Capitalism In The United States

Capitalism is the sole economic regime I know and I can only compare it with the stories of the older generations, who also came across other regimes. With their stories in mind, as well as the life I lead (as opposed to the life I would want to lead), I can say that capitalism has a negative effect upon the development of the individual. We all pursue financial objectives and we work too hard to attain them, yet the satisfaction obtained is limited. We invest too much time and energy in our material pursuits, but these do not give us a sense of accomplishment and happiness. Capitalism has implemented a model of constant pursuit of material gains, in the detriment of moral values, family and leisure time. And this ultimately leads to socially underdeveloped individuals, unhappy people and even ill people.

The United States is a capitalist society; money is powerful. The wealthy and those in power are able to influence tax policy. There are a few tax policies that have more of a benefit to the wealthy than to the poor. A few of them include the mortgage interest deduction, the yacht tax deduction, rental property, business meal deduction, capital gains tax rate, estate tax, social security, and savings for retirement plans.

Between the years of 1993 to 2001 there was a great amount of economic policies put into place by William Jefferson Clinton, universally known as Bill, which are now commonly known as Clintonomics. Clinton, the 42nd president of The United States of America, took office after a recession due to unemployment and the savings and loans crisis. The goal of these economic policies is to lower unemployment rates, increase wages and to increase tax rates. Clinton accepted office taking after the last part of a retreat, and the economic practices he put into action are held up by his supporters as having cultivated a recuperation and overflow, however a portion of the president 's faultfinders stayed more wary of the cause-impact result instead of looking at his success. He was successful in doing all of these goals. He was even successful in the increase of African American workers. And many predicted that the decline of capitalism which would cause a large damage in the economy but they were shown wrong when Clinton’s policies caused a boom in the stock market. They started out their process to better the economy under a risky stock market. Clintonomics incorporated both an arrangement of financial approach objectives and in addition a general representation theory. Specifically

Many conflicting ideas exist in America today. That’s what makes it such a great example of democracy. People are allowed to fight for their beliefs to become law in our country. One of the main arguments is the welfare of others. Although America has established that it has and always will be a capitalist country, there are different aspects of capitalism that are up for debate. The main debate is on what type of free-market is better, Laissez-faire or Keynesian. Keynesians are for government protection on the market, and Laissez is for allowing the market to adjust on its own. The most recognized Laissez supporter is Milton Freidman. In his book, Capitalism and Freedom, Friedman believes that government intervention causes economic disaster and devaluation of the monetary system and that the concentration of power can be vulnerable to misuse.

A capitalist economy is one that is centered on making profits. Usually, capitalist economies have been seen to give little consideration to the common good of its citizens. The sole purpose for the functioning of such an economy is to make profits through industrialization and globalization. Every move capitalist economy makes must be associated with economic benefits. In such a country, the citizens thrive on small businesses since opportunities are often created. The accumulation of wealth is a means with no ends since the rich continue become more affluent. Capitalist countries grow richer as opposed to poor countries. Countries like the USA and Germany come to mind the most capitalist countries in the world. In the USA, the bulk of the labor force emanates from immigrants who go to the country to make a living. Since the 1950s, the USA has welcomed guest workers who mostly are of Mexican descent (Schuck & Wilson, 2008). After the economic depression caused by the Second World War, industrialization was the only consolation left for the USA. The industrialization process resulted in the embrace of capitalism, which led to the free laws on immigration.

In the modern society which we live in today, there continues to be a growing gap of inequality between the working class and the elite. Within recent years prominent social movements have began to emerge, both in the Global South and the Global North. These movements represent the large majority of the worlds working class and poor. They formed as a direct response to the the deep disparities in society and the dominant capitalist system that has had the worlds working class at the mercy of the economy, decade after decade. One of the most notable movements that emerged was the Occupy movement which originated in New York City as Occupy Wall Street, and quickly spread across many more cities across the globe.

The citizens of the United States of America experienced a plethora of economic rollercoasters throughout history. The minorities seemed to struggle the worst with racism and unemployment, but America was effected within every race, sex, and age group. Capitalism within our government has made several improvements throughout the years, but has also caused a fair share of problems. The United States has never witnessed a country ran by anything other than capitalism, yet our country has argued that communism could be a better economic system for America to run on. Capitalism allows our country freedom, and a government that owns production and sets the prices leads to a political control that extends to all areas and aspects of life. As goods are produced, capitalism ensures that these goods are the best and least expensive, which keeps business running. Opposed to communism, where everyone is considered “equal”, capitalism produces a system with a rippling effect--which begins with the wealthier people. Another common argument is that the poor are mistreated, but with capitalism an individual’s gain is based on their own production. Rather than a rich or poor person being handed money to make them equal to the next person, people work and gain what they deserve. During the following research paper I will touch on

I wholeheartedly believe the basis for all social problems stem from capitalism, social stratification, eurocentrism, and racial and ethnic inequality. Karl Marx referred to an internal contradiction (pg. 54), which emanated from industrialization, as the origin of production capitalism. In other words, the individual worker did not possess the ability to compete with manufacturing facilities and therefore, was forced to become a laborer or wage earner. Once socialized production transpired and profit was the goal, widespread worker exploitation commenced. Improvements to machinery resulted in displaced laborers. Then, capitalists in competition for consumer gains, further threatened as already unstable system. Capitalism may very well be the precursor of nearly all social problems., since the ultimate goal lies in obtaining additional wealth. The state of degradation done to the environment, planet, drinking water, and air in pursuit of oil, etc., without the proper inquiry or safeguards for potential hazards based solely upon gaining riches, is nefarious to say the least.

