But I hate arguing like this, because it only leads me to think that there is nothing worth saving in the first place. I want to do good, but only out of habit and not reason. Reason tells me that this form of capitalism is wrong because we are wrong. There are no victims. There are only those who are making it and those who want to make it. This is a worthless statement but I'll say it anyway, because it explains my neutral stance. I cannot explain my resentment as well as you do in factual terms, but I can only say I feel a deep sense of regret with how certain things are.
But there is some good to capitalism,too. My standards of good and bad are applicable to the same consequences that arise from the advantages and disadvantages of both capitalism and the only other system that ever came close to a challenge, communism.
I will have to leave the debate, because I will never know which is better. I don't even know enough to have a firm stand. I still don't know what communism is, really - apart from the surface principles that is common knowledge to all. It's the right thing that counts in the end. I hope I'll actually be able to do something in the future, like pinpointing the ACTUAL flaws instead of vaguely recounting them from textbook knowledge and philosophical thought. No one can discount a real mistake that is proven on their own ground.
It's all about the conscience.For me, at least. I know I'll lose it in the future, I already am starting to - so this is actually a reminder to myself. To remember that the people around are real people like me, and not just entities in a complex cycle.
Thanks for taking the time to write this Subs! It's very good, as usual - with sufficient research, although it'd do better with more precision to substantiate the argument:P
I hope you appreciate this long comment too, because i've just USED UP NEARLY HALF AN HOUR! geez. I need to study. byebye!
(Oh ya and regarding your economists comment, I must disagree. There is no such thing as so narrow an objective as merely increasing income;- there are alternative theories besides the capitalistic profit-making.sometimes incomes must be reduced. Research is in fact an extremely important factor when approximating the benefits of investment in the long run.)
Thanks for the comment, finally, some feedback.
You are right about the capitalist system sort of 'evolving' to suit the economic needs, but everyone forgets that it has evolved out of Imperialism. It cannot forget where it came from, and we too, should not forget that the countries that wrote the rules were all imperialists, invaders with wallets and trade routes. This means that when the going gets tough, they'll change the rules again to make sure they're still on top of the food chain not because they're smarter or worked harder, but because they pushed everyone else down. (heck, maybe it's us Southern and Easterners that are too silly to know what's good for us).
Communism is a lab-engineered species. It's designed to be perfect, but has never had much time in the sun. The moment it does get the chance, it dies off. And because it is such a collective thing, the moment one or two people make mistakes or get lazy, it brings EVERYBODY down. This is an issue that no Communist economy has addressed.
So what I'm proposing is sort of like Genetically Modified food. Take our fully evolved capitalist economy, throw out the parts that aren't working and insert the communist genes. It's socialism, but the only difference is:
1) it has to be global, not just Northern European
2) the countless crimes against humanity perpetrated by corporations and imperialist countries must be judged. I expect full compensation for every lost opportunity at success for every man, woman and child who has ever worked in a sweatshop.
3) Private ownership should still be legal, but corporations should be temporary, with its facilities being state owned.
4) Human rights and freedoms should be preserved and no one should be above the law. No exceptions(still a problem in our country).
and a few other things that I can't think of right now.
I am grateful for what capitalism has done for me. And I think I'm a natural capitalist. But I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if I allowed this sort of thing to continue.
Thank you for your time.
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