Capitalism is the only workable economic model the world has ever known. It is the only economic system that supports the need of human beings to do what is best for theirselves and their family and it is the economic model used in every country in the world.
Socialism by definition requires government or group ownership of the means of production. It is only practiced successfully in some religious orders and perhaps a few communes.
Capitalism even thrives even in the so-called “socialist” countries in Scandinavia. The only difference is that they only do more to redistribute the wealth throughout their populations than other countries.
However, capitalism unchecked by adequate laws and regulations almost always results in a society with a few very rich people, a lot of poor people, and a negligible middle class.
In our country our laws currently favor the wealthy at the expense of the middle class and that needs to change. Many rich people and corporations like Amazon pay nothing in taxes. Who argues that they shouldn’t pay their fair share? No one but Republicans.
Cajun 9/18/2021
Update – response to comments:
It makes no difference what you or I think. Your comments will not be taken seriously except by people that are already convinced. Consequently they amount to howling into the wind.
Right now you can’t even convince many in this country who would most benefit from programs which would more equitably distribute the wealth in this country. They are either intensely anti-government and/or have been long ago been convinced by establishment Republicans to vote against their economic self interests in order to advance their socially conservative agenda.
Face facts, you will only get the systematic changes you want when you have the votes to implement them. Right now you don’t have those votes. You don’t even have the backing some moderate Democrats and Democrats make up only a minority of American voters. You certainly will get no help from Republicans and most independents, who make the largest segment of voters in this country, are on the whole more moderate than the average moderate Democrat.
So you can stamp your feet and spew your progressive rhetoric all over the place to your heart’s content, but that is not going to change political reality in this country.
Now that might slowly change. The youngest generations seem to be more liberal than their predecessors, but it will take a while for them to become dependable voters and for older generations to fade away. On the other hand, there has always been a tendency for voters to get more conservative as they grow older, so who can tell what the future holds.
Capitalism without STRONG regulation is garbage.
Unfettered capitalism literally is programmed to self-destruct without sensibly muscular controls, which we do not currently have a lot of.
The best overall political-economic system humankind has yet created, IMO, is clearly and unequivocally, SOCIAL DEMOCRACY —- A capitalist system with substantial regulations to protect ordinary people from corporate gouging and environmental damage, and major taxes on wealth, which are redistributed back to The People via public healthcare, inexpensive education (K-Graduate school) for the masses, strong pension systems for the elderly, and lots of job-creation for maintaining and updating infrastructure.
Scandinavia is living proof of this system’s viability and desirability.
America was the most social-democratic during, and for a while after, the New Deal, and it is the loss of this (with the accompanying downward spiral in living standard), IMO, that has left the nation so filled with anger and division, which the rightwing always seems to be able to utilize to its own hideous ends, as we are seeing now with the maga movement in America.
This is a no-brainer.
There is no doubt that vast majority of the countries of the world use capitalism as their economic model. Two possible exceptions are Cuba and North Korea which both have autocratic governments.
Voters in democratic countries around the world decide how much they want to reign in capitalism with laws and regulations to stop abuses and redistribute the wealth among their citizens. All democratic countries have numerous laws and regulations on their books to prevent monopolization, protect workers health, prevent pollution, guarantee workers’ rights, and otherwise prevent the abuses of runaway capitalism.
They vary however on how much they endeavor to redistribute the wealth with programs like national health care systems, free education even through college, etc. In Scandinavian countries voters have decide with their votes that that such programs are important despite the the political influence of corporations and the wealthy.
The reason why we don’t have many of those of programs here is because the advocates of such reforms have FAILED to convince enough voters to elect politicians who will enact them. And don’t give me any BS about the influence of the wealthy and corporations. on our political system. Of course it exists, but it was also prevalent in Scandinavia and they overcame that influence.
The reason it hasn’t happened here in this country is because on the whole citizens this country are fundamentally more conservative than those found in Scandinavia.
Until that changes, and it might slowly, don’t expect fundamental changes towards wealth distributions programs to happen overnight. In this country far too many who would benefit from such programs are far more interested in pushing their racist social agenda than advancing their economic self interests.
As much as it goes against their nature, progressives are going to have to accept incremental progress in this area or see no progress at all.
No country has ever successfully used socialism as an economic model without a dictatorship of a party and/or an individual.
A response that is no response, sadly. Several nations have employed socialism in legislation and our own social security is a perfect example. No nation on earth is fully socialist and, obviously none are truly communist.
Many, however , are fully capitalist and thus there is sufficient proof that that system fails abysmally.
Unfettered Capitalism is a brutal FAIL.
It’s happening right before our eyes.
I believe you give socialism rather short shrift:
socialism
[ˈsōSHəˌlizəm]
NOUN
a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.
(in Marxist theory) a transitional social state between the overthrow of capitalism and the realization of Communism.
Capitalism, per se, is not the major problem, unregulated capitalism certainly is such. We live in a political system in which the major corporations own our governance, where a few families control a majority of the wealth.
But capitalism contains within it the seeds of abuse , it seems inevitable that capitalism always leads to abuse. As the old saying goes, “power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
I think yo give short shrift to both socialism and its inevitable evolution into communism. It is important to understand that both those terms trigger negativity and skepticism, based upon the mistaken belief that those nations claiming to be communist are absolutely not such.
Strong man rule, and every one of those nations has exactly that, is the antithesis of communism. It is worth noting that the most successful programs in our nations history , social security for one such, is socialism in action.
Also, there are nations around the world incorporating socialism within it governance , and quite successfully in fact. I believe in socialism frankly ( and obviously) as the only system capable of rescuing us from fascism; the merging of the corporate with government.
I trust you will keep an open mind.
Well said, Doubledee.