Adsactly Education - Have We Lost Capitalism and Democracy?
Adsactly Education - Have We Lost Capitalism and Democracy?
It seems at times like Capitalism and Democracy are both slipping away from ‘we the people’. Democracy utterly needs free and fair elections, an informed and engaged electorate, protection of minority rights and protection from government under the rule of law to survive. Likewise, Capitalism needs an available pool of workers and an energized work force to produce goods and services for a free and open market.
All of these requirements are under duress in various ways. Capitalism itself is under stress from itself. Bigger and bigger business that increasingly sees the labor pool and wages as an item to improve the bottom line. Democracy shows a possibility of devolving into Oligarchy or Socialism.
Have we lost Capitalism?
Workers
The workforce in the developed world is under assault. Good paying, skilled jobs become more and more rare as automation and outsourcing takes a toll. There is a seriously increasing pool of workers that can’t earn enough to make ends meet and have utterly no options.
Office workers have it no better. A significant fraction of all jobs has been outsourced to the developing world where an ocean of talent can live well on a small fraction of normal wages in the developed world.
The story in the developing world is different but still fraught with pressure on the system. Those that land the rare and precious jobs have no job security and no hope for internal improvement. The employer can simply give your job to somebody that is willing to work for a little less per hour. The system creates a class of ‘haves’ to go with the ‘have nots’. The two classes of workers are separated by a very small margin.
Small Business
Much the single largest employer throughout the world are small independent businesses. It doesn’t matter where they are in the world, the pressure is on.
The race to the lowest possible price really hurts the small business. Where Wal-Mart can afford to sell an item with a very small markup and depend on volume to make money the small business needs to sell at a much higher markup in order to just break even.
Economy of scale is another area the small business gets burned on. Order a million units over the next year and the manufacturer will be more than willing to give you a discount based on the activity promised. Order 100 units and you pay the price as advertised. More pressure.
Any uptick in inflation can just crush a small business. Nobody likes raising prices every month, but the small business has to rely on a margin that is too small already and is forced to decide between making a profit or keeping volume. It’s really a no win decision.
Investors
I’m not talking Berkshire Hathaway, I’m concerned about Mom and Pop and their retirement fund. The big funds and institutional investors can move in and out in a hurry and make a small percentage going both ways. Mom and Pop don’t have the flexibility or the knowledge to do so.
Huge investors often dictate the direction and choices that corporations make, often to the detriment of the individual investors. There is a winner and a loser on every trade, sorry about your loss is just critical to small investors.
Small investors are often forced to live with investments that are doing things that are contrary to their own beliefs. Think Exxon/Mobile in the 80s, when they KNEW for an absolute fact that they were a part of a warming trend on earth. Profit to them meant keeping quiet about an environmental catastrophe of unprecedented proportions.
So, we see that all three legs of capitalism (work force, market, capital) are under some duress and in danger of failing. How goes Democracy?
Have We Lost Democracy?
There is some indication that we the people are losing touch with Democracy.
Do We Have Free and Fair Elections?
There are huge differences in electoral standards throughout the world. Do some countries do better at free and fair than others? No question, but all seem to put more and more restrictions on the electorate, whether it be via registration restrictions or lack of polling places in certain areas or gerrymandered voting districts there is a notable assault on free and fair.
Is the quality of representation good or even reasonable?
At the local level I can really only speak to the US in general and Arizona specifically but the answer to that is an unqualified yes. For the most part our local and state representatives are people that honestly care about and believe in the process.
At the national level our representation tends to be really concerned about being re elected and not so much in ‘doing the right thing’ everytime. National level politicians tend to be in search of career positions. Many are ‘corporate sponsored’ taking huge campaign contributions from specific industries which they then represent. Sometimes to the detriment of the people who elected them.
What about individual liberty?
Individual liberty is being eroded on a worldwide scale. Generally in the name of security and in the interest of the public good, individual rights are being removed. In the US all our rights as guaranteed in the Bill of Rights are being restricted. From the right to free assembly to free speech, they are all being restricted to a certain extent.
What is the state of Minority Rights?
Minority rights in the US are relatively well protected. The court system has done a pretty good job protecting all minorities and their rights. Legally, race, creed, color, gender and sexual preference truly doesn’t make a difference. In practical terms it can and does matter, but that is changing.
