Your Weekly Philosphical Discussion LXXIV ;)

[The Captain]

Protoman has already made several philosophical discussion threads, so I thought I would make one of my own because there has been an issue lately that I wanted to discuss with the members here.

At first glance, the ideas of capitalism and free market economy seem to be very good. Such a system would seem to and does (in the early states at least) promote competition between companies, benefit the economy, and offer great oportunities to many people.

Overtime, however, companies grow too large, powerful, and greedy because the government does not regulate the companies and/or actually supports the companies by changing copyrights and creating laws that allow companies to overshadow their smaller competitors.

IMO, the state that I have just described is what has happened in the US and many other Western countries with capitalistic economies. Unfortunately, businesses have grown so large that they play a major part in government by funding politicians and political parties who support laws that would benefit them. Instead of a government which is governed by the people and for the people, we are left with a government controlled by private interests.

I have three questions/topics for discussion:

1) Where did the capitalistic countries go wrong? Is the government at fault for not regulating businesses? Or is the economic system itself at fault?

2) Can this situation be remedied without major conflict?

3) If so, what steps can we take to bring rights, government, and interests away from businesses and back to the people?

[Boltzmann]

I agree with your points, The Captain, and I do believe there's a solution. Unfortunately I'm in a hurry right now and can't write about my exact thoughts.

Anyway, take a look at the Cyborg Democracy blog , as its members express an opinion that is very similar to my own. In a nutshell I'm a progressist, so I do believe that many socialist ideas are inherently good (I'm part of what's called "The Darwinian Left", by Peter Singer).

[Proto]

Eek... i knew i should have trademarked my topic names ^^

As you said, capitalist systems seem to have this bad habit of degrading of plutocracies. The capitalist systems,as you described albeit good, has many flaws, in that it promotes the formacion of oligopolies, and in the long run, monopolies. It's a wild system in which not only the strongest and wittest wins, but he's also the only that remains, producing a situation in which he is the ultimate world of the wing he governs (the possible case scenario is the one you described, becoming the shadow behind power, aka plutocracy).

This system has shown many times in history the attrocities it can cause, being the most important the imperialist England.

As such, a more moderate solution was found, and it was a mild capitalism which rules are regulated by an (idealy) democratic goverment. With this, a goverment can avoid the dirty wars and techniques that oligo/monopolies cause, preveting the formation of those etc.

However, nowadays we have seen how that system has degraded itself... and its the formation of an oligopolie between the emporiums and the goverment, producing an exact copy of the problem we had a century ago. A world when the man with money equates the man with power.

The solution? We should stop dreaming that the big organizations like the companies or the goverment itslef will solve everything. This problem happened because we as the governed did nothing to stop it. The non goverment organizations are a good try, however its non sufficient. The participation of all the sides is needed so that this things won't happen again...

...although if you ask me the flaw is within human nature... but that is another topic