There is a youtube user who is pretty much the Chairman of the Youtube Communist Party, with whom I am trying to explain what Capitalism really is. I PMed him, asking him if he understood what it is. Here’s his response:
Alright, go ahead, tell me your definition of capitalism. I’ll start off by telling you what I think capitalism is, ok?
Capitalism is dog-eat-dog greed. There are no rules, there is no mercy. There is only war. Figurative war, as is found in corporate competition on Wall St and literal war as is seen in the Gulf Wars. If you don’t have the stomach/guts/ambition to push, kick, or kill everyone else around you, then you will either be killed or left behind to rot. Doesn’t matter if you are a man, woman, or child. Doesn’t matter if you are young, old, black, or white. If you are in 'MY" way, or if you have the nerve to challenge me, I will kill you and everyone else around you in an orgy of collateral damage. Capitalism is the African Savannah on a cocktail of speed, meth, crack, and vicodin.
I choose not …
Scary, how people perceive the system of Liberty.
I wanted to awnser with this, but also didn’t want to screw up. Can you critique my reply before I send it off?
If this were capitalism, I assure you, civilization would not still be standing.
First - I’ll define capitalism, and then analyze your definition.
Capitalism is a system of government and society, whereby the government exists to protect individuals from the initiation of force, and where all relationships are voluntary and dictated according to the rational judgment of the minds of the individuals in question. It is based on the premise of human rights - the right to live, the right to be free from the dictates of others, the right to create and keep your creation (you made it, why shouldn’t it be yours?), and the right to choose for yourself, with your own rational mind, what is in your best self interest.
You claimed that capitalism is a dog-eat-dog greed system. There are two main problems with this: first, dog-eat-dog greed is a contradiction in terms. In order for a dog to eat another dog, he must ask that other dog to sacrifice himself. Sacrifice is anti-greed. This leads to the second problem - a dog eat dog situation could never arise in a capitalist system. This can only happen in a society of cannibals, where the interests of one are at the expense of another. In a Capitalist society where the majority of individuals followed reason and logic, one’s interest could never be at the expense of another. In a Capitalist society where this was not the case, the individual whose interests were at the expense of another would not be allowed to force his will or cooperation on the other individual. If the other individual follows reason, he will see the conflict and avoid the man. If he does not, it is through his own error. No one else should take his fall.
Actually, that seems to have been the whole of your post. I’ll just explain further then, that no one who did not want to get involved in wall street would suffer. They may not succeed as much, but they would not suffer. If they don’t want to compete in the free market, they need not. It is their choice. If you do, no one has the right to push your or kick you and especially not to kill you. If you run your business well and profit, how is that at the expense of other men? It isn’t. You succeeded with your own ingenuity, ability, organization and management skills, and you CREATED that money. If you fail, it is because you made errors in your judgment. In that case, it is sad, but you cannot expect to keep your industry running if you run it badly. It will fail because no one will want your products or services. Therefore, you aren’t making a profit. Therefore, you can’t run your business. The key is to make your business better.
I hope this has given you some clarification as to what Capitalism means. For further understanding, I recommend the works of Ayn Rand, especially this youtube audio recording of an essay by her. It’s called “What is Capitalism?” (this is part one)