Would you want to live in a society that practised 'pure' capitalism?

Question

No regulations, no taxation, no import/export controls, no enforced monopolies (like energy companies, U.S. postal Service, etc). Just let pure capitalism reign and allow profit to completely drive the markets.

How would that be? Pure capitalism?

Or...are there social concerns that outweigh concerns over profits? Does capitalism need to be limited by and subservient to those concerns?

AP - No regulations, no taxes, no import/exports restrictions? No, all these things MUST restrict capitalism.

Nothing approaching pure capitalism is workable. Capitalism is a tool, and it has to be controlled by greater concerns.

Answer 1

Who's going to build the roads that everyone drives? Who is going to build the schools? Who is going to be there when business pollutes the water and air so bad that we can't drink the water and we can barely breath the air. Capitalism doesn't care for any of these human concerns. It is driven by profit. And, not all things are profitable. How can anyone profit off clean air or clean water? Pure capitalism is far too irresponsible and dangerous to culture and to society that it would exist in. Pure capitalism is a neo-con or libertarian utopia that will never work. Business cannot possibly fulfill all the needs of the people. Yes, capitalism does need to be limited to subservient to the people and those concerns that support life. Capitalism is what is killing the planet. My god, look at bottled water for example. There is no need for bottled water. And, yet, the water companies have us convinced that it is cleaner and more healthy when in fact most bottled water businesses get that water straight from the same source you do, from the tap. And, this horrible business pollutes sooooo bad with all the plastic bottles filling up landfils and wasting energy to make them. And, let's not forget the fact that they are trying to buy our municipal water supplies from our cities, counties and states. It is happening all over the world just so they can profit and this profit comes as a cost to the taxpayer and the people in these communities.
Pure capitalism would be a nightmare for us all. Which is pretty close to what we have now. The Neo-Con Utopianists such as Milton Friedman should have their books, theories and their creeds follow them to the grave. They don't work.
We need a new model based on the local economy, not the global.

Answer 2

Capitalism and socialism are on opposite sides of a spectrum. True capitalism is just as bad as true socialism. This is why America has thrived. Without regulation a capitalistic government will produce a huge difference in wealth and the poor will become like slaves. In a true socialist government the people will not have enough motivation to do jobs that require a high salary to attract employees. For example why be an accountant when you can be a wall mart greeter? The best solution is something in the middle. It is important to have a balance that allows everyone to have great opportunity with little chance for poverty. When republicans decrease taxes and lower regulations democrats do the opposite to reverse the damage. Then republicans start the cycle over again. It reminds me of a beating heart. We live in an ever changing nation. Sticking to one method for too long will create problems.

Answer 3

No obviously we cant. That would require people being honest all the time and we know thats just not going to happen.
We have to have a few basic rules in play and someone keeping an eye on it to make sure people play by them. Unfortunately thats how it is.
If not we end up with what we had in the 90s with little oversight we had alot of companies cookin the books.

Problems can arise when you take the social concerns as you mention too far. A good example perhaps would be the power grid problem a few years back in California.
The social concerns imposed made it so that no one wanted to build a power plant. And then well you know what happened. controlled brown out situations until other states redirected some of their power to California. And to a degree those other states didnt have a choice.

Answer 4

The Democratic Republic of Congo has a "free market": there are no government restrictions on the national economy. There's also no government, and no economy.

In order for capitalism to work, you MUST have enforceable property rights. This means real estate and tangible goods as well as intellectual property, patents, and copyrights. It also means environmental regulations: you can pollute your own land, air, and water as much as you want, but as soon as your sludge crosses over into my property, you've violated my rights.

So if you can guarantee my property rights, then you've got a workable scenario. Not saying I'd necessarily want to live there, but I'd think about it. Otherwise, all you've got is chaos.

Answer 5

Of course not.

This country had something approaching pure capitalism in the 1920's. It led to the Depression.

We gleefully leant money to Germany, which, by the early 30's defaulted on its loans, leading to worldwide depression and the rise of Fascism.

The pollution of Love Canal started in the 30's.

Answer 6

Absolutely not.

I wonder how many of the younger contributors in this forum have read Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle;" about the scandalous working conditions and lack of hygiene in the packing industry...before we had things like OSHA and the FDA, which btw was founded right after "The Jungle" exposed such conditions.

Just in the employment/manufacturing sector alone, I cannot imagine a total lack of external control.

Answer 7

Good question. Short answer: no. Regulations are needed to deal with things such as pollution. Law enforcement mechanisms are needed to enforce contracts, but such could arguably be called part of pure capitalism. Pollution control, however, cannot.

Answer 8

Almost pure. You still need anti-monopoly laws, but other than that yes. Competition has always decreased the price and increased the quality of a product or service. Socialism is not the key. Just take a look at our socialized education system. It's extremely expensive to the taxpayer and the product (child's education) is extremely poor.

Answer 9

that is the real Liberal creed...Capitalism great...just protect the workers and limit the influence of the corporations...because we don't want a recreation of medieval times when the Europe was controlled by a hundred petty kings

Answer 10

taxation is necessary for things like a court system, a police force, a military, etc.

surely, even the most staunch supporter of capitalism thinks these things are necessary?