Is there equal consideration under the Law?
As stated above Minority Rights are well protected by the courts. However, that doesn’t necessarily translate to equal protection under the law. Blacks and Natives in particular have a much higher incarceration rate than the general population. Equal consideration under the law works well in general but there are specific areas of the country that tend to be less so.
Is taxation fair and equitable across the electorate?
Nearly every single person in the US would answer that question with a resounding no. But what is the truth?
The tax system in the US is horribly flawed. Of that there is no doubt. But when taken as a hole, it actually works fairly well. Groups get exemptions, and some get deductions that not everybody is eligible for, but it is administered with relative fairness.
What Can Be Done?
Are we destined to follow the masses to whatever comes next? Doomed to watch the erosion of Democracy? Kept from realizing the fruits of Capitalism by our station or education or position in life?
Not necessarily. There is hope, and not the least of which is the crypto world. The playing field is mostly level in crypto land, anybody with enough luck and skill and determination can find his or her way to a larger future.
Individuals matter. Much more than borders or classes or any of the hundreds of distinctions we humans have placed on each other. You can be an individual that matters in almost any nation on earth.
Cooperation rather than Competition
We can cooperate rather than compete with other individuals in any situation. Together we can do more than any individual and the returns are much greater for each of us. If things are going to change it’s going to be a people powered revolution that does it.
Don’t wait for someone else to make the first move. You can truly be the change you want to see. Start small and grow in your cooperative life. There is a whole new world out there if only you will rise to meet it.
Authored by: @bigtom13
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Everything that you have said is true in pretty much every country ... not just in the USA. Centralization works up to a point. Why is it that certain countries do well in the Olympics while only having a population of a few million while some countries with 100s of millions do less well. Norway (population roughly 5 million) has 169 members of parliament; Canada (population roughly 36 million) has 338 members of parliament; USA (roughly 325 million) has 435 members of the house of representatives.
For each of the countries to have the same amount of representation as Iceland (population roughly 334 thousand) has 63 members of the Alþingi:
Norway: 943 representatives
Canada: 6,790 representatives
USA: 61,302 representatives
Why do we have governments at all? Historically a group of people would get together and send a single person in their midst to represent them in another group of people who represent them in another group of people. In Canada's early legislative history there were a couple of parties but it was overwhelmed by a group of "loose fish" ... people who had been elected as independents ... truly representing the position of their groups.
Today this is changed. Every person in Canada goes to the government at least once per year when they file their taxes. Why do we need a small group of people decide how we want to spend our money. I am sure that Amazon can teach them how to create a shopping cart. I want to spend a certain amount of infrastructure (roads, bridges etc.), I want to spend a certain amount on education, healthcare and as far as the military goes I am more interested in spending money in areas of rescue especially since they tend to get called out during blizzards and floods. As far as spending 6 million dollars for the salary of the head of a special interest group I have no interest in ... I would probably nix that.
I recognize that there are some laws that need to be made ... but I am willing that a random sample of 100 people or even 1000 people could be drawn from the general population (like jury duty) and sequestered in video conferencing rooms. Interested parties could step forward and put forward their perspectives and each "jury member" could decide based on the arguments put forth.
As far as minority rights, there needs to be a recognition of equity. In Canada there was a bill passed Bill C-16 which propelled Jordan Peterson to the forefront. Not only is it compelled speech (it is against the law... hate speech to call a person by one pronoun if they want to be called something else). According to some interpretations I have broken the law just by writing this paragraph. If I am carted away, some of the pronouns that I want to be referred to include "Oh God, Oh God, Oh God ... master of the universe ... best in bed" and another one requires a lot of body language and full frontal nudity.
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A couple of things here that I really like. I really, really like the idea of random selection. I'm not so sure it transfers well to national issues, but at a state level, certainly. I think it would work just fine, so long as selection was truly random.
Hate speech? We have tipped completely over trying to satisfy everyone. The minorities MUST be protected, but in all actuality, so must the majority. I believe this issue will ultimately settle itself, but the interim could be gruesome.
Possibly the problem is that the USA has too few people in control of certain aspects of the economy and legislation. I believe that one way to deal with this is for each municipality to issue its own cryptocurrency. This is an incentive for local businesses and less so for large corporