is poverty caused by capitalism?

Question

capitalism encourages profit making. if one person gets richer another gets poorer right? so does capitalism cause extreme poorness/ poverty?

Answer 1

Not really... Extreme poverty is the natural state of humanity (just look at present-day hunter-gatherers in African bush or Australian outback).

As to your assertion that if one person get richer, another one must get poorer (in economics, it is usually referred to as "zero-sum game"), it is simply not true. Because of comparative advantage, it is entirely possible to have trade in which both parties will be better off than they were before they traded.

The problem is, very few people can comprehend comparative advantage. Once upon a time, mathematician Stanislaw Ulam, the inventor of the Monte Carlo method, challenged economist Paul Samuelson to name one theory in all of the social sciences which is mathematically provable, yet nontrivial. At the time, Samuelson did not have an answer. Several years later, however, he thought the theory of comparative advantage might be it..

Answer 2

No, poverty in America is the choice of the person thats poor. We all have an equal oppurtunity, some more than others, to become weathly and live a good life. This is all the effects of capitalism, now if we were communist then the government would control all our assest and divide them equally, this would mean the lazy people who didn't even want to work would get paid the same price as the hard working man. Capitalism helps americans be competitive and try there best to succed in life, with capitalism its all up to you weather you will or wont be poor. Now what you need to ask is in a country where so much money can be made and so much oppurtunities are given, why are americans still sleeping on the trains and begging for hand outs when a little elbow greece can get the common man a long way.

Answer 3

Most often than not, poverty has something to do with attitude, character from either the concerned or the other person. If one is not assertive and too uncreative, he will not earn much. If one is lazy and depends on somebody or something almost all the time, then he will not eat most of the time. If one is too afraid and hesitant to change ways and the manner he should earn his food, then he will stay the way he is until his resources diminished. Capitalism does not make one richer or poorer or so I believe. Capitalism is man's natural way of survival since the first man came into existence. In the animal kingdom, capitalism exist. The animal with the most strength (that being his capital) is the predator and weakest of them is the prey. However, even the tiniest in the animal kingdom learned how to survive by taking advantage of their weakness and turning it into a threat to stronger animals. Take for example the ants, the roaches, the flies, the bees, etc...learn from them...how did they survive? Were they lazy?

Answer 4

capitalism creates a more competent people.communism create a lazy person.why don't we have a mix economic system.rich people get's richer while poor people doesn't look too poor.capitalism does not cause extreme poverty.disabled person can still get a job like being a food vendor.so there it is,corrupt government are the causes all of this extreme poverty problem.in indonesia,most of the taxes the people paid goes to the governments' pocket.we need to kick corruptions to make poverty history.

Answer 5

Capitalism is NOT (IMO) the cause of poverty. Capitalism allows any person to rise above any level of poverty.

More likely, greed and lack of social conscience is the key cause of poverty.

The 'Free market' is a key part of capitalism and that allows ANYONE to get ahead if they are only willing to give more than they get for some period of time before reaping the benefits. And suffer the 'Slings and arrows' over and over until they get it right.

The 'Human condition' tends to cause poverty... As boiledcrabs said - it's the people themselves that cause their own poverty and it's not the fault of any one individual - communities must respect each others efforts, rather than destroying them to bring about prosperity.

Poverty is one of those things, I fear, that will never go away. Even if it does, there will be a new 'Poverty line' defined by society.
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NC said: "As to your assertion that if one person get richer, another one must get poorer, it is simply not true."

I agree! It can happen that way (Or be perceived to be happening) but is not a true statement.

Answer 6

Before capitalism came along were everyone rich? No. Most people were horribly poor.

Capitalism has enabled everyone to increase their standard of living.

It's not a zero sum game, where there are winners and losers. Everyone wins because their needs and wants are being met in the most efficient manner possible.

Answer 7

I see your point. However, countries who have accepted capitalism, which means to use your talents to the test, this includes China, which has accepted capitalism has had their poverty level lower, but the key is not to be a greedy CEO, there is a happy medium.

Answer 8

Does rubbing a scratch-n-sniff sticker cause it to be fragrant? Not really. The better way to think about rubbing the sticker and capitalism is that both actions reveal something that was already present.

Answer 9

Poverty is caused by an unequal distribution of capital and for some sections of the community; the unemployed, elderly, children of poor parents, the disabled etc. they have little opportunity to share in the prosperity of rich countries. We live in a society driven by profit and some people are obscenely rich and some are incredibly poor and deprived. Government can put in policies to protect the poor and this can be seen in the Uk with Fuel Grants for the elderly and Family Tax Credit for low income families.

Answer 10

1) Without capitalism, all people are poor(by our standards).
2) With capitalism, those who are unable to work or who don't want to work are poor.