Is Capitalism Making Life Better?

This Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFxYyXGMfZM

-Seems to debunk the myth that a rising standard of living provides adequate justification for a particular political/economic system. As, (to make an analogy), the rising standards of living in Stalinist Russia were astronomical; in a period of 10 years, Russia was transformed from a largely agrarian peasant-based society to an industrial economy. However, this was done through the use of: coercion, terror, slave labor, murder, secret police, and state-propaganda.

(See the video for additional examples)

If a rising standards of living are the necessary and sufficient conditions for justifying one's economic system, then capitalism AND Stalinism are justified.

I doubt very much that any rational person would consider both economic systems to be justified.

Thoughts anyone?

 

I'm personally fed up with it. Many people that live in the United States are plain retarded. They believe that politicians answer to the citizens and this this country is a democracy. The level of poverty is absolutely insane while the concentration of money is even worse. The United States government has utterly failed me and my generation. If I get a chance to change it, you bet your ass I will.

 

wow that's a land slide vote lol

 

Chomsky's the man.

ZW

 

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Wouldn't it be crazy if the companies that get tax dollars "Government Contractors" had to be profitable?

So like lets say the auto companies and Northrup Grumman had to make money with our tax dollars. Then pay We the people interest on that money.

Wouldn't that be crazy ?

Giving tax dollars to companies that never have to make a profit seems like a bad business deal to me. IMO our tax dollars should work for us.

 

Sure, capitalism makes life better for the winners. The haves. the elite.. the whatever you want to call them. Unfortunately, not everybody can be a winner. There will be losers.

I think the best we, meaning the entire human race, can hope for is a capitalist system with enough socialism in place to keep people from starving on the streets and babies from dying from disease.. basically the way it is now Europe/US but tweaked a tiny bit more away from the free market lunacy than we have now.. You need to keep corporations in check because they're under no obligation to check themselves. so ya, well managed capitalism all the way!



*well managed meaning we don't let corporations get away with polluting the earth and exploiting poor people all in the name of profit because they will if we let them.

 

I'm curious to how one would support the "NO" answer. Essentially that is a claim that either there is no relation between the standard of living and an economic system, or that there is no acceptable economic system. What is left as a choice?

 

Capitalism in its purest form is profitable. It has to be, by definition. What we have isn't really capitalism, it's more like government subsidized failure, with the subsidies going to the most politically connected, who are often not the most qualified. As more and more government services become privatized, we can expect less and less accountability and oversight, and more corruption.

One major problem with capitalism in it's purest form is it measures everything in terms of monetary profits, not long term costs when it comes to environmental and social impact, which can't necessarily be measured until after the fact.

 

"Is capitalism making life better?"
The simplest answer is "it can, for those who participate.", which brings up another question, "to what degree should it make life better for those who do not?"

 

Better than what?