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Thread: The Problem with Capitalism

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    The Problem with Capitalism

    Now I'm a free-marketer from way back and that will likely never change but even so do recognize the problem with free-market capitalism: Materialism, where material things, consumerism, becomes the one and all, replacing traditional checks and balances.

    Here is Robert A. Nisbet, Twilight of Authority, citing Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America and The Old Regime and the Revolution.

    Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire. ― Gustav Mahler

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    The problem is the the economy is being treated like the stock market.
    The focus is on making the GDP or sales rise without focus on the long term health.

    The low interest rates are part of the problem. Cheap credit artificially drives consumerism and the debt that goes along with it.

    Low cost imports replace quality products and that creates rapid use of products/materials and excessive waste and pollution
    Price has replaced value.
    Jobs for distribution replace manufacturing jobs. No skill set is required and therefore the low wages follow.

    Cheap credit changes the risk equation for wealth. Conservative savings now means that you lose money every year and are forced into riskier investments.

    The problem becomes that you can't fix it without a disaster and that is where we are now.

    Imagine going to traditional 5% interest rates tomorrow. Housing would tank, especially in the higher end markets. Consumers would move large portions of investments into savings, to secure their retirements.

    We would see a drop in companies seeking to go public, meaning a return to the days of far more competitors.
    Last edited by carolina73; 08-20-2021 at 10:45 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by carolina73 View Post
    The problem is the the economy is being treated like the stock market.
    The focus is on making the GDP or sales rise without focus on the long term health.

    The low interest rates are part of the problem. Cheap credit artificially drives consumerism and the debt that goes along with it.

    Low cost imports replace quality products and that creates rapid use of products/materials and excessive waste and pollution
    Price has replaced value.
    Jobs to distribution replace manufacturing jobs. No skill set is required and therefore the low wages follow.

    Cheap credit changes the risk equation for wealth. Conservative savings now means that you lose money every year and are forced into riskier investments.

    The problem becomes that you can't fix it without a disaster and that is where we are now.

    Imagine going to traditional 5% interest rates tomorrow. Housing would tank, especially in the higher end markets. Consumers would move large portions of investments into savings, to secure their retirements.

    We would see a drop in companies seeking to go public, meaning a return to the days of far more competitors.
    Very well stated
    I'm yo.
    This my brother yo
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    Quote Originally Posted by carolina73 View Post
    The problem is the the economy is being treated like the stock market.
    The focus is on making the GDP or sales rise without focus on the long term health.

    The low interest rates are part of the problem. Cheap credit artificially drives consumerism and the debt that goes along with it.

    Low cost imports replace quality products and that creates rapid use of products/materials and excessive waste and pollution
    Price has replaced value.
    Jobs for distribution replace manufacturing jobs. No skill set is required and therefore the low wages follow.

    Cheap credit changes the risk equation for wealth. Conservative savings now means that you lose money every year and are forced into riskier investments.

    The problem becomes that you can't fix it without a disaster and that is where we are now.

    Imagine going to traditional 5% interest rates tomorrow. Housing would tank, especially in the higher end markets. Consumers would move large portions of investments into savings, to secure their retirements.

    We would see a drop in companies seeking to go public, meaning a return to the days of far more competitors.
    I agree, there's that, but also think we shouldn't have as our number one focus the economy.
    Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire. ― Gustav Mahler

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    The problem is...America is a big Ponzi scheme. It requires continual and never ending growth and consumption.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris View Post
    I agree, there's that, but also think we shouldn't have as our number one focus the economy.
    Almost every problem we have comes down to the economy.
    Jobs make better people, less crime and better health.
    A self contained economy makes the country more secure.
    It even makes people more moral and more able and willing to help there countrymen. Sorry, countrytheys.

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    Quote Originally Posted by slackercruster View Post
    The problem is...America is a big Ponzi scheme. It requires continual and never ending growth and consumption.
    I think you need to clarify that.

    A socialist would say that as well, with the intention that they just never want to contribute but want to receive.
    But I would agree that welfare programs are setup as Ponzi schemes.

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    Capitalism is an economic theory that also upholds the values of personal liberty.

    But it is not a be all end of values in a society. It does not deny other pursuits far removed from wealth, nor charity (of choice) and religious values.

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    There is nothing conservative about capitalism. The sooner "conservatives" get out of this psychological and ideological straight jacket (it's capitalism or socialism!) the better off they'll be.
    Whoever criticizes capitalism, while approving immigration, whose working class is its first victim, had better shut up. Whoever criticizes immigration, while remaining silent about capitalism, should do the same.


    ~Alain de Benoist


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    Quote Originally Posted by slackercruster View Post
    The problem is...America is a big Ponzi scheme. It requires continual and never ending growth and consumption.
    America is, indeed, predicated upon consumerism.

    But would you really prefer a society that is not--and is merely based, therefore, upon settling for mediocrity, as regarding material things?

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