The Pros And Cons Of Capitalism

In the late 1700s-early 1900s utopian idea and industrialization changed social life and influenced government. This was by the cause of three main topics Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism. It influenced the government each time within the end results not as how they predicted. Adam Smith is a Scottish economist laid the foundation of capitalism. Also, the evolution from Utilitarianism to socialism. Lastly, about the Karl Marx idea of the best and a fixed mind set on things. Utopian idea and industrialization led to development progress in social life and positively influenced government from the late 1700s-early 1900s through abusive capitalism, idealistic socialism, and realistic communism.

Some believe that Capitalism is the cause for much of the poverty in the nation today, but any hardcore capitalist will tell you that capitalism inherited poverty, and far from being a cause of poverty, it is the only solution.

In Capital, Karl Marx reveals the ugly truth that capitalism lays on the foundation of class exploitation. Without such exploitation, there is no profit to be made and capitalism will cease to exist. Capitalism, which relies on the reproduction of capital, creates and concentrates wealth to a small portion of society’s population while reproducing poverty and widening the size of inequality.

The soundbite criticisms of capitalism are legion, yet it’s harder to offer alternatives, aside from the vague notion of 'something else'. Despite the carnage of trying to socially engineer equality in the 20th century, nevertheless the myth persists that capitalist wealth creation is superfluous and money is readily available to a small number of elitists called a government under common ownership, who distribute, or simply print more paper. Ironically, the ones shouting the loudest against capitalism are often those dependent on the profits of capitalism to provide the welfare payments needed to keep them alive.

Capitalism is an omnipresent system that has taken on many unique and defined forms throughout its existence. While capitalism comes in a variety of disguises, one thing about capitalism has always remained the same – the nature of its selfish being. Capitalism thrives on hard work. Individuals that work hard will undoubtedly be rewarded. On the contrary, those that are not able to work are left in a dreadful predicament. Even with two distinct versions of capitalism – plain capitalism and democratic capitalism – both involve the necessary component of free enterprise. Capitalism considers free enterprise something to be achieved individually with rewards intended for just oneself. Adam Smith came along and challenged that notation

The exact origin of capitalism is unknown and to precisely trace its inception is, as Joyce Appleby says, a conundrum in itself. However, speculation negating the inevitability of capitalism is an even greater feat and rather fruitless. Appleby’s research and evidence thus far, support a great part of her assumptions retracing the colorful history of capitalism, though her case against its inevitability falls short. The question at hand is whether she provides a compelling case, the answer is yes. However, compelling is not convincing and one must be convinced to provide legitimate support of their argument. Human nature is ingrained within us all and its traits inevitably materialize during the course of our growth as we mature, increase

Capitalism refers to an economic system whereby ownership of as well as investment in the means of production is made by private corporations or individuals to whom wealth accrues since they own the means of production. Society morphed from the feudal system to a bourgeois one that did not eliminate class antagonisms (Marx and Engels para 8). Instead, “it has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, new forms of struggle in place of the old ones” (Marx and Engels para 9). At best, the capitalist society that emerged in place of the feudal system merely served to abridge class antagonism by erasing multiple hierarchical classes and replacing them with two classes, the proletariats and the bourgeoisie (Marx and Engels para 10). The bourgeoisie refers to the wealthy class who own the means of production and can, therefore, accumulate incremental wealth by subjecting the proletariat into endless labor. On their part, the proletariat does not own the means of production and are forced to sell their labor cheaply to earn a living, ultimately sustaining the capitalist machinery.

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.

Capitalism, being the current economic system we use in America, is often criticized for inspiring greed, corruption, and mistreatment of others. However there are several good things about it too. Some of these are:

eyes of the government. For example if you are a poor nobody from the lower

Capitalism started up as a system of investing and sharing money in order to increase the value of resources in the future. Capitalism was just an economic system, but then soon turned into a complex system of ethical practices. Harari defines capitalism as, “a set of teachings about how people should behave, educate their children and even think” (Harari 314). This economic system evolved along with the people that were endorsing it. Capitalism enables the rich to get richer, while the poor continue to get poorer. There are many benefits to capitalism, but there are downfalls as well, and these downfalls tend to be masked because of the rapid speed capitalists grow at. Harari first presents a definition for capitalism, and soon goes into great detail on why capitalism, while fast paced and unforgiving, is able to stand unwavered while other productions fail.

Capitalism leads to the creation of unprecedented wealth, advanced technology, and wide prosperity. Yet capitalism is denounced as a system of greed, materialism, and ruthless dog-eat-dog competition

Capitalism is a subject that can be considered deeply controversial. There are many who tout the benefits that capitalism provides to the economy and the progress of human society. There are others who decry that it is a system which promotes selfish motives and extols profits above honesty and genuine goodness. This essay will examine the claims of each and will reach to conclude the answer to the question “is capitalism good?”

Part 1: Hilary’s book, ‘The Poverty of Capitalism,’ questions capitalism in modern day societies and focuses on the three economic sectors of extraction, garments, and food production. The accumulation of capital has led to the impoverishment of millions of people around the world and corporations have even gained enough power to outmaneuver states (ie Vattenfall sues Germany). Capitalism is about ambition, and the wheels of production need to keep turning to keep pace with the demand for more profit. However, the cost of making the wealthy more prosperous is that half of the global south now lives in poverty. Furthermore, after the 2008 financial crisis, the G20 gave more power to the World Bank, the IMF, and the WTO to police world trade, despite how those institutions were responsible for economic crashes to begin with. Corporate Social Responsibility is also criticized by Hilary, who explains how large corporations use this hegemonic strategy as a mechanism for expanding their reach by aligning themselves with NGOs so they can continue their exploitation of people and resources under the protection of a philanthropic name. Inequality is increasing both between and within countries and Hilary proposes that the solidarity created by the struggle for alternatives to capitalism (ie Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, La Via Campesina) shows that there is hope for a new future.

Capitalism is when the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer. Capitalism has mercy on no one. Each individual lives in a society where the mass crowd complain about how the big business are buying the smaller ones but just doesn’t grasp the idea that all this is happening because of the consumers themselves. Within a system just as there is pros there are also cons, cons that are costly in the end. One of the biggest cons that capitalism promote is wealth inequality. Wealth can be inherited, so some people can be rich just due to luck of their ancestors. The others that are not so lucky has to work hard for their earnings. So this becomes a problem because not only does it promotes wealth inequality, it also promotes inequality of opportunity. Capitalist societies are failing to create both equality of outcomes and equality of opportunities. Example of this is the Great depression which lasted from 1929 to the beginning of World War II, profoundly shook the world’s confidence in the capitalist system. The crisis began with the crash of the New York stock market and resulted in widespread economic damage throughout the world, including bank failures, massive unemployment, and bankruptcies. According to the article Capitalism it states, “In addition, the suffering that resulted from the Great Depression highlighted the vulnerability of the labor force. In the United States, 25 percent of workers lost their jobs, and bank failures wiped out many people’s life savings.”