Theses on Capitalism

[Winterhaze13]

Theses on Capitalism

1. Capitalism is elitist in that it creates a new aristocracy based in capital accumulation that makes up the ruling class in a democracy.

2. Capitalism exploits the disadvantaged in society by paying the most needy less, in order to boost profits. As a result, many of the disadvantaged are left behind in society, creating apathy. Inc. Single mothers, immigrants, ext.

3. Capitalism is incompatible with democracy in the sense that capitalism is competitive while democracy should be cooperative.

4. Capitalism creates conflict in society by bidding citizens against one another in the pursuit for capital.

5. Capitalism creates powerful multi-national corporations that often act out of self interest and never out of the common good of society. Corporations don’t support social justice.

6. Corporations have come to influence and even dictate state policy while preventing equality and social justice that conflicts with their economic interests. Capitalism keeps democracy from reaching its full potential.

7. In capitalism the employer pays their workers the lowest possible wage in order to maximize profit. In doing so, they prevent the economic welfare of their workers. Also, they do not promote equal work for equal value.

8. Capitalism creates a discrepancy in wealth. The workers do 90% of the labour in the economy but possess less than 25% of the wealth.

9. Capitalism does not permit universal education and therefore prevents social equality.

10. Most politicians are wealthy and have business links when going into politics. As a result, this prevents them from acting out of the best interests of their constituents. Instead, they protect business interests in hopes that major corporations will fund their campaign.

[Argus]

Theses on Capitalism

1. Capitalism is elitist in that it creates a new aristocracy based in capital accumulation that makes up the ruling class in a democracy.

There will always be a ruling class. There certainly is in Communist and even Socialist states. There, the ruling class is made up of apparatchiks, upper level bureacrats with alliances and power. I frankly don't see how that is better than the legal bribery which allows wealthy corporations such significant control of government in capitalist nations.

2. Capitalism exploits the disadvantaged in society by paying the most needy less, in order to boost profits. As a result, many of the disadvantaged are left behind in society, creating apathy. Inc. Single mothers, immigrants, ext.

Every type of government exploits the disadvantaged. I'm confused about what you mean when you suggest that paying them less is a means to exploitation. They are paid less because they are disadvantaged? Or are they disadvantaged because they receive less payment for their lower skills? There is and always has been a disadvantaged group in every society made up of losers, alcoholics and other addicts, the lazy, the dull-witted, and those who simply made poor choices or had bad luck.

3. Capitalism is incompatible with democracy in the sense that capitalism is competitive while democracy should be cooperative.

Demonstrably untrue as all democracies practice capitalism.

4. Capitalism creates conflict in society by bidding citizens against one another in the pursuit for capital.

It seems to be a feature of human nation in virtually all cultures that without competition a significant portion of the population just coasts and does nothing. See the Soviet Union as an example. Where enterprise is not rewarded, there is no enterprise.

5. Capitalism creates powerful multi-national corporations that often act out of self interest and never out of the common good of society. Corporations don’t support social justice.

Which is why we need to have governments reigning in corporations. Which, by and large, we do.

6. Corporations have come to influence and even dictate state policy while preventing equality and social justice that conflicts with their economic interests. Capitalism keeps democracy from reaching its full potential.

To some extent, true, but insoluable, since there does not appear to be any functioning alternative economic model.

7. In capitalism the employer pays their workers the lowest possible wage in order to maximize profit. In doing so, they prevent the economic welfare of their workers. Also, they do not promote equal work for equal value.

Capitalism is actually quite good at rewarding higher skill levels, and thus inspiring workers to obtain those higher skill levels. And while corporations try to pay the lowest possible wage workers try to obtain the highest possible wage. The settlement point will depend on the scarcity, and thus the value of the skill set the worker posesses.

8. Capitalism creates a discrepancy in wealth. The workers do 90% of the labour in the economy but possess less than 25% of the wealth.

Most of the wealth owned by the really rich is wasted, anyway. How many mansions can they have? Most of that wealth is simply invested in business enterprises. In any event, while wealth discrepency can be a danger, it does not prevent those who are not wealthy from obtaining enough wealth to have a happy and comfortable lifestyle.

Which can't really be said of those in some other systems, as we know from history.

9. Capitalism does not permit universal education and therefore prevents social equality.

Capitalism does not prevent universal education either, and most capitalist nations do have universal education where possible. If you're speaking of universal higher education, that again is something which is generally rationed in all systems according to need and ability.

10. Most politicians are wealthy and have business links when going into politics. As a result, this prevents them from acting out of the best interests of their constituents. Instead, they protect business interests in hopes that major corporations will fund their campaign.

Corruption among politicians is a universal fact, whether the economic model is capitalism or not. You want to change that? Change human nature.

[Winterhaze13]

Theses on Capitalism

1. Capitalism is elitist in that it creates a new aristocracy based in capital accumulation that makes up the ruling class in a democracy.

There will always be a ruling class. There certainly is in Communist and even Socialist states. There, the ruling class is made up of apparatchiks, upper level bureacrats with alliances and power. I frankly don't see how that is better than the legal bribery which allows wealthy corporations such significant control of government in capitalist nations.

2. Capitalism exploits the disadvantaged in society by paying the most needy less, in order to boost profits. As a result, many of the disadvantaged are left behind in society, creating apathy. Inc. Single mothers, immigrants, ext.

Every type of government exploits the disadvantaged. I'm confused about what you mean when you suggest that paying them less is a means to exploitation. They are paid less because they are disadvantaged? Or are they disadvantaged because they receive less payment for their lower skills? There is and always has been a disadvantaged group in every society made up of losers, alcoholics and other addicts, the lazy, the dull-witted, and those who simply made poor choices or had bad luck.

3. Capitalism is incompatible with democracy in the sense that capitalism is competitive while democracy should be cooperative.

Demonstrably untrue as all democracies practice capitalism.

4. Capitalism creates conflict in society by bidding citizens against one another in the pursuit for capital.

It seems to be a feature of human nation in virtually all cultures that without competition a significant portion of the population just coasts and does nothing. See the Soviet Union as an example. Where enterprise is not rewarded, there is no enterprise.

5. Capitalism creates powerful multi-national corporations that often act out of self interest and never out of the common good of society. Corporations don’t support social justice.

