Has Capitalism failed or are people just too stupid to handle it these days?

reply to post by JaxonRoberts


A star for you. Why do you think that people have thrown personal responsibility out the window? Is that we have created this concept that we are all victims? I just dont get it.

When I have something wrong in my life I am glad when i realize it is my fault. I try to make it my fault, because I can fix me way easier than I can fix another person or the government or a big corp.

Well you got a flag for this one.

I don't think it's stupidity as much as ignorance. And not the bad kind either.

People are just content with having somebody else handle their money for them. Hence we get the Berny Madoff's and such. People just need to be educated about how it works.

Ohh and more accountability as well, that would be lovely.

~Keeper

reply to post by grapesofraft


I understand what you are saying.
But it doesn't change the fact that the Government has used this complacency to their full advantage.
Yes, they capitalize... on everything. Including a person's psyche. No need to go to college if my job at the factory pays the bills.

No need to LEARN the Declaration of Independance in school any longer.
We'll just read the Bill of Rights and drop a couple of names.
There was a time here in America when EVERY SINGLE child not only LEARNED the Constitution but they also read what Plato thought about Governance. They learned what Kant thought about logic. They learned what Aristotle thought about Scientific Advancement. Etc.

No longer.

Yes the Government is a capitalistic one. And it is reaching its end.

And yes, I can blame the Government for this. And I will. They have neglected every charge they have been placed with. For their own sake.

Capitalism, by its nature, is a greed driven system. Greed has no place in society when the goal is what's best by all.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


A star for you as well. I do agree their is a need for accountability. We do not need regulation so much as accountability that is enforced. I say we should give life in prison or execute a person caught cooking the books.

reply to post by JayinAR


I disagree. A little greed is a good thing. It drives people to succeed and to create. Yes, it can get out of hand and need to be reigned in from time to time, but a little greed is good for a society.

Also, if you think it is important to learn certain things and your children are not taught them at school then you should teach them those things at home. My kids go to a private Christian school where they are taught creationism. I dont believe that, so we take time at home to learn the other point of view.

[edit on 29-6-2009 by grapesofraft]

reply to post by grapesofraft


And for you, that is fine.
For me, that is fine.
For most on this board, that is fine.

That isn't the problem. It is a culture of stupidity bred with a purpose.
I mean, every one of us here can have a child and nurture him/her to grow up to be a doctor or a lawer or whatever other notable profession we can think of.
Problem is, we are in the vast minority. Most people are more concerned with what sort of sneaker Kobe Bryant puts his name on.

Or the fact that Michael Jackson has met a suspicious and untimely death (as if two weeks ago they weren't calling him a pedophile.)

People have been conditioned to act like a bunch of idiots.
That was the last capitalistic venture of a wreckless government.
Next up is an awakening and the resultant outrage.

We all see it coming.

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
Well you got a flag for this one.

I don't think it's stupidity as much as ignorance. And not the bad kind either.

People are just content with having somebody else handle their money for them. Hence we get the Berny Madoff's and such. People just need to be educated about how it works.

Ohh and more accountability as well, that would be lovely.

~Keeper

You can only have more accountability by having more regulations. Okay, that probably sounds bad. Let me rephrase: WE NEED THE REGULATIONS WE CURRENTLY HAVE ENFORCED!

Hrm, we could talk all day about the failure of privatization and deregulation.


You're dead, Reagan, stop haunting us with your economics!

reply to post by JayinAR


Well I would say that any people who put what shoe Kobe is wearing or why MJ died on the top of their priority list deserves to fail, and it is no ones fault but their own.

I think, by in large, the type of capitalism portrayed in the essay, is the kind of capitalism we have today. That's why it's so useful.

Edit: Oops, wrong thread.

[edit on 29-6-2009 by Kaytagg]

reply to post by grapesofraft


Unfortunately you are speaking about a very large portion of the American Public.

A VERY large portion.

