Capitalism...What's so good about it?

by **Gillipig** on Tue Apr 29, 2014 12:12 pm

tzor wrote:
Gillipig wrote:Why is capitalism so good again?

Well in "capitalism" you have this thing called "capital" and that's a "capital idea!"

Capitalism is owning and using "capital." Everything else is propaganda and fluff. People often confuse "free market" with "capitalism." Can't say I blame them; some people find math hard. Some people find logic hard. Some people find reason hard. Some people are progressives. But I have been repeating myself; they are the same people.

cap·i·tal·ism
ˈkapətlˌizəm/
noun
an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.

But I thought it was only about owning and using capital? What do these people mean thor?

by **tzor** on Tue Apr 29, 2014 12:32 pm

Gillipig wrote:an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.

But I thought it was only about owning and using capital? What do these people mean thor?

Isn't that saying the same thing? The production of industry is capital goods, and to control something is to own and use it.

"In economics, capital goods, real capital, or capital assets are already-produced durable goods or any non-financial asset that is used in production of goods or services."

The complexity of the person / state relationship makes simple comparisons with capitalism and socialism difficult. Private owners could could use their capital to influence the state, making the state serve them (crony capitalism) or they could even just take over the state (company towns). Both variants are capitalism in the proper definition of the word. When you get to company towns, the border between "private owner" and "state" is blurred. However, the biggest difference between the company town and socialism is that the former still "uses" capital; it only pays workers who work for the company town, while the later "redistributes" capital giving the preferred share to the "progressive" class and the left overs to the "people." (Socialism is for the people not the socialists.)