Which is why we need to have governments reigning in corporations. Which, by and large, we do.

6. Corporations have come to influence and even dictate state policy while preventing equality and social justice that conflicts with their economic interests. Capitalism keeps democracy from reaching its full potential.

To some extent, true, but insoluable, since there does not appear to be any functioning alternative economic model.

7. In capitalism the employer pays their workers the lowest possible wage in order to maximize profit. In doing so, they prevent the economic welfare of their workers. Also, they do not promote equal work for equal value.

Capitalism is actually quite good at rewarding higher skill levels, and thus inspiring workers to obtain those higher skill levels. And while corporations try to pay the lowest possible wage workers try to obtain the highest possible wage. The settlement point will depend on the scarcity, and thus the value of the skill set the worker posesses.

8. Capitalism creates a discrepancy in wealth. The workers do 90% of the labour in the economy but possess less than 25% of the wealth.

Most of the wealth owned by the really rich is wasted, anyway. How many mansions can they have? Most of that wealth is simply invested in business enterprises. In any event, while wealth discrepency can be a danger, it does not prevent those who are not wealthy from obtaining enough wealth to have a happy and comfortable lifestyle.

Which can't really be said of those in some other systems, as we know from history.

9. Capitalism does not permit universal education and therefore prevents social equality.

Capitalism does not prevent universal education either, and most capitalist nations do have universal education where possible. If you're speaking of universal higher education, that again is something which is generally rationed in all systems according to need and ability.

10. Most politicians are wealthy and have business links when going into politics. As a result, this prevents them from acting out of the best interests of their constituents. Instead, they protect business interests in hopes that major corporations will fund their campaign.

Corruption among politicians is a universal fact, whether the economic model is capitalism or not. You want to change that? Change human nature.

1. I'm not sure therewill always be a ruling class. You can't prove that. In the democracy it isn't suppose to exist, but capitalism has created one and that is not right. Also, there is not a ruling class in socialism and communism because class is not suppose to exist in those two systems.

2.Disadvantaged are not what you say they are. That is a disgusting characterization. The poor are poor because they are exploited by being paid less than they deserve. And if you don't believe me, answer me this. Who works harder in society than single mothers? No one Who is poorer than single mothers? No one. The fact opf the matter is poverty exists but just because we have learned to accept it doesn't mean it should continue.

3. capitalism just merely tolerates democracy because they share some common liberal principles. In fact, without democracy capitalism would be more destructive. Capitalism does not want the workers to gain political power, that's why there is a ruling class.

4. That's a rediculous argument. Do you honestly believe that the hardest working triumphs under capitalism. I don't think so. Social mobility is rare.

5. But we are clearly not doing enough because of the growing power of globalization.

6. We are not talking about any alternatives. We are discussing capitalism. Whenever people can't defend capitalism they begin to discredit socialism and communism.

7. The problem is that workers are at the mercy of employers. The workers accept low paid jobs because there are only so many jobs out there. But employers could always go looking for better workers for less pay.

8. I think it does keep people from obtaining wealth. All wealthy people inherited their wealth, while social mobility is rare.

9. The best education is the most expensive. And as a result it is not accessable to everyone. Just another example of how capitalism creates inequality and disadvantages.

10. But it exists in capitalism and we should do all we can to fix it and it is not fair to blame it all on human nature.

[Argus]

First, it would be most helpful if you would learn how to quote properly, responding directly beneath each bit of quoted material. Else it becomes too difficult to follow the discussion.

There, the ruling class is made up of apparatchiks, upper level bureacrats with alliances and power. I frankly don't see how that is better than the legal bribery which allows wealthy corporations such significant control of government in capitalist nations.

1. I'm not sure therewill always be a ruling class. You can't prove that. In the democracy it isn't suppose to exist, but capitalism has created one and that is not right. Also, there is not a ruling class in socialism and communism because class is not suppose to exist in those two systems.

To say that there are no ruling classes in Socialism or Communism is almost painfully naive. You get to be a ruling class through privilege, and all systems have their privileged players. Under Communism, those in power got the best of everything, and so did their families. They got the best food, went to the best schools and hospitals, and stayed in the most comfortable residences. The common people waited out in the cold in long lines for food while the ruling members of the Communist party had servants to take care of their needs.

Every type of government exploits the disadvantaged. I'm confused about what you mean when you suggest that paying them less is a means to exploitation. They are paid less because they are disadvantaged? Or are they disadvantaged because they receive less payment for their lower skills? There is and always has been a disadvantaged group in every society made up of losers, alcoholics and other addicts, the lazy, the dull-witted, and those who simply made poor choices or had bad luck.

2.Disadvantaged are not what you say they are. That is a disgusting characterization. The poor are poor because they are exploited by being paid less than they deserve. And if you don't believe me, answer me this. Who works harder in society than single mothers? No one Who is poorer than single mothers? No one.

I have seen working single mothers who work hard, while others sit happy and fat on welfare and don't lift a finger. When they want more money, they have another kid. Some of the disadvantaged are that way because of circumstances, and some because of a lack of motivation, work ethic, intelligence or attitude. And hard work is beside the point. Any idiot can swing a hammer. What is rewarded in any culture is not just how hard one works but how skilled one is. And if you fail to reward people for having more skill and education they will not invest the time and effort to acquire skill and education, and you will be left with an unskilled, ignorant population and poverty.

3. capitalism just merely tolerates democracy because they share some common liberal principles. In fact, without democracy capitalism would be more destructive. Capitalism does not want the workers to gain political power, that's why there is a ruling class.

Capitalism is an economic model, not political. It does not care who rules. And you cannot explain why every democracy has capitalism. Meanwhile, no nation which has failed to embrace capitalism is a democracy of any kind.

It seems to be a feature of human nation in virtually all cultures that without competition a significant portion of the population just coasts and does nothing. See the Soviet Union as an example. Where enterprise is not rewarded, there is no enterprise

4. That's a rediculous argument. Do you honestly believe that the hardest working triumphs under capitalism. I don't think so. Social mobility is rare.

I did not say the hardest working people always triumph. I said that without personal motivation people don't work hard. If you will earn as much by doing nothing as by doing something then many will do nothing.

