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Thread: Is U.S. Capitalism On The Brink Of Collapse?

  1. #1
    Williamsmith
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    Is U.S. Capitalism On The Brink Of Collapse?

    You have to ask yourself, is modern capitalism sustainable? Or will it just collapse under the production of its own massive wealth inequality. The future of capitalism seems to be endangered by its own success. I’m not suggesting anyone has a viable replacement, but I am suggesting we take a look at where this system we call capitalism is headed. It may be the only chance to cushion the fall.

    I know Milton Friedman would like everything to be so simple. Just leave it to the “free market”. But is there such a thing these days? The extrodinary wealth inequality we are experiencing isn’t a result of free market as much as it is the manipulation of government by corporations for the benefit of their owners and CEOs. While the employees file for welfare benefits and work like rats in mazes to get by.

    The distribution of medical care and the quality of treatment is laughable in the richest country in the world. Isn’t it ironic that we have public campaigns to entice people to pay attention to their health and at the same time subsidize a food distribution and production system that encourages people to eat an extremely unhealthy diet?

    Is it truly impossible to design a tax system that redistributes wealth without crippling economic growth? At a time when one of our citizens is the wealthiest man ever to have lived ....ever and earns more than the entire GDP of a Middle East oil rich country.

    Perhaps the most dangerous threat capitalism is to itself , is its ability to empower individuals and groups to purchase political power and influence which in turn facilitates more wealth. But don’t listen to me......listen to a guy you wouldn’t expect to be calling out the rich.....listen to Tucker Carlson of FOX News! So what do you think? Is capitalism “transitional?”


  2. #2
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    I think some guy named Karl Marx already weighed in on this one.

  3. #3
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    I think many European countries are doing a good job of balancing capitalism with socialism or democratic socialism.

  4. #4
    Williamsmith
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    Quote Originally Posted by Teacher Terry View Post
    I think many European countries are doing a good job of balancing capitalism with socialism or democratic socialism.
    When I was in NYC sitting in the lobby of my hotel....a German couple was discussing “working conditions” in Germany compared to the US with a health care administrator. Over hearing the conversation.....I could describe it as a eulogy for the poor American worker.

  5. #5
    Williamsmith
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    Quote Originally Posted by early morning View Post
    I think some guy named Karl Marx already weighed in on this one.
    I must admit only a superficial understanding of Marx. But mentioning his name seems to provoke undue attention to ones private life rather than a discussion of his economics and philosophy. I think there is some truth to the fact that wealthy people tend to blame the poor for their status while influencing lawmakers to rig the system in their favor thus disadvantaging the hard working schmuck even more.

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    We have family friends American/German couple who raised their daughters in Germany.

    both girls came to the U.S. for college. Both married Americans. One is now a college professor in the U.S. with one young child. Her husband is nearing retirement age. They do not intend to have additional children. The other is a doctor with three children including twins. She and her husband - both in their 40s - relocated to Germany several years ago for better employment opportunities and better education and child care for their children. Even though he had to learn advanced German, take additional classes, retest for his medical license, and basically redo his residency. (She had been licensed in both countries)

  7. #7
    Senior Member flowerseverywhere's Avatar
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    Watch the video, well worth it.

    What I liked is he did not blame the left or the right, but all of the politicians and the fact that in our system they are all bought and paid for.

    That stock market boom? Only half of adults have stock and are benefitting, and of course it is benefitting the richest disproportionally.

    We spent the summer camping in the state and national parks in Kentucky, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee and Virginia and saw so many towns that have abandoned traditional stores, with a dollar general as their only option. Houses that are in obvious need of repair, old cars or trucks, few doctors in the area. A great swath of the working poor that have the nations lowest ranked schools, there is no way they have any means to pull themselves up by the bootstraps. And they are being demonized by our society.

    But what is is the Solution? Have we gone too far?

  8. #8
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    Thank you for posting this.

    Great video. He describes very lucidly how I see where we've come to at this point in our capitalist/free market history. It is not sustainable for the reasons he describes in the video. Even our measuring stick for economic health is faulty: The GDP.

    WS, I also agree with all of your comments.

    I'm not an economist, so I can't off-the-cuff say I have a solution, especially on only one cup of coffee, but I'd like to hear what others say while I mull over and research the answer.
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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  9. #9
    Senior Member Ultralight's Avatar
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    I think workin' folks are f-cked.

    End of story.

  10. #10
    Senior Member CathyA's Avatar
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    Thanks, Williamsmith, for posting this. It's excellent.
    I'm not very smart with things like this, but for awhile, I've been asking "what happened to the rules to prevent monopolies?" What did happen to them?

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