So, to answer your question once again, I would say that people are, in fact, too stupid to handle capitalism in its current state... but I would also say that they are that way because the Government has capitalized on the people's natural "faults" in this respect.
Those being that people most generally want to make a good living and enjoy their creature comforts. (that isn't really a fault mind you, it is indicative of what is actually wrong with capitalism)

That being that people simply have to keep themselves too well informed.
It, like all other systems, is doomed to fail.

And we are seeing it.

I mean, there isn't anything written in the bible or anywhere else most consider holy that says that people need to read stock reports every single day all day lest they fall to destitude.

People are better than this cutthroat mentality.
Hopefully one day we can realize it.

Government is the number one source for monopolies. Let alone business bubbles. Why is college tuition so expensive? Cause the government subsidizes student loans. All that free money just grows the tuition beast

reply to post by Zosynspiracy


A star for you. This s true. Anytime the government subsidizes anything it becomes a train wreck. College tuition is a prime example. College rates kept rising as the government gave and/or loanded more money out for college.

The same could be said for healthcare. Do you really think if we all paid out of pocket for our healthcare that the rates would have risen so much. No one bothers to shop around because they figure the government or the insurance agency will just pay it with their magic money that falls from the skies.

Has Capitalism failed? When the society puts hedonism above integrity, any society will fail...

reply to post by mjfromga


A star for you. I think you hit the nail on the head. I think there is a direct coorelation between the decline of a nation and the decline of its morality, personal responsibility and character being two of the leading things.

reply to post by grapesofraft

Has Capitalism failed or are people just too stupid to handle it these days?

Capitalism is just a word for allowing people the freedom to make their own way. True, in many cases, governments corrupt the purest sense of the concept. But still and all, there is no other current governmental system that allows the individual the freedom to excel at the same time rewarding that individual for their efforts.

Socialism works well in a mediocre society but in a dynamic one like Japan or the US or even China... where ideas wait to burst forth... you either reward the individual for their work and worth... or you end up with millions of halfwits who all believe they have some right to nurse from the state tit.

...

reply to post by redoubt


A star for you. I couldnt agree more. That is why most of the people who strive for success move to Capitalistic countries. It is the best situation for those that want to be their best.

It is just sad to see our country move away from the things that made us great.

[edit on 29-6-2009 by grapesofraft]

I really can't say anything that hasn't already been said, but the way I look at it is that the people are not too stupid, they just have been infected with, what I like to call, the progressive disease.

It has taken a few generations to get like this, but it would take less generation to "fix" it so to speak. Education and knowledge would fix a lot of the problems in this nation.

I'm not making this a partisan thing, because there is a difference between being a liberal and a progressive.

Capitalism is fine as an Economic System. The problem begins when you make it your Social System. An economic system deals with the production and flow of material goods. A social system deals with human interaction.

To apply the cutthroat rules of business to human relationships is foolish but is the very philosophy that got us to where we are. In such a system everything is assigned a finite value, even ideas and people. In that way the priceless is made mundane. The limitless is contrained. The divine and special quailty of each of us is rendered insignificant and unremarked. We are given numbers and a place on the statistical curve. We become nothing more than profit centers, wage slaves, and dependants of the state/company.

I will always say this and will continue saying this.

It is the the peoples fault and the governments fault.

The people for being irresponsible and going into endless amounts of debt, and the government who SHOULD be working for us, yet decide to abuse us instead.

If our government actually worked for the entire country, and not just the corporations, we would be in much better shape.

Why?

It is simple.

The government is helping these businesses short term, while long term it is destroying our infrastructure economically. Supporting the consumer might take some time for the big bosses to start realizing the benefits they get, but it is the only way to do this correctly.

The world will always be "ME ME ME"...but it is not that anymore. The problem with "us" is that it is "NOW NOW NOW".

Capitalism will always need a bit of government interference, a system of checks and balances. Currently, they work together.

You know there are still maniacs believing that communism as idea is good... the people are not good enough...
Of course that opens the door to all kind of tyranical abuse, death camps, homicide etc...
But this time it is not healthy, normal, humansized capitalism but- the Globalism that fails.