6. We are not talking about any alternatives. We are discussing capitalism. Whenever people can't defend capitalism they begin to discredit socialism and communism.

If you start out with the proposition that Capitalism is a failed system, antithetical to human needs then you are implicitly calling for a change to another system. Churchill's admonition then stands, that Capitalism is the worst system except for the others. You can also use Hayek's belief that systems be judged on the extent which it promotes human liberty and freedom, and once again, judge what has happened in Capitalist nations to what has happened in Communist nations.

7. The problem is that workers are at the mercy of employers. The workers accept low paid jobs because there are only so many jobs out there. But employers could always go looking for better workers for less pay.

Contrarily, workers are free to go looking for less work for more pay. They are also free to attempt to upgrade their skills and education in order to increase the value of their labour.

8. I think it does keep people from obtaining wealth. All wealthy people inherited their wealth, while social mobility is rare.

All wealthy people did not inherit their wealth. That is again demonstrably untrue. It is true that many extremely wealthy individuals inherited wealth, but there are innumerable examples of individuals who became grossly wealthy within their lifetimes. Think of Bill Gates, as one example, or the Walton (Wal-Mart) family as another. Social mobility is greater in capitalist systems, at least, in the ones with democratic forms of government, than in any other type of system the world has ever known.

9. The best education is the most expensive. And as a result it is not accessable to everyone. Just another example of how capitalism creates inequality and disadvantages.

Education is available to everyone. If you have the intelligence and really, seriously put in the effort you will get yourself a good education. Will it be at an ivy league school? Probably not, but who says the education obtained there can't be surpassed through extra effort at a state university? Do you have to only read the books assigned you? Can't you choose other books in the library and read them to? Can't you attend lectures which aren't mandatory? Can't you do extra research?

[B. Max]

3. Capitalism is incompatible with democracy in the sense that capitalism is competitive while democracy should be cooperative.

Capitalism has created more wealth and put it in the hands of more people than any other system ever created. If it is incompatible with democracy, then perhaps we should get rid of democracy, or at least those versions that are.

[Pateris]

As Churchill said:

Democracy is the worst form of government ever devised, except for all the others.

Paraphrasing:

Capitalism is the worst economic model ever devised, except for all the others.

[Hugo]

Yawn. More Marxist dogma, why is this tired nonsense still being peddled?

Capitalism is elitist in that it creates a new aristocracy based in capital accumulation that makes up the ruling class in a democracy.

Capitalism creates an "elite" of consumers, since they are the ones who decide what they will buy, and capitalists have to pander to their whims or watch their sales dwindle. Since we are all consumers, capitalism makes everyone a member of the "ruling class."

Capitalism exploits the disadvantaged in society by paying the most needy less, in order to boost profits. As a result, many of the disadvantaged are left behind in society, creating apathy.

Since the advent of capitalism real wages increased faster than they ever had before and faster than they have after socialistic regulations were introduced. The tendency under capitalism is for prices to decrease and real wages to increase over time.

Capitalism is incompatible with democracy in the sense that capitalism is competitive while democracy should be cooperative.

Capitalism is liberty and democracy is incompatible with liberty. Democracy rests upon the assumption that a person, or many people, have the right to pick a person who can dictate to other people how they may live their lives.

Capitalism creates conflict in society by bidding citizens against one another in the pursuit for capital.

You refute this point yourself. If citizens are pitched against each other, how could capitalism create "powerful multi-national corporations"?

Capitalism creates powerful multi-national corporations that often act out of self interest and never out of the common good of society. Corporations don’t support social justice.

Corporations are often given free reign by the state, which grants them legal personhood, limited liability, and monopoly powers. Blame the enabler.

Corporations have come to influence and even dictate state policy while preventing equality and social justice that conflicts with their economic interests.

This is backwards. The amount of federal laws in the USA that govern corporate regulation are comparable to the length of the Encyclopedia Britannica. The DoJ went after Bill Gates. Government regulation destroyed Bethlehem Steel. John Connally, the most corporate-backed Presidential candidate in history, got only one delegate from all the primaries. No single corporation employs more people than the Department of Defense, or the combined numbers of the Depts. of Health, Human Services and Welfare. In 1980, Congress confiscated $100bn from oil companies. It goes on. Very few corporations have more employees than a large university. The fact is that the largest employer, most powerful and richest entity is the state, not corporations. Moreover, the state has the power and the 'right' to use violence and coercion should it wish to, which no corporation has.

In capitalism the employer pays their workers the lowest possible wage in order to maximize profit.

This does not explain why wages kept on rising since the advent of capitalism. It displays a fundamental ignorance of wage theory. Employers pay a wage that will attract them the workers that they want. Many companies offer raises for tenure and performance, which isn't mandated by any government regulation.

Capitalism creates a discrepancy in wealth. The workers do 90% of the labour in the economy but possess less than 25% of the wealth.

This assumes that the work done by managers, investors and inventors is worthless. It derives from a labour-centric theory of value, which nobody (not even socialists) have held in the last hundred years. Production is made possible by three factors: labour, ideas and capital. Workers provide the labour, inventors provide the ideas, and investors provide the capital.

Besides, we are all investors now. If you have a savings account or an insurance policy, welcome to the ranks of the capitalists.

Capitalism does not permit universal education and therefore prevents social equality.

Many things prevent social equality, like genetics. Some people are born smart and others, stupid. Furthermore, capitalistic production of food has made access to food universal. The only countries that still have famines are socialist ones. Capitalistic production of cars and televisions has made them pretty much universal as well. So it would have gone with education, if the state had not abducted that service for itself, causing a decline in quality and increase in price that is particular to state-run enterprise but wholly absent in the free market.

Most politicians are wealthy and have business links when going into politics. As a result, this prevents them from acting out of the best interests of their constituents. Instead, they protect business interests in hopes that major corporations will fund their campaign.

So don't vote for them. But I would say that this is a problem with a system that gives any person arbitrary, coercive power over another. Capitalism is not such a system, all transactions are voluntary.

[The Terrible Sweal]

I can't help but notice a confounding lack of rigor in this discussion. Could people maybe try to be clear about what they are talking about?

For example, Winterhaze, what do you mean by Capitalism? Do your criticisms apply to the 'capitalist' economic system as it exists now, or do you mean them to apply to the very concept of having the market allocate economic production? (Or both, or neither?)

