Global capitalism is failing

[happy_Alex]

• Half the world — nearly three billion people — live on less than two dollars a day.
• The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the poorest 48 nations (i.e. a quarter of the world’s countries) is less than the wealth of the world’s three richest people combined.
• Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.
• Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn't happen.
• 51 percent of the world’s 100 hundred wealthiest bodies are corporations. source
• The wealthiest nation on Earth has the widest gap between rich and poor of any industrialized nation.
• The poorer the country, the more likely it is that debt repayments are being extracted directly from people who neither contracted the loans nor received any of the money.
• 20% of the population in the developed nations, consume 86% of the world’s goods.
• The top fifth of the world’s people in the richest countries enjoy 82% of the expanding export trade and 68% of foreign direct investment — the bottom fifth, barely more than 1%.
• In 1960, the 20% of the world’s people in the richest countries had 30 times the income of the poorest 20% — in 1997, 74 times as much.

These facts can be validated at:

http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Facts.asp


This is the charge sheet. In addition to this I would add the opinion that the current world system of integrated, essentially capitalist world framework is ill equiped to deal with environmental problems, principaly global warming.

And that only a international democratic socialist order transcending national identities can overcome these injustices and problems facing humanity.

 

[sysyphus]

I surely sympathise with the problem, but I disagree with your hypothesis.

Rather we need to analyse what works is the successful part of the world and make it happen in the poorer parts.

 

[The Last Conformist]

And which system, pray tell, could be expected to yield better results?

 

[happy_Alex]

I surely sympathise with the problem, but I disagree with your hypothesis.

Rather we need to analyse what works is the successful part of the world and make it happen in the poorer parts.

Do you sympathises enough to want to challenge global capitalism?

 

[sysyphus]

I sympathise enough to want to eradicate world poverty. I question whether or not global capitalism is the most effective means to that end.

 

[Perfection]

How did global capitalism cause this? And what evidence do you have that capitalism won't improve it?

All I see are facts and a statement with no connections in between.

 

[happy_Alex]

And which system, pray tell, could be expected to yield better results?

Democratic transnationalism to stop the endles exploitation of poorer nations by the most powerfull and to exercise authority to stop the effects of climate change. A democratic institution which would have the mandate of the worlds people to challenge the boundless ability of multinational corporations to sublimate national interests in the pursuit of wealth.

 

[JohnRM]

Of course capitalism is failing. It requires ruthlessness, greed, and increasing consumption of the world's resources. That will leave the majority of people in poverty and the Earth a rotting sespool. However, this can all be attributed to human nature rather than capitalism. I suppose the answer is that capitalism does nothing to prevent that.

 

[happy_Alex]

How did global capitalism cause this? And what evidence do you have that capitalism won't improve it?

All I see are facts and a statement with no connections in between.

there are no other culprits!

 

[Perfection]

there are no other culprits!

Lack of resources, post-colonial transitions, political instabilities, cold-war power politics, shall I go on?

 

[happy_Alex]

There are more than adequate resources to feed the world and to provide healthcare and education, making deaths from hunger and poverty all the more vile.

Post colonial transistions from what to what? From imperialism which exploited the poor the global capitalism which exploits the poor.

Political instbilities caused by poverty which radicalises people,

cold war politics, a product of Americas intense commitment to create an integrated capitalist world.


So yeh, please go on...

 

[betazed]

there are no other culprits!

lol, how about not enough capitalism?

 

[The Yankee]

You'd have to prove that imperialism was capitalism rather than welfare for the imperial powers, which took a lot of the resources by force.

And you seem to be forgetting that there was more than one side in the Cold War.

You're looking at it through red-colored glasses. Offer some more evidence.

 

[happy_Alex]

lol, how about not enough capitalism?

Are we not maxed out yet?

 

[happy_Alex]

You'd have to prove that imperialism was capitalism rather than welfare for the imperial powers, which took a lot of the resources by force.

And you seem to be forgetting that there was more than one side in the Cold War.

You're looking at it through red-colored glasses. Offer some more evidence.

You dont see the connection between poverty and the poverty and environmental crises ? (which some oil multinationals have spent alot of money trying to disprove...)

 

[Mulholland]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism

I think Capitalism can help eradicate world poverty, but not pure Capitalism. Does that even exist? The pure form of the system has very few checks to keep wealth from concentrating among the very rich. That said, embracing Capitalism has helped many countries emerge from poverty (India, China, Poland, South Koera..) Certainly capitalism is not the silver bullet that will end poverty but it has many positive aspects and is perhaps the only economic system that can work in a free society.

A question.
Can any economic system in and of itself eradicate poverty?

 

[betazed]

Are we not maxed out yet?

not even close. Just look at France!

 

[betazed]

Can any economic system in and of itself eradicate poverty?

Sure it can. Provided it is set as one of the goals.

The problem that OP is trying to state, and is probably not able to, is that the way capitalism is usually practiced, poverty alleviation is not one of its stated goals. It still comes though completely as a by-product and hence it probably does not come in volumes enough to eradicate it completely.

Goverment, can make it a stated goal and set up proper incentives so that it also becomes a goal for important participants in capitalism - the free enterprises.

 

[AndyTerry]

I agree. Sometime it'll happen.
Not power like bolsheviks' but real coomunism - living all together without money and so on.
Eh, I'm dreamer.

BTW, i remember words from John Lennon's song:

You may say I'm a dreamer,
But I'm not the only one.
I hope, someday you will join us,
And the world will be as one.

 

[sysyphus]

Look from life. The countires where the general population is prosperous overall are all capitalist democracies. Also note that of those countries, the ones who temper their free market with strong social support form the cream of the crop.

Meanwhile, capiltalist countries without strong social suport lag somewhat. Purely socialist countries come in behind even further.

I think the formula to eradicate global poverty is pretty obvious. The question is only how to implement it.