capitalism vs communism

[aardvarkcore]

My whole life I've been told communism is only good in theory. The system we have in place is capitalism ... and put quite simply it's not much better.

The fuel behind capitalism is the exploitation of 3rd world countries. The fuel behind capitalism is the lack of compassion for human life. In capitalism lives are expendible for a few dollars (if they arn't from a developed country of course). Equality is lost in order for this system to run, some people are "blessed" and live nice and comfortable lives while others live in poverty and are kept there so the others from more developed countries can exploit them. It's just the way the system works.

My whole life I've been told communism is only good in theory, I would like to add capitalism to that list!

[Conductor42]

No, the system we have in place is not capitalism.
It's a combination of socialism and mercantilism.

[aardvarkcore]

No, the system we have in place is not capitalism.
It's a combination of socialism and mercantilism.

add that to the list then haha

[Zeluvia]

Take this whole idea of following economic systems like ideaologies and throw it out the damn window already.

Economic systems are tools for distribution of assests and wealth, for the good of the people.

No single system is good for every situation all the time. They should be applied situationally.

[Zarathustra]

No, the system we have in place is not capitalism.
It's a combination of socialism and mercantilism.

Really?? Why so?

[Smokering]

My convenient, Calvinist view on the matter is that no socioeconomic 'ism' is ever going to 'work', because we're all evil, selfish human beings. No system of finance or government will ever 'succeed' because we're sinful, and any system of finance or government would succeed if we were not.

I know that's not a particularly pragmatic way to look at things, but it's certainly comforting (strangely enough). It means I don't have to expend a lot of angst worrying about the state of the world; the Christian view is basically 'we ain't never gonna get it right, and it'll all pan out in the end'. :p

[Zarathustra]

My whole life I've been told communism is only good in theory. The system we have in place is capitalism ... and put quite simply it's not much better.

The fuel behind capitalism is the exploitation of 3rd world countries. The fuel behind capitalism is the lack of compassion for human life. In capitalism lives are expendible for a few dollars (if they arn't from a developed country of course). Equality is lost in order for this system to run, some people are "blessed" and live nice and comfortable lives while others live in poverty and are kept there so the others from more developed countries can exploit them. It's just the way the system works.

My whole life I've been told communism is only good in theory, I would like to add capitalism to that list!

The Fuel behind capitalism is negative liberty, the consequence of negative liberty are the things you listed above. Until we move from the 'I want' ideology to a 'social need' ideology, the world is going to continue being run by animals, i.e. by the intentionality of instinct. Will we ever notice that the 'dream of freedom' we have been sold is in reality a 'cage of oppression', cleverly designed to keep true freedom out of grasp? Until we find ourselves and our neighbors as an ends in themselves, the current paradigm of oppression will continue as we act to produce means to the end of our wants.

[aardvarkcore]

I don't think we should necessarily convert the economic structure but we should be subverting it. The bottom line is, what are we as the consumers doing to make the little difference we can? If we know that people are being exploited in the making of our goods arn't we just as bad as the people exploiting them? Fair trade is a good alternative.

[Zarathustra]

I don't think we should necessarily convert the economic structure but we should be subverting it.

We should actively engage in waking people from their 'I want' slumber, their meme is an incredibly powerful one and will take a paradigm shift of revolutionary proportions to shift (This is why Marx needed discontent within the proletarian masses), one day the idea of introspection and reflection will rule. Now where is that charismatic leader required for paradigm shift hiding? Ironically the massive Christian base in America may join to fight the ideals of capitalism, if only they would dare practice what they preach.....

The bottom line is, what are we as the consumers doing to make the little difference we can? If we know that people are being exploited in the making of our goods aren’t we just as bad as the people exploiting them?

Good question, this is something most of the west does not want to face, they often wave it away as the 'price of freedom'. Yet how free are they in their desperate consumption? I do not think they are as bad as those who exploit, mainly because they are not free, they grow up within the paradigm ( Capitalism gets them while they are young ) and thus cannot gain perspective from outside it. (They are so oppressed they do not even know they are being oppressed)

Fair trade is a good alternative.

It is one of the many alternatives needed to bring about change, explicitly giving people options makes in more likely that they become conscious of the problems inherent to their current paradigm.