Without clarification on this, most of your comments cannot be properly evaluated. However ...

3. Capitalism is incompatible with democracy in the sense that capitalism is competitive while democracy should be cooperative.

There are several problems of logic in this comment:

-you assume that cooperation is incompatible with competition, this is questionable. My local darts league is competitive, but it's a league because we cooperate to be competitive.

-you assert that capitalism 'is' competitive. In light of the above comment, what do you mean by 'is'?

-the suggestion that democracy should be cooperative is wrong. Democracy is a competition for selecting the best ideas and the best leaders. It's a darwinian machine.

[The Terrible Sweal]

In any event, while wealth discrepency can be a danger, it does not prevent those who are not wealthy from obtaining enough wealth to have a happy and comfortable lifestyle.

The term for this is, I believe, 'a gilded cage'.

[Winterhaze13]

Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism by Richard H. Robbins

Thesis Statements

The following thesis statements are intended to generate thought and discussion. They are purposely provocative, although some more than others; you may agree or disagree with them, although you should be able to offer evidence for your responses.

Chapter One: The Consumer

Thesis Statement 1:

American culture, and Western culture in general, may be characterized as the culture of capitalism, or more specifically consumer capitalism, and American society may be characterized as the society of perpetual growth.

Thesis Statement 2:

The core premise of the culture of consumer capitalism is that commodity consumption is the source of well-being.

Thesis Statement 3:

The central roles in the culture of capitalism are the consumer, the laborer, and the capitalist, each operating according to a set of rules orchestrated and enforced by the nation-state.

Thesis Statement 4:

The culture of capitalism and the society of perpetual growth require for the their maintenance the exploitation of most of the world's resources and peoples.

Thesis Statement 5:

It is central to the successful operation of the culture of capitalism that the consumer be segregated or masked from the consequences of his or her lifestyle on the laborer, on the environment, and on the way of life of those whose degradation makes his or her life possible.

Chapter 2: The Laborer

Thesis Statement 6:

Profit in a capitalist culture comes largely from the capitalist's control of the surplus value of labor.

Thesis Statement 7:

The whole process of capital investment, making a profit, finding the cheapest labor, and so on represents what Karl Marx called commodity fetishism in which the real source of profits and the non-economic consequences of capitalism are largely hidden from view.

Thesis Statement 8:

Racism and sexism are direct consequences of the process of the segmentation of labor, and the requirement in the culture of capitalism to provide a ready source of cheap labor.

Thesis Statement 9:

There is an inherent tendency of laborers to resist the discipline imposed on them by capitalists.

Thesis Statement 10:

As in the creation of the consumer, children are among the main victims in the process of the creation of the laborer.

Chapter 3: The Capitalist

Thesis Statement 11:

In the course of the expansion of the culture of capitalism, there has been a growing concentration of wealth in fewer and fewer hands, a concentration that is the direct result of the workings of the capitalist economy.

Thesis Statement 12:

In the course of the development of the culture of capitalism, there has been a marked change in the organization of capital and how it is controlled. The result is that only a few organizations control vast wealth and are able to dictate the nature of social, political, economic, and cultural life.

Thesis Statement 13:

One of the dominant historical trends has been the growing integration of the global economy, to the extent that anything that happens in one area of the world has repercussions in all others.

Thesis Statement 14:

In the process of providing financial support to stricken economies, the IMF is essentially reducing the risks of international financial investors, while, at the same time, transferring the suffering to ordinary citizens of stricken countries.

Thesis Statement 15:

Democracy, as a system of government, has been largely superseded by the operation of the global economy; the principle of one person, one vote, has largely been replaced by a system where people vote with their dollars.

Chapter 4: The Nation-State

Thesis Statement 16:

The most important function of the nation-state in the culture of capitalism is the regulation of trade and commerce within and without its borders, and to provide for the orderly production, distribution, and sale of commodities.

Thesis Statement 17:

In order to provide the economic integration required for the smooth functioning of the economy, the modern state must convince its populace that they share a common culture or destiny. This is accomplished largely through the state control of mandatory education.

Thesis Statement 18:

Those individuals and groups that call into question the myth of the nation-state or who refuse to be assimilated into it are generally subject to extermination; or as Pierre L. van den Berghe said, "The terror and horror of mass genocidal killing are not aberrations of the modern state; they are in the very nature of it. We live in an era of routinized holocausts."

Thesis Statement 19:

The nation-state will soon be replaced by new institutions, the most important being the transnational corporation.

Thesis Statement 20:

The growth in importance of the non-governmental organization (NGO), or the non-profit sector, is largely the result of the withdrawal of the state from the provision of services (health, education, welfare, etc.) that it had, traditionally, provided.

Chapter 5 Population

Thesis Statement 21:

"Short of nuclear war itself, population growth is the gravest issue the world faces. If we do not act, the problem will be solved by famine, riots, insurrection and war." -Robert McNamara, Former President of the World Bank

Thesis Statement 22:

Most of the problems faced by countries in the periphery, such as poverty, hunger, and environmental destruction, are the consequences of excessive population growth.

Thesis Statement 23:

The specter of population growth is a device used in the culture of capitalism to shift the blame for global problems to their victims, and to obscure the real cause, perpetual and uneven economic growth.

Thesis Statement 24:

Family structure and the status of women in society are the prime determinants of fertility and population growth.

Chapter 6: Poverty and Hunger

Thesis Statement 25:

Since food in the culture of capitalism is simply one of hundreds of thousands of commodities, hunger is largely a matter of people not having enough money to purchase it.

Thesis Statement 26:

The evolution of agriculture in the culture of capitalism is characterized by the steadily increasing concentration of agricultural wealth (land and factors of production), and the growing dependency of the many on the few.

Thesis Statement 27:

Programs of so-called "food aid" (e.g. Food for Peace or Public Law 480) are simply ways that the state funnels tax dollars to agribusiness, increases the influence of food aid organizations, and promotes the ruin of small, local food growers.

Thesis Statement 28:

The fact that people are starving to death because they haven't the money to buy food is obscured by calling starvation "malnutrition," and treating it as a medical problem.

Thesis Statement 29:

The major solution to hunger is by building entitlements and focusing on the economic well-being of women.

