dayokanu:

I can share that with you in private.

Katsumoto:

O se ya ashewo bayi?

ola olabiy:

^^^

No capitalist country without some form of intervention from the State.

You would rather live in Ireland and not Cuba, isn't it?

yeswecan:

  If we Africans aspire to get developed as Europe we have to look for someplace to milk - this is the fact.

AjanleKoko:

No, no. We have enough natural resources, and we have the capital, human and intellectual. The social system is the key. Would you say that the UAE and Saudi, Oman and Qatar are not developed, simply because they are not massively exporting finished goods, or invading their neighbours?

The Europeans suffered from natural deprivations, which is why the story of riches in the West has been a story of expansion. 

Kay 17:

A true Marxist communist system not Leninist! I'm strongly against the political monster in Leninist Communism.

At least we will all agree that capitalism is a step towards the future.

Jbenue:

Social Capitalism is the way forward. Countries like Japan and Germany have pioneered this system to an extent. Where it failed for countries like Japan was their pension system which became a combersome, over bloated burden, that drained the state coffers. In my opinion the state should have nothing to do with pension, every working person should have their own private pension that in later life they can draw upon, the status quo now is that the younger generation are paying for the pension of the now retired because living + pay standards since the 70's have greatly increased.
there is a way to augment this quagmire, if the state was to ensure not only a minimum wage(already in place in 1st world) but also a maximum wage, even the poorest worker would get a bigger slice of the pie, hence he or she may invest more in their pension schemes. Due to thoroughly greedy capitalist lords  sadly i doubt this will ever happen. In England the government has been trying to  cap the wages of their highest earners but one nation cannot implement this. As courageous as it may be  it would also be economical suicide as there would be an Exodus of the most brilliant minds that drive the economy to other countries willing to indulge their greed. It has to be a consensus  agreement between all the countries especially the economic powers. I hope one day man will wake up from the capitalist  hypnosis it seems to be dancing to at the moment, I mean the worlds largest communist state China practises one of the most vitriolic brands of capitalism, a slight juxtaposition no? Sad really.

yeswecan:

There is no reflection of independent thinking in your post.

yeswecan:


"If we Africans aspire to get developed as Europe we have to look for someplace to milk - this is the fact."

cap28:

Then we will have to change our mindset, as it is we are content to sit back and imitate europe and america, every nation with exploitative tendencies has also had expansionist tendencies, do we have this kind of outlook?  our way of thinking has been destroyed by colonialism and western religion. It has made us weak and directionless, we are simply not yet mentally equipped to think in those terms yet.

Tell me whats so wrong with Leninist Communism? If you are a true theorist you would understand that the world is sliding to socialism and then communism- this is unavoidable. It could take 1000 years but a classless world would come into view.

cap28:

Then we will have to change our mindset, as it is we are content to sit back and imitate europe and america, every nation with exploitative tendencies has also had expansionist tendencies, do we have this kind of outlook? our way of thinking has been destroyed by colonialism and western religion. It has made us weak and directionless, we are simply not yet mentally equipped to think in those terms yet.

EzeUche0:
Frankly, I feel that capitalism is the best economic system we have currently. No economic system has yet been discovered that is more effective in creating wealth as the free market system. After all, only capitalism has helped the world's downtrodden rise out of the of poverty and obscurity. Just look at the hundreds of millions who have risen out of poverty in the last few decades in India, Brazil and China by adopting free-market principles.

Capitalism requires cutthroat competition; therefore, the system awards winners and discards losers. Companies within this system are required to maximize profits and to grow. It is a dog eat dog world, and capitalism leads to INNOVATION.

oyinda3:
I just read randomly that hedge fund managers are sometimes making upwards of 3 BILLION DOLLARS a year!!!!
India and China are also producing increasing numbers of millionaires lately.

