Is Capitalism bad?

[crow]

Is Capitalism bad? Is making a profit bad? If so, why?
It seems quite sensible for a private individual to have a good idea, turn it into something people want, make it widely available, and gain reward from so doing.
Maybe it's more to do with scale, and motive.

If you make a crappy product, then drive anyone else who makes a better product out of business, so that people can now only buy your crappy product, at any price you name, then that is probably bad.
Whereas if you sell that crappy product for less than the better ones, it becomes a lot less bad.

If you supply food to humans, and become very good at doing it, thereby making a decent profit, then that is probably not so bad. But if you genetically modify the seeds that yield the food, so that they are forever unable to reproduce, thus forcing people to buy only from you, for-evermore, then that probably is bad.

A lot of people seem to have the conviction that capitalism, itself, is bad. Is it?

[Tralfamadorian]

Capitalism may not perfect, but it sure as hell beats the alternatives.

Lesser of the two evils, etc.

[fallot]

"Capitalism" as some sort of life philosophy is bad, but supply/demand, free markets etc. are just... human life. It's not a lesser evil, it's not evil at all. The human nature element complicates the matter and turns it into ideology.

It's not these -isms that should be important anyway, it's goals. What helps a society remain cohesive, function and grow is important. So if gigantic corporations deter from this goal, curbing them (even if "anti-capitalist") may be what you do. Scale and motive indeed.

[Wild]

Capitalism produces what people want. The problem lately is that most people want cheap tvs, cellphones, and horrible pop music. The iTard Generations.

Seems to me the fault lies with the desire, not as much with those who fulfill it. If the population wanted honest business practices, ecology, and high quality products, that's what they would get.

But they don't.

[aquarius]

A lot of people seem to have the conviction that capitalism, itself, is bad. Is it?

No. But it should be a means to an end.

Capitalism produces what people want. The problem lately is that most people want cheap tvs, cellphones, and horrible pop music. The iTard Generations.

Seems to me the fault lies with the desire, not as much with those who fulfill it. If the population wanted honest business practices, ecology, and high quality products, that's what they would get.

But they don't.

I still think people are led by the nose. Government makes their dysfunction possible.

[Cheeseburger Zombie]

I like the idea of capitalism because it's natural selection for your labor. I don't like the reality. (1) Because of all the rules, a lot of idiots get ahead. (2) Because there are lots of idiots, what idiots want wins out over what is good.

So yes capitalism is evil. It's less evil than communism. We need something else...

[Wild]

We need something else...

[crow]

He looks familiar, somehow...

[Umbrage]

I think we need a different kind of change to stop systems from failing. Blaming a system for being corrupt is like blaming MS Windows for having a virus. It's the user's behavior that caused the virus.

Start by reclaiming society, then government, then adjust the system to suit the new demands of this society. Either that or drop out and grow your own vegetables or burn out in frustration and defiance.

[crow]

...Either that or drop out and grow your own vegetables OR burn out in frustration and defiance.

Yes. To address your earlier comment: I grow my own vegetables. I do not burn out in frustration and defiance.

[scourge]

We need something else...

****censored****

I'm just about convinced the NS way is fit only for specific national emergency conditions when sufficient resources are available for a short while at most. It's a robust military conquest and morale boosting type of economy but probably not sustainable for more than a few years.

[Phoenix]

The trouble is, we don't have capitalism. We have a rigged system. And yet we think we have capitalism, so we're not only robbed but we're duped as well.

In order to truly have a capitalist economic system in the world, money and industry mustn't be able to buy government and the free market's regulatory structure must be properly upheld.

Right now we have capitalist governments, and that ain't no good.

[Cheeseburger Zombie]

Is money bad?

[Eleison]

Capitalism, insofar as it forms an integral part of the modern West, is most definitely bad.  Capitalism in a more general sense is just an inherent part of economics, as Julius Evola said (although somewhat ironically) even the Soviet Union was not so far from capitalist economics with the key difference being that assets were controlled by the regime rather than private investors.

Whenever I or others make such statements, people always demand you provide them with alternatives, implying that none exist.  The truth is that we don't have to look too far to find such alternatives but people fear what would have to be done in order to implement them.  Of the modern alternatives National Socialism and various forms of fascism are probably superior to either the capitalist or communist models, more importantly their are the various traditional societal structures, of which the most recent Western model is feudalism, all of which are superior to what we have now.

[anal_rapist]

The problem with capitalism, democracy, etc. is that they put the least able people, who form the majority, in charge over complex decisions they don't understand.