Chapter 7: Consumption and the Environment

Thesis Statement 30:

There exists a global environmental crisis, and consumption or consumerism (overdevelopment and the culture of capitalism) is the major, if not the only, cause.

Thesis Statement 31:

Our consumption needs, and even our eating habits, are formed largely to fill the needs of economic expansion and maintain the society of perpetual growth.

Thesis Statement 32:

It is not only impossible to sustain the culture of capitalism at its present rate of consumption, but the expansion of that culture and its consumption habits to other areas of the globe will vastly accelerate environmental collapse.

Thesis Statement 33:

Given the nature of the culture of capitalism, it is impossible to halt the destruction of the environment.

Chapter 8: Disease

Thesis Statement 34:

Every culture or age has its characteristic illness and disease; for the culture of capitalism, characteristic diseases are those linked to poverty, hunger, and environmental devastation, and the increasing disparity in wealth between the rich and the poor.

Thesis Statement 35:

From a microbial perspective, the culture of capitalism has created the ideal environment for the development and spread of infectious disease.

Thesis Statement 36:

AIDS, above all illnesses, is the signature disease of the culture of capitalism.

Thesis Statement 37:

It is likely that within the next two decades, the world will experience a plague not unlike those that swept Europe in the fourteenth century, and, perhaps, not unlike that which stuck the New World at the time of European contact.

Chapter 9: Indigenous People and Ethnic Conflict

Thesis Statement 38:

The cultures of indigenous peoples are vulnerable to destruction from capitalist expansion partially because their way of life differs so significantly from that in the culture of capitalism.

Thesis Statement 39:

A careful examination of the conditions of indigenous peoples before and after their incorporation into the world market economy,

leads to the conclusion that their standard of living is lowered, not raised, by economic progress--and often to a dramatic decline. This is perhaps the most outstanding and inescapable fact to emerge from the years of research that anthropologists have devoted to the study of culture change and modernization. (Emphasis added) John Bodley

Thesis Statement40:

If, instead of needy dependents living largely outmoded ways of life, we appreciate the resemblance between indigenous societies and a modern, socially responsible corporation that carefully manages its resources, provides well for its workers, and plans for the long-term rather than the short term, we are better able to appreciate why indigenous societies can't survive.

Thesis Statement 41:

If we examine cases of purported "ethnic conflict" we generally find that it involves more than "ancient hatred;" even the "hatreds" we find are relatively recent, and constructed by those ethnic entrepreneurs taking political advantage of situations rooted in colonial domination and fed by neo-colonial exploitation.

Thesis Statement 42:

There are few nation-states in which one group or another is not striving for greater representation, and few states which are not, in one way or another, answering those demands with force or the threat of force.

Chapter 10: Peasant Protest

Thesis Statement 43:

Capitalism is revolutionary in the sense that to foster perpetual growth, it must constantly revolutionize the factors of production, promote ever increasing consumption, and , consequently, regularly modify patterns of social, political, and economic relations.

Thesis Statement 44:

In the development of the culture of capitalism, there have been winners and there have been losers. Among the biggest losers are peasant or small-scale agriculturists, and, along with them, those dependent on wage labor, most women, most children, along with other groups who have been deprived of steady and viable employment.

Thesis Statement 45:

The goal of most peasant resistance is not necessarily to overthrow a system of oppression or domination, but, rather, to survive. The usual goal of peasants is "working the system to their minimum disadvantage." James Scott

Thesis Statement 46:

Colonial oppressors are apt not to recognize the suffering their oppression causes, and generally see protest as the illegitimate actions of a few.

Thesis Statement 47:

Given the structure of the modern economy, peasant or small-scale agriculture cannot survive.

Chapter 11: Antisystemic Protest

Thesis Statement 48:

The various forms of social protest such as workers organizations and strikes, national liberation, civil rights, feminist, militia, environmental, and fundamentalist religious movements can all be understood as reactions to the expansion of the culture of capitalism.

Thesis Statement 49:

Virtually all social protest may be seen as emerging from the two world revolutions, the one in 1848 and the one in 1968.

Thesis Statement 50:

Labor protest tends to emerge in industries that are marginally profitable, and that try to squeeze a profit by minimizing wages and scrimping on any safety measures that require capital expense.

Thesis Statement 51:

The subjugation of women is rooted in the patterns of economic exploitation endemic to the culture of capitalism.

Thesis Statement 52:

Contrary to Garrett Hardin's thesis of "the tragedy of the commons," communally held land, especially in the periphery, tends to be better preserved and regulated than privately owned resources.

Chapter 12: Religious Protest

Thesis Statement 53:

Religious antisystemic movements seek either the removal or destruction of what they believe is an immoral culture, a withdrawal from it, or the forceful or voluntary adoption of people of a new way of life.

Thesis Statement 54:

Indigenous religious movements, such as the Zionist movement among the Tshidi in South Africa, serve as a refuge and emblem for those who are marginalized by the expansion of capitalist culture

Thesis Statement 55:

The cultures represented by large-scale fundamentalist religious movements remain the only legitimate challengers to the global domination of capitalist culture.

Thesis Statement 56:

Protestant fundamentalism in Latin America is largely a conservative reaction to the emergence of Liberation Theology, and its critique of the culture of capitalism.

Chapter 13: Futuristic Projections

Thesis Statement 57:

The future of capitalism must be marked by the continuing concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, and the growing impoverishment of the many.

Thesis Statement 58:

Since the culture of capitalism must continually destroy the environment, expand economic hardship, and create continual conflict and resistence, it must inevitably collapse and be replaced by either a socialist world government or highly localized, independent, and self-sufficient cultures.

Source:

http://faculty.plattsburgh.edu/richard.rob...statements.html

[Winterhaze13]

See Also: Democracy Against Capitalism by Ellen Wood

[Digby]

Oh don't worry It will get better someday .

Rev 11:15 And the seventh Angel sounded :and there where great voices in heaven saying :The Kingdoms of this world Are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ:and he shall reign forever and ever .

Micah 4 tells us he is going to stop all greed , every man will have his own vineyard .

That Image in daniel 2 is not far from being struck with the Rock .

I see we are now looking for a new pope , will this one be the last ? will this one help the beast come to power ?

Will this one be the false prophet who will be put to death at Christ return?

