Is America in need of an economic and social model?

[paragaster]

Is America in need of a new economic and social model? It may be first time when America is looking inward. From a dream land for people of the world it has become a full fledged nation. Has innovation come to a standstill in America? How many skilled workers are needed in America?

What will drive America in the 21st centtury?

Most important question : Will Capitalism swallow Democracy and its values?

[Phi for All]

Will Capitalism swallow Democracy and its values?

 

Absolutely, now that it has almost total control. Everything we hear praises capitalism and reviles any other economic approach to any situation. All it had to do was make us believe even a little bit of socialism or communism was bad.

 

Plus, Americans in general tend to identify with situational stances. They claim they're liberals, or conservatives, when the truth is that our decisions are pretty varied and across the board (how many "conservatives" out there NEVER do anything new or innovative? Thought so.). So I think a lot of Americans identify as being capitalists, and this makes it particularly easy for capitalism to worm its way into areas it shouldn't be.

 

My opinion? We should test some truly socialist programs that haven't been invaded by opportunistic capitalist lobbyists. Can we come up with a kind of welfare or healthcare or community system not motivated in the least by profit?

[RiceAWay]

 

Absolutely, now that it has almost total control. Everything we hear praises capitalism and reviles any other economic approach to any situation. All it had to do was make us believe even a little bit of socialism or communism was bad.

 

My opinion? We should test some truly socialist programs that haven't been invaded by opportunistic capitalist lobbyists. Can we come up with a kind of welfare or healthcare or community system not motivated in the least by profit?

 

The sign of someone that is a total loser is that he thinks that its the fault of someone else.

[Delta1212]

 

The sign of someone that is a total loser is that he thinks that its the fault of someone else.

That's an easy lie that does a great job of keeping people from asking questions about why things are the way they are. If your life is shit, at least you aren't a loser for questioning it, and if your life isn't shit, you can safely dismiss anyone who complains about their own lot because they're obviously just losers.

[Phi for All]

 

The sign of someone that is a total loser is that he thinks that its the fault of someone else.

 

Here's your sign of a lack of critical thinking, and reading comprehension (lot of THAT going around). I don't blame "someone else". I blame our blend of economic systems (it's right there in my post you quoted). We aren't keeping a tight rein on our capitalism and it's growing into areas where it has no business.

 

I'll give you an example of what I'm really talking about, so you don't have to make shit up. Many cities in the US are outsourcing their traffic control to private companies (at the urging of councils who are heavily lobbied by these companies), instead of using publicly funded (socialism) agencies like the police. They maintain and manage traffic control signals and cameras, the kind where it takes your picture and sends you a ticket if you run a red light. All well and good, and something the city could have easily invested in themselves (if they didn't need the money for crumbling infrastructure), but the cost seems so low due to provisions for the company to profit from the ticket revenue.

 

I'm sure everything was fine for a while, the company did a great job and all were happy, except the people getting the tickets. But because modern businesses are constantly under pressure to find new ways to grow profit, they inevitably start losing their ethics. Now we have these private companies illegally messing with the yellow light timing in order to raise profits. These are just the ones that got caught. Regulation is needed (yes, the EXACT thing capitalist-only thinkers want to avoid!).

 

100% of any single economic system is unworkable. So why do you think pushing a higher and higher percentage of capitalist solutions is a good idea?