What is the new argument to defend Capitalism?

Question

It used to be that by making a minority incedibly wealthy, the wealth and opportunities will filter down to the majority...This was the only defence..or aguement for having a capitalist economy.

But now when we have so many people coming here and are - being allowed to take all the wealth and opportunity of the poor, and also capitalism is off to china - so what is the new argument for defending western capitalism?

Tap Tap...so still waiting..

gvih2g2...you are using old arguements, to defend what is becoming essentially a eastern idiology, and not a western one. I am sure the most "efficient" and "cost effective way" of doing things envolves child slaves being whipped half to death..

Zak I only want to know the new pro capitalist arguments..and to see if they are as rediculous as what I think they are.

Paul - So the only arguemnt to defend capitalism is because there is nothing better than having 60 million americans and 30 million brits live in poverty just to get the thing to work?

Answer 1

The argument hasn't changed.

Migration is a way of making capitalism more 'capitalistic'.

When someone decides say to migrate to the UK and work there, chances are that person is getting paid less than the people originally in the UK and who could have done the job.

Therefore, the profits that the capitalist makes are getting larger.

Then as the capitalist decides to spend his money, he will spread his wealth around.

One major difference is that he need not spend the money locally (in the UK).

So, what is happening is that Capitalism is going on a world wide scale, and we are now in the transition phase. This is where the poor in rich countries have it hardest as they are squeezed to compete either with new migrants or people overseas where costs of living are lower and people more willing to work for less.

This transition phase will end once every place in the world has its own capitalist class, and it's own 'worker' class. Workers will be earning roughly the same everywhere, and so will capitalists.

Then as the capitalists spend, the workers benefits from the trickle. Those who are entreprising can benefit more.

The 'new argument' is the same as the old myth, sorry argument.

Answer 2

The defence for a capitalist economy is that it is the most efficient and produces the greatest good for the greatest number. The downfall of Communism was that the AVERAGE worker in the USSR was so much poorer than the average worker in the USA - the rich don't really come into it.

Do you think it would be a better thing for us to have to pay British workers more to do something badly, rather than be able to Polish workers less to do something well?

The failure in capitalism isn't immigration, it's when the market doesn't price something correctly: eg when the cost of pollution or CO2 emissions is not passed back to the polluter.

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In reply to your further point:
Absolutely. "Pure" capitalism would be all about exploitation. Even Thatcher and Reagan had to admit that there has to be a social dimension, and a care for people's welfares.

I wasn't defending capitalism, merely answering your question as to how it could be defended. Though the fact is that under the US/UK capitalist model - which is what I'd call "western capitalism" - nobody was whipped, child labour was banned, and the average standard of living was relatively high. Well, in our own countries at least - we were always happy to take advantage of cheap imports from developing countries without asking too many questions!

What we really need is an extension of those western values of capitalism to the global market, so that all workers can expect certain standards of treatment and get a reasonable recompense for their labours, with profitability tied to efficiency and innovation rather than exploitation.

Answer 3

I don't think you can consider Italy and Germany in the 30's and 40's capitalist. Many businesses at the time were government run, which actually would have made them socialist countries. And Canada isn't as affected by the recession as America is but Iceland went bankrupt, Greece is pretty socialist and is bankrupt, Spain, Portugal and Italy are all relatively socialist, club med countries and all have FAR worse economic problems than America does. I'm talking double the GDP adjusted deficits that the U.S. has, in case you're wondering how much worse off Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy are. England meanwhile has a free health care system and also is in a worse economic condition than America at present when you compare debt to annual GDP. All the countries I listed are more socialist than the U.S. and in worse economic condition. And how does capitalism lead to war? No true capitalist nation has ever fought another. The only war to ever occur between two nations with a McDonald's occurred when the U.S. bombed Serbia and the Serbians were not exactly a capitalist group when we did that. People don't fight trading partners, so capitalism actually prevents war so long as everybody trades with everyone else. Meanwhile China has invaded Tibet and Russia invaded Georgia before international pressure forced them to back off. These are socialist nations invading other nations, so clearly socialism does not lead to a lack of warfare.

Answer 4

Capitalism is the world religion if there ever was one. We've overshadowed the steeples of our cathedrals in our downtown cores with the "churches" of capitalism (a.k.a. the shiney new highrise that oil or telecommunications built).

There's more people in the world who subscribe to the idea that making money is the only way to live life than people who don't and on a per-country basis, the total population of the world that operates their lives on a daily basis on the core values of capitalism is far greater than any single religion around the world. From the 1890s to the 1920s, industrialists such as W.P. Chrysler had portraits of themselves painted in god-like gestures on the ceilings of the lobbies in their skyscrapers marking their world headquarters.

Today Henry Ford's famous saying about "building a good product of the highest possible quality paying the highest possible wages (to foster loyalty among your workers) will turn in a healthy profit" has been replaced with "building a merely sellable product of the lowest acceptable quality paying the lowest socially-acceptable wages (while screwing everyone in your path) will turn in enormous profits and keep the hoards of fickle shareholders investing in the stock."

Capitalism has become a game of perception and only the ones who are pros at developing brand names and public relations are at the top anymore.

Answer 5

If it isn't Capitalist, then its communist - to be fair communism is a great theory but could never ever work properly. For example what gives one person the right to live in a bigger house than the other if we are indeed meant to be all equal. The best argument to defend capitalism is therefore - look at the alternatives!

Answer 6

the thing about capitalism is that it opens firms up to market forces which leads to a more efficient use of resources. for this to happen some people need to be rich and some poor so that there is an incentive for the poor to become rich through enterprise and hard work.

Answer 7

'if it isn't capitalist, it's communist' - no. we're certainly not as free as america.

capatilism lets people take control of their own destiny, however, it's a delicate balance. too little or too many of the rich or the poor can change the economy and people's job oppurtunites. 'now when we have so many people coming here ...' - exactly, too many poor people coming in and it upsets the balance. we either halt immigration or put more power in the hands of the government. capatilism isn't a perfect system by any means, but if you can come up with a better strategy then please, tell us

Answer 8

No defense in capitalism really...its flaw is it requires a growing popluation to support it.. its a pyramid scheme on a vast scale......the pyramid is money, but hidden underneath is resource...and as they pyramid grows the need for resource goes up and result is global warming. Does this make sense as it is such a complex issue and this such a quick generalisation..... I hate typing. But its only defense is nothing else works, cos if it did evolution would have implemented it....and remember evolution works by natural selection....the nice things dont always win....usually selfish does.

Answer 9

I am amused that you are using computer technology and the Internet to criticize capitalism. Is your telegraph machine not working properly?

The defense of capitalism is easy.
Capitalism = Liberty
Socialism = government enforced slavery
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“Few men desire liberty. The majority are satisfied with a just master.”
-Gaius Sallustius Crispus
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In your honor, I will simply started begging politicians and government to control my life.

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Answer 10

There is no defence for the abuse of people,the people can1t be just !