No Goverments of man going to work , we was suppose to leave the tree of the knowledge of good and evil alone. Leave the law making alone .

Im probly off topic , But i just noticed the Pope died today .

[Winterhaze13]

Oh don't worry  It will get better someday .

Rev 11:15  And the seventh Angel sounded :and there where great voices in heaven saying :The Kingdoms  of this world Are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ:and he shall reign forever and ever .

Micah 4  tells us he is going to stop all  greed , every man will have his own vineyard .

That Image  in daniel 2  is not far  from being struck with the Rock  . 

I see we  are  now looking for a new pope , will this one be the last ?  will this one help  the beast come to power ?

Will this one be the false prophet  who will be put to death at Christ return?

No Goverments of man  going to work , we was suppose to leave the tree of the knowledge of good and evil alone.  Leave the law making alone .

Im probly off topic ,  But i just noticed the Pope died today .

What? We are talking about capitalism on this thread.

[Argus]

In any event, while wealth discrepency can be a danger, it does not prevent those who are not wealthy from obtaining enough wealth to have a happy and comfortable lifestyle.

The term for this is, I believe, 'a gilded cage'.

We're talking about economic models not political models. The plain fact is that even if you don't have the wealth of a Bill Gates you can still own a nice home and a nice car and a nice cottage and be quite happy. So what if he has more than you? Does jealousy control your life? Can you not be happy if someone, somewhere, has more than you?

[Argus]

See Also: Democracy Against Capitalism by Ellen Wood

It is against the rules to post long tracts of text. And few would read that much text anyway. If you can't state your position yourself, then don't bother trying.

[The Terrible Sweal]

Winterhaze:

What do you mean by Capitalism? Do your criticisms apply to the 'capitalist' economic system as it exists now, or do you mean them to apply to the very concept of having the market allocate economic production? (Or both, or neither?)

[The Terrible Sweal]

We're talking about economic models not political models. The plain fact is that even if you don't have the wealth of a Bill Gates you can still own a nice home and a nice car and a nice cottage and be quite happy.

And so can Mr. Gate's pet dog and cat.

So what if he has more than you?

So either one of two things. Mr. Gates has obtained his wealth primarily through applying a combination of industriousness and smarts, or he has obtained it primarily through social or political advantages extraneous to such merits. If the former, society has been well served by Mr. Gates obtaining (creating) that wealth. If the latter, Mr. Gates' obtaining such wealth is at best neutral for society, but probably negative.

[Argus]

We're talking about economic models not political models. The plain fact is that even if you don't have the wealth of a Bill Gates you can still own a nice home and a nice car and a nice cottage and be quite happy.

And so can Mr. Gate's pet dog and cat.

If you somehow are operating under the belief Bill Gates is controlling your life that's your problem. I am under no such illusion. What wealth Gates posesses has no relevence to my life, my freedom, or my level of happiness.

[Digby]

Oh Econimcs is covered too .

Every seven Years the land had to rest , and men was released from Debts . Every 50 years the land was put back into ownership of the families that origially owned it .

Capitalism was allowed , but it was kept under control , it was known that some would gain on others and it up with way more then their share . So precautions was put in to stop the losers from loseing too bad . And the winners From Winning to big .

The big thing was it was to be ruled with a rod of Iron , in other words no corruption at all . no lieing , no stealing and very serious penalties .

This is whats mainly wrong with our capitalist society people are not mainly gaining from hard work ,or even being smarter . In alot of cases now days corruption has been an asset .

In a society where corruption is an asset , the corruption will just keep growing and growing , after a while nobody trust any body , lieing is expected of goverment so we can never get the best man for the job.

Corruption Does appear as a usefull tool if only looking in the short term . But the long term it will bring the distruction of our capitalist society .

In the fishery the biggest crooks ended up with the most gain , now most the young feel corruption to be the only way to make a capitalist society work . People have lost all care for maintaining the resources for our children , they have lost all respect for goverment as most know Goverment is in most cases where the most corrupt hang out . Lieing is Rampet , its so bad now that most beleave their own lies .

Bring on the Capitalism ! but keep it controled and also keep it free of corruption .

[The Terrible Sweal]

And so can Mr. Gate's pet dog and cat.

If you somehow are operating under the belief Bill Gates is controlling your life that's your problem.

Oh, please. Don't stoop to such nonsense. Gates was your image to represent the general whole to which I had refered. I took up your analogy as an analogy too.

What wealth Gates posesses has no relevence to my life, my freedom, or my level of happiness.

In light of such assertion, it would be interesting if you would consider the distinction I made in the rest of that post and let me know what your response is.

[Winterhaze13]

See Also: Democracy Against Capitalism by Ellen Wood

It is against the rules to post long tracts of text. And few would read that much text anyway. If you can't state your position yourself, then don't bother trying.

I have already stated my position clearly and early in this thread. See my Ten theses. The problem with threads is that many people disregard people like myself because although I am smart and educated, many discount my arguments as being one-sided and "Marxist". In response I get rediculous responses like, "well, there is a ruling class in communism too" and "well, what about Bill Gates and Andrew Carnegie", which are groundless and stupid arguments. I have posted my theses on many forums and I consistently get the same responses which suggests that all capitalists think alike.

I was not aware of this rule. Ms. Wood used to teach at my University Political Science department in Toronto. I would think that if you discount me as just another naive youngster I taught that it would be wise to list a fully qualified person who would advocate for my cause.

[Winterhaze13]

Winterhaze: 

What do you mean by Capitalism? Do your criticisms apply to the 'capitalist' economic system as it exists now, or do you mean them to apply to the very concept of having the market allocate economic production? (Or both, or neither?)

CAPITALISM, what other type is there. I also get that question alot. I think its an attempt to stire away from the negative aspects of the system. As for Bill Gates, his family was wealthy enough to send him to an Ivy League school. And an interesting fact, Microsoft is the major corporation which employs the LEAST amount of people.

Let me propose a question to everyone. After reading my theses and Mr. Robbins theses. Has capitalism benefited society in any way other than making some citizens very wealthy?

And let's make the responses intelligent this time.

[Winterhaze13]

Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism by Richard H. Robbins

Thesis Statements

The following thesis statements are intended to generate thought and discussion. They are purposely provocative, although some more than others; you may agree or disagree with them, although you should be able to offer evidence for your responses.

Chapter One: The Consumer

Thesis Statement 1:

American culture, and Western culture in general, may be characterized as the culture of capitalism, or more specifically consumer capitalism, and American society may be characterized as the society of perpetual growth.

Thesis Statement 2:

The core premise of the culture of consumer capitalism is that commodity consumption is the source of well-being.

Thesis Statement 3:

The central roles in the culture of capitalism are the consumer, the laborer, and the capitalist, each operating according to a set of rules orchestrated and enforced by the nation-state.

Thesis Statement 4:

The culture of capitalism and the society of perpetual growth require for the their maintenance the exploitation of most of the world's resources and peoples.

Thesis Statement 5:

It is central to the successful operation of the culture of capitalism that the consumer be segregated or masked from the consequences of his or her lifestyle on the laborer, on the environment, and on the way of life of those whose degradation makes his or her life possible.

Chapter 2: The Laborer

Thesis Statement 6:

Profit in a capitalist culture comes largely from the capitalist's control of the surplus value of labor.

Thesis Statement 7:

The whole process of capital investment, making a profit, finding the cheapest labor, and so on represents what Karl Marx called commodity fetishism in which the real source of profits and the non-economic consequences of capitalism are largely hidden from view.

Thesis Statement 8:

Racism and sexism are direct consequences of the process of the segmentation of labor, and the requirement in the culture of capitalism to provide a ready source of cheap labor.

Thesis Statement 9:

There is an inherent tendency of laborers to resist the discipline imposed on them by capitalists.

Thesis Statement 10:

As in the creation of the consumer, children are among the main victims in the process of the creation of the laborer.

Chapter 3: The Capitalist

Thesis Statement 11:

In the course of the expansion of the culture of capitalism, there has been a growing concentration of wealth in fewer and fewer hands, a concentration that is the direct result of the workings of the capitalist economy.

Thesis Statement 12:

In the course of the development of the culture of capitalism, there has been a marked change in the organization of capital and how it is controlled. The result is that only a few organizations control vast wealth and are able to dictate the nature of social, political, economic, and cultural life.

Thesis Statement 13:

One of the dominant historical trends has been the growing integration of the global economy, to the extent that anything that happens in one area of the world has repercussions in all others.

Thesis Statement 14:

In the process of providing financial support to stricken economies, the IMF is essentially reducing the risks of international financial investors, while, at the same time, transferring the suffering to ordinary citizens of stricken countries.

Thesis Statement 15:

Democracy, as a system of government, has been largely superseded by the operation of the global economy; the principle of one person, one vote, has largely been replaced by a system where people vote with their dollars.

Chapter 4: The Nation-State

Thesis Statement 16:

The most important function of the nation-state in the culture of capitalism is the regulation of trade and commerce within and without its borders, and to provide for the orderly production, distribution, and sale of commodities.

Thesis Statement 17:

In order to provide the economic integration required for the smooth functioning of the economy, the modern state must convince its populace that they share a common culture or destiny. This is accomplished largely through the state control of mandatory education.

Thesis Statement 18:

Those individuals and groups that call into question the myth of the nation-state or who refuse to be assimilated into it are generally subject to extermination; or as Pierre L. van den Berghe said, "The terror and horror of mass genocidal killing are not aberrations of the modern state; they are in the very nature of it. We live in an era of routinized holocausts."

Thesis Statement 19:

The nation-state will soon be replaced by new institutions, the most important being the transnational corporation.

Thesis Statement 20:

The growth in importance of the non-governmental organization (NGO), or the non-profit sector, is largely the result of the withdrawal of the state from the provision of services (health, education, welfare, etc.) that it had, traditionally, provided.

Chapter 5 Population

Thesis Statement 21:

"Short of nuclear war itself, population growth is the gravest issue the world faces. If we do not act, the problem will be solved by famine, riots, insurrection and war." -Robert McNamara, Former President of the World Bank

Thesis Statement 22:

Most of the problems faced by countries in the periphery, such as poverty, hunger, and environmental destruction, are the consequences of excessive population growth.

Thesis Statement 23:

The specter of population growth is a device used in the culture of capitalism to shift the blame for global problems to their victims, and to obscure the real cause, perpetual and uneven economic growth.

Thesis Statement 24:

Family structure and the status of women in society are the prime determinants of fertility and population growth.

Chapter 6: Poverty and Hunger

Thesis Statement 25:

Since food in the culture of capitalism is simply one of hundreds of thousands of commodities, hunger is largely a matter of people not having enough money to purchase it.

Thesis Statement 26:

The evolution of agriculture in the culture of capitalism is characterized by the steadily increasing concentration of agricultural wealth (land and factors of production), and the growing dependency of the many on the few.

Thesis Statement 27:

Programs of so-called "food aid" (e.g. Food for Peace or Public Law 480) are simply ways that the state funnels tax dollars to agribusiness, increases the influence of food aid organizations, and promotes the ruin of small, local food growers.

Thesis Statement 28:

The fact that people are starving to death because they haven't the money to buy food is obscured by calling starvation "malnutrition," and treating it as a medical problem.

Thesis Statement 29:

The major solution to hunger is by building entitlements and focusing on the economic well-being of women.

Chapter 7: Consumption and the Environment

Thesis Statement 30:

There exists a global environmental crisis, and consumption or consumerism (overdevelopment and the culture of capitalism) is the major, if not the only, cause.

Thesis Statement 31:

Our consumption needs, and even our eating habits, are formed largely to fill the needs of economic expansion and maintain the society of perpetual growth.

Thesis Statement 32:

It is not only impossible to sustain the culture of capitalism at its present rate of consumption, but the expansion of that culture and its consumption habits to other areas of the globe will vastly accelerate environmental collapse.

Thesis Statement 33:

Given the nature of the culture of capitalism, it is impossible to halt the destruction of the environment.

Chapter 8: Disease

Thesis Statement 34:

Every culture or age has its characteristic illness and disease; for the culture of capitalism, characteristic diseases are those linked to poverty, hunger, and environmental devastation, and the increasing disparity in wealth between the rich and the poor.

Thesis Statement 35:

From a microbial perspective, the culture of capitalism has created the ideal environment for the development and spread of infectious disease.

Thesis Statement 36:

AIDS, above all illnesses, is the signature disease of the culture of capitalism.

Thesis Statement 37:

It is likely that within the next two decades, the world will experience a plague not unlike those that swept Europe in the fourteenth century, and, perhaps, not unlike that which stuck the New World at the time of European contact.

Chapter 9: Indigenous People and Ethnic Conflict

Thesis Statement 38:

The cultures of indigenous peoples are vulnerable to destruction from capitalist expansion partially because their way of life differs so significantly from that in the culture of capitalism.

Thesis Statement 39:

A careful examination of the conditions of indigenous peoples before and after their incorporation into the world market economy,

leads to the conclusion that their standard of living is lowered, not raised, by economic progress--and often to a dramatic decline. This is perhaps the most outstanding and inescapable fact to emerge from the years of research that anthropologists have devoted to the study of culture change and modernization. (Emphasis added) John Bodley

Thesis Statement40:

If, instead of needy dependents living largely outmoded ways of life, we appreciate the resemblance between indigenous societies and a modern, socially responsible corporation that carefully manages its resources, provides well for its workers, and plans for the long-term rather than the short term, we are better able to appreciate why indigenous societies can't survive.

Thesis Statement 41:

If we examine cases of purported "ethnic conflict" we generally find that it involves more than "ancient hatred;" even the "hatreds" we find are relatively recent, and constructed by those ethnic entrepreneurs taking political advantage of situations rooted in colonial domination and fed by neo-colonial exploitation.

Thesis Statement 42:

There are few nation-states in which one group or another is not striving for greater representation, and few states which are not, in one way or another, answering those demands with force or the threat of force.

Chapter 10: Peasant Protest

Thesis Statement 43:

Capitalism is revolutionary in the sense that to foster perpetual growth, it must constantly revolutionize the factors of production, promote ever increasing consumption, and , consequently, regularly modify patterns of social, political, and economic relations.

Thesis Statement 44:

In the development of the culture of capitalism, there have been winners and there have been losers. Among the biggest losers are peasant or small-scale agriculturists, and, along with them, those dependent on wage labor, most women, most children, along with other groups who have been deprived of steady and viable employment.

Thesis Statement 45:

The goal of most peasant resistance is not necessarily to overthrow a system of oppression or domination, but, rather, to survive. The usual goal of peasants is "working the system to their minimum disadvantage." James Scott

Thesis Statement 46:

Colonial oppressors are apt not to recognize the suffering their oppression causes, and generally see protest as the illegitimate actions of a few.

Thesis Statement 47:

Given the structure of the modern economy, peasant or small-scale agriculture cannot survive.

Chapter 11: Antisystemic Protest

Thesis Statement 48:

The various forms of social protest such as workers organizations and strikes, national liberation, civil rights, feminist, militia, environmental, and fundamentalist religious movements can all be understood as reactions to the expansion of the culture of capitalism.

Thesis Statement 49:

Virtually all social protest may be seen as emerging from the two world revolutions, the one in 1848 and the one in 1968.

Thesis Statement 50:

Labor protest tends to emerge in industries that are marginally profitable, and that try to squeeze a profit by minimizing wages and scrimping on any safety measures that require capital expense.

Thesis Statement 51:

The subjugation of women is rooted in the patterns of economic exploitation endemic to the culture of capitalism.

Thesis Statement 52:

Contrary to Garrett Hardin's thesis of "the tragedy of the commons," communally held land, especially in the periphery, tends to be better preserved and regulated than privately owned resources.

Chapter 12: Religious Protest

Thesis Statement 53:

Religious antisystemic movements seek either the removal or destruction of what they believe is an immoral culture, a withdrawal from it, or the forceful or voluntary adoption of people of a new way of life.

Thesis Statement 54:

Indigenous religious movements, such as the Zionist movement among the Tshidi in South Africa, serve as a refuge and emblem for those who are marginalized by the expansion of capitalist culture

Thesis Statement 55:

The cultures represented by large-scale fundamentalist religious movements remain the only legitimate challengers to the global domination of capitalist culture.

Thesis Statement 56:

Protestant fundamentalism in Latin America is largely a conservative reaction to the emergence of Liberation Theology, and its critique of the culture of capitalism.

Chapter 13: Futuristic Projections

Thesis Statement 57:

The future of capitalism must be marked by the continuing concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, and the growing impoverishment of the many.

Thesis Statement 58:

Since the culture of capitalism must continually destroy the environment, expand economic hardship, and create continual conflict and resistence, it must inevitably collapse and be replaced by either a socialist world government or highly localized, independent, and self-sufficient cultures.

[The Terrible Sweal]

Winterhaze: 

What do you mean by Capitalism? Do your criticisms apply to the 'capitalist' economic system as it exists now, or do you mean them to apply to the very concept of having the market allocate economic production? (Or both, or neither?)

CAPITALISM, what other type is there. I also get that question alot. I think its an attempt to stire away from the negative aspects of the system.

I don't think you have answered my question very well. I am hoping to engage you meaningfully, but cannot unless you are willing to be clear about aspects which give meaning to the discussion at your end.

C'mon, just answer: A, B, both or neither?

Oh, btw, it's prefered to post excerpts and a link to material rather than cutting and pasting in large bodies of text.

[Winterhaze13]

Winterhaze: 

What do you mean by Capitalism? Do your criticisms apply to the 'capitalist' economic system as it exists now, or do you mean them to apply to the very concept of having the market allocate economic production? (Or both, or neither?)

CAPITALISM, what other type is there. I also get that question alot. I think its an attempt to stire away from the negative aspects of the system.

I don't think you have answered my question very well. I am hoping to engage you meaningfully, but cannot unless you are willing to be clear about aspects which give meaning to the discussion at your end.

C'mon, just answer: A, B, both or neither?

Oh, btw, it's prefered to post excerpts and a link to material rather than cutting and pasting in large bodies of text.

Where can I find these responses you speak of? Re-post them if you have time.

And I did post the link, I cut and paste because I was hoping some would challenge what Mr. Robbins is saying. Since most of you discount me as just some naive "commie", I just think maybe you would like to here it from a qualified person.

Also, explain to me the types of capitalism in which you speak.