Some people may argue that the influx of higher education is a good thing. More people are becoming knowledgeable, they are able to make informed decisions, and the country will be regarded higher than others. In regards to those and the fact that we are fulfilling the definition of a knowledge society, yes,the influx of higher education is a good thing. But in regards to learning communities and how they operate, no, the influx of higher education is not necessarily a good thing. More learning communities are formed daily(good thing) but with this comes more stress and pressure on the boundaries of all learning communities. If the community is pulled in too many directions it can be disastrous.

In a capitalist society like the U.S., one of the most prevalent issues facing society is economic inequality. The Equality Trust defines economic inequality as the gap in overall economic distribution between the well off and less well off (“How Is”). Our capitalist society strongly benefits those with the means to invest in or own capital. This has resulted in an increasing wealth gap between the top one percent earners and the average income earner. Emmanuel Saez illustrates the explosion of U.S. high salaries in Striking it Richer, affirming that, “Indeed, estimates based purely on wages and salaries show that the share of total wage and salaries earned by the top 1 percent wage income earners has jumped from 5.1 percent in 1970 to 12 percent in 2006” (Grusky 89). In a capitalist environment like the U.S., policy decisions generally allow the rich to flourish and the poor to struggle, encouraging inequality to permeate throughout our industries, while creating a culture of power and greed. When economic growth is not evenly distributed, people tend to question the entire system. This has been an increasingly controversial issue for businesses in corporate America who are often responsible for any exploitation of low-income employees. Through my research, I have come to realize that corporate America today has been molded to benefit banks and corporations. In Who Rules America? William Domhoff further identifies these financial players in our society. He states,

The American system was defined by all the comprehensive economic plans ("the major economic inactivities debated by the Congress after the world war of 1812 which were the National bank, Federal tariffs, and federally- financed roads, bridges, ports and canals- all being interrelated pieces" (p. 399)) which was designed to give the entire nation a proper economic stand. This was brought about by approving the second Bank of the United States ( B.U.S) (p.394, 395, 396), the Tariff of1816 for protection, and also internal improvements that were sponsored federally. The people belonging to other parts of the country had complaints about the economic policies that they had received. Slavery became an issue again in new territories the onset of

Capitalism is system that likes to take control our money around its people in order to achieve system economical revenue. Capitalism for me is a system that makes the rich richer. The system has not shown improvements sense president “Bush “destroyed are economy. How does capitalism help well it doesn’t it takes away jobs form its people in order to improve money wise and gives little to the poor. Then you end up homeless, on welfare, or even an increase of violence.

looking at capitalism from the economy point of view, with all the deregulations and freedom that allows for private ownership, it’s obvious to see the benefits it has on economic growth, but does it out weight the inevitable social costs that comes along with it. When the people in power becomes so selfish and based their actions on the sole purpose to attain more wealth and power without considering the affects it has on others, people suffer. People who are non-white or people whose lives are viewed as less or no value suffer, as mentioned in the journal, Flint, Environmental Racism, and Racial Capitalism, Laura Pulido described that some people’s lives are “so devalued that their “premature deaths” simply did not matter” to the capitalists. These negative affects not only exist in the form of racism but also in the form of sexism. When the

Utopia is a dangerous idea, responsible for the deaths of countless people throughout the twentieth century. From the idealism of Lenin and Trotsky & the communist revolutionaries all over the world, to the entitlement and bond to blood and soil experienced by the Germans under Nazi rule. History has proven time and time again that attempting to achieve utopia only results in several wars and countless casualties. We could argue the aspects of every socio-economic system and never obtain any objective understanding, however there is one point that I cannot concede: Pragmatic Liberalism is the an emerging utopist force and it is becoming dangerously popular amongst the general public. The methods we use in the first world are naive in regards

In today’s world class is considered one of the most important issue in the United States. Class affects people no matter who the person is and the perspective view of class is mostly controlled by the media. In the book Rereading America, there are two essays, Class in America: Gregory Mantsios, Framing Class vicarious living and Conscious Consumption: Diana Kendall, and, the film Capitalism: A Love story: Michael Moore. Capitalism is an economic system that promotes free trade and private enterprise and that depends upon the hierarchical class structure, shapes, how others see us in various ways, including class avoidance. Mantsios, Kendall, and Moore all address this. Mantsios believes that people in the United States do not like to