Is Capitalism Unsustainable?

[SWP's back]

When I look at how I grew up and became aware of my surroundings (mid to late 60's) and on my street there were 3 corner shops - one at each end and one in the middle. And a Co-op down the hill where my mum did the shopping and collected the dividend stamps. It was early to mid 70's that the supermarkets arrived and the corner shops started to go one by one. Successful independent businesses began to be taken over by larger - but still local - businesses or entrepreneurs. Come Thatcher and regional businesses were then being taken over by national companies. And of course the wicked witch of Grantham flogged all that we as the people owned off to the highest bidder via share issues... Zoom on another decade or 3 and the national companies have been bought by the global companies.
So for capitalism to survive it has to keep evolving not only new products (think of vinyl to cassettes to CD to digital or Betamax to video to DVD to Blue Ray) but also in corporations getting bigger and bigger and cornering markets.
So once a corporation is global, where can they go? They can't gain any more ground. And once technology has ran out of new products to flog us (Apple spring to mind) or the public gets wise and refuses to follow the hype and advertising and doesn't bother buying the emperor's new clothes which these products are, then we will see a change in the capitalist system.
It's sheep we're up against

Lol

 

[Chippy_boy]

Are the cracks of the dictatorship of banks on society starting to become so wide that we need a new way of running things?

Would a greener system work better? Or socialism?

Or is there no perfect way and we just have to make the best of the bad bunch?

It’s a question I keep wondering about but I’m not a good enough economist to answer it...

Eventually, yes, it's unsustainable.

But it's got 100 years or so left to run imo. Maybe 200. What makes its demise inevitable is that eventually there will no longer be any need - in fact no room - for any human endeavour. No work humans can do will be of any value to anyone. And therefore no-one will voluntarily pay anyone else to do anything. No-one will be able to earn any money by doing work.

Before that point is finally reached, we'll need a different method of wealth redistribution, since the number of "have's" will be so vastly outnumbered by the "have not's" that the whole system will break down.

 

[purplenose]

Yes and it will eventually bring the end of humanity.

 

[jacko74]

As already mentioned, what we have right now is nothing like the true meaning of capitalism... what we have is neoliberalism which is basically socialism for the banks, the corporations and the wealthy elite.

 

[SWP's back]

As already mentioned, what we have right now is nothing like the true meaning of capitalism... what we have is neoliberalism which is basically socialism for the banks, the corporations and the wealthy elite.

It’s not though is it.

 

[jacko74]

It’s not though is it.

So what economic system have we got then?

(You might want to read up the actual definition of capitalism before you reply)

 

[Fame Monster]

The short answer is yes.

We've tried Capitalism, we've tried Socialism, now it's only fair we give Fascism a good go.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Capitalism, as envisaged by those espousing it as some kind of structural and political ideal, has been “succeeded” by Corporatism/Corporate Fascism.

Look at the latest Tax “Reform” effort in the USA to see that multinational corporations that suck all your dollars from your wallet have staged a bloodless coup in the United States. They are even willing to support clear imbeciles like Trump, nd give pedophiles and child molesters elected power and stature to ensure they get to keep their own. Unless voters step in to stop the inexorable march of the Billionaire class (and the whole “fake news” is designed to obfuscate and confused the poor idiot voters from even knowing what is going on around them) then we are heading for an Orwellian/V for Vendetta type future, where the only way we can survive is to be beholden to power, with the romanticized notion of an uprising or popular revolt is quashed as soon as any green shoot rises above the earth.

Deepest irony is they all spouse deep religious beliefs, too!

So, “What WOULD Jesus Do????”

 

[Deleted member 77198]

Not sure I understand all your question. What is the dictatorship of the banks that you talk about?

as for the rest
we have a regulated capitalist system, rather than a total capitalist system.
In my view we should be moving to a more regulated capitalist system (thats moving closer to socialism but is not socialism). Thats why I would class myself as left wing. those to the right want less regulation and movement towards a totally capitalist system.
I think even a regulated capitalist system is a bit shit, but I am not aware of any other system that is workable.

To explain it totally would need about 10,000 words but some examples are below

1) We should be moving to a free trade system but only with those nations that have the same/similar/equivalent welfare policy, H&S policy, environmental etc as we do.
2)Publicly traded companies senior management should have to hold significant stock within the company. This stock should not be able to be sold while the management is in place and for a number of years after the management has left the company.

happy to discuss it further

What I mean by the bank dictatorship is that we think we live in an open free world where we make our own choices and choose our own jobs and where we live and what we spend. But really, we don’t. What we really live in is a society that makes us part of the larger system controlled by banks and the 1%ers at the top of the money tree, not the governments who are supposedly in power. The banks and 1%ers are really our dictators. Every choice we think we make for ourselves is actually made to make them richer. We also think we live in democratic countries where we have a vote. But really we don’t live in a democracy. We vote for parties who come in and tell us what they’re going to do and we can’t vote on any of those month-to-month, day-to-day, decisions. Look at Britain leaving the European Union; we voted to leave but actually have had not one jot of a say in any of the negotiations so really we haven’t voted for a damn thing for ourselves. We just think we have because we’re so institutionalised in living in the society we live in. We are fools. No decisions are really made for society as a whole, they’re made for the banks and 1%ers to make more money. We are taken into wars or wars are started with no consultation with the public in any way whatsoever because war is a business. The world is purposely destabilised leading to a need to trade arms and reparations for those top people to make money.

Henry Ford (yes, I know he was a Nazi contributer but...) once said "It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning"

 

[SWP's back]

So what economic system have we got then?

(You might want to read up the actual definition of capitalism before you reply)

We don’t have a “socialism for banks” and you’re also baking up the wrong tree if you think you know more than me on the definition of capitalism.