I mean, according to the law of thermodynamics, energy is neither created nor destroyed. it can only be transferred (sometimes very inefficiently).
so while all this wealth is being accumulated by a very small group of financial leaders that are basically ruling the world, some others (poor people both in the US and especially in 3rd world countries, and future generations) are suffering for it.
the wealth gap is growing at a rapid rate.
all these is SO obvious but it seems like a crime to say anything against capitalism. why? 
why is it that people are stigmatized in society for criticizing some sometimes messed up American ideologies ex. capitalism, romantic love etc saying anything against these things no matter how constructive your intentions are will land you in a hot pot of . . .

. . .anyways, what do u guys think of capitalism? The reason we have allowed it to stay is because of the whole question of "what is the alternative to capitalism" I don't know the answer to this question but capitalism is so messed up. at least i'm sure of that. 

Katsumoto:
Capitalism is required in all societies for wealth creation and innovation. It can be the antithesis of socialism and communism which sometimes encourage laziness. To see how important capitalism is, we just have to look at Russia and China. The USSR collapsed while China, which practises state capitalism, progressed after it inculcated capitalist policies promulgated by Deng Xiaoping in 1978.

Capitalism creates wealth which in turn gives rise to political power. I have to keep using China as an example because politically, it is still very much a communist country. Who would have guessed that China would have been able to outmuscle Japan in a diplomatic impasse? Two weeks ago, the Japanese released the Chinese crew that ran into Japanese vessels only because China threatened not to sell Rare Earth raw materials, which is required for Japanese industry, to Japan. A few years ago, China might have resorted to military arm twisting. A look at the G8 countries will reveal that they all practice capitalism.

Having said all that, not all societies can practice capitalism. First, they must inculcate certain policies and principles which are necessary for capitalism to thrive. Also, the government on any nation that practices capitalism must use a combination of monetary and fiscal policy to achieve wealth distribution. The government must use a combination of tax and welfare programs to attempt to strike a balance. However, this should not be too extreme, otherwise wealth creators and capitalists would simply relocate to more conducive business environments. This is all the more pertinent due to the globalisation which is very evident these days.



You will find that the tide is turning gradually. The US and most western nations, bar Germany, are in for a few years of austerity while some former third world nations such as Singapore, China, India, Vietnam,Brazil, etc are growing. This is due to the balance of trade between nations. The West had been consuming at an alarming rate before the economic crisis in 2008 while the developing nations were saving. Now the US together with other Western nations are crying out loudly. They scream about the manner in which manipulates its currency and that its citizens save too much and should start consuming so that Western economies can import less from China and export more to China, India, Brazil.

Katsumoto:


Consumption is not the main driver of capitalism; wealth creation is the main driver of Capitalism. Germany is one of the largest economies in the world but its strength comes not from consuming itself but from others consuming its goods. While the rest of Europe that had been consuming for years started to scream about lack of funds, the Germans were safe because Germans are a saving people just like the Chinese.

The countries that will suffer the most are those without any kind of resources and those that fail to manage their resources. The issue that the US is facing is that it has always relied on internal consumption to overcome recessions in the past. But the problem with that this time is that it has outsourced most of its manufacturing and services to China and India. This is set to get worse with increased globalisation. Each corporation will pay an additional $11,000 per worker per year due to the Healthcare bill when the cost to a US corporation outsourcing to China, India, Malaysia is nil. Consequently, there are less people paying taxes, more people receiving welfare, and those with jobs worried about those jobs. Now add to the fact that the US debt is approximately $13 trillion ($54 trillion if you include debt not following due in the short term), deflationary concerns, immobility of workers due to negative equity, congress that is unlikely to agree on anything for the foreseeable future, other problems and them you start to the enormity of the problem facing the US.

The US must consume less, export more, and try to achieve a balance of trade with China to survive. Judging by the tone of your post, I can tell you that what you would like is beginning to happen. US citizens will get poorer while citizens of developing countries such as Brazil, China, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea that have invested in education, infrastructure, solid monetary and fiscal policy, are getting richer.