Is the United States a bastion of capitalism or corporatism?

Question

What's the distinction as you see it?

(No, it's not homework - I'm long out of school.)

There are some fascinating replies here, and I wasn't expecting this overall level of quality. Thank you all. Choosing a best is going to be difficult.

"only p" deserves props. Won't get best answer, but "only p" lent an unexpected and not at all meaningless interpretation to my question - I hadn't thought of it from the small biz end at all.

Answer 1

Real capitalism has been disappearing since corporations were granted the legal status of a human being at the turn of the 20th century.

America is one big corporation, and our economic system is EXPLOIT-ALISM.

Welcome to the new millennium.

Answer 2

Corporatism.

Adam Smith's enlightenment philosophy of Capitalism applied to a primarily subsistence agrian society. Industrialization changed national economies significantly and it has been shown time and time again that the gov't does need to intrude on the free market in order to favor the consumer rather than the company,

Look at the new bankruptcy laws, they were practically sponsored by the credit card companies. The health care system is only expensive because of free market economies. The lobby groups pass laws and then Americans suck up their propaganda.

Answer 3

Capital refers in science to life-positive possessions, qualities, abilities, etc. owned by a human being--a mentally-separate, physically-separate and value-separate self

So capitalism must refer to the Founding Fathers' visions of a marketplace of adult lives lived according to necessary regulations only by which rights are claimed, and values are exchanged by individuals signing implicit and explicit 'contracts" of value-for-value exchange with one another.

In such a system, no collective--infallible dictator and rightless slave--fantasies can be permitted to exist; that would entail dictatorial systems competing with individuals, the excusing of the de facto 'dictators' from responsibility for category-level scientific definitions, gangs owning rights and individuals being forbidden in courts even to sue those excuses for the effects of the crimes.

Your Answer: we live in a de facto corporatocracy, with almost nothing of capitalism that matters left at its core.
This is collectivism, not individualism; postmodernism, not realism; de facto totalitarianism, not American governmental theory.

Sorry; but I claim that's the way it is.

Here's a clue;

if you moved to a new city, at what point would you be able to challenge any person, someone for an existing job, upon the grounds of your higher achievement scores attained by your taking a scientific test?

Without that test and a swift (say two-month) period before the challenge could be issued, you would never have the right to live, the liberty of seeking work against a defined standard, and no pursuit of happiness--since you would die of old age before you would ever be permitted start such a pursuit on any case.

But that's what you have in the US--a de facto monopoly over institutions, fields, goods, jobs and ideas held by those without qualification, excuse nor legal restraint. For
now it's enough to know that such monopolies exists--why is a further matter for study and explanation.

Answer 4

yeah, corporatism is a word. It is similar in meaning to fascism. The US has become a corporate state.

The people powerless, the Big Business guys call all the shots. The public remains unaware, because they think they have a free market. But a few interests own almost all the business, and that is far from free market capitalism.

Answer 5

Adam Smith is rolling over in his grave seeing the US govt pile billions of Americans' tax dollars on as corporate subsidies. If this is capitalism no wonder Marx rebelled.

We live in a completely corporocratic state where the power of government to tax has become captive of those with enough influence to demand that those taxes be directly deposited in their pockets.

Don't be fooled by free market cr*p. Until Ron Paul is in his second term as president we won't see any move toward even a slightly free market in this country.

Answer 6

Corporatism wins this one hands down.

Answer 7

There is no difference. Capitalism leads inevitably to corporatism.

Answer 8

Both. Capitalism is what makes the world go-round and corporatism is what provides fuel for the engine driving capitalism.

Answer 9

Capitalism is the best way for an economy to function that we have seen in the world. Many people may hate it because it's ability of greed to flourish, but I have yet to see another prosperous society without elements of capitalism in it.

Answer 10

A more suitable expression should be "Corporate capitalism"
So this is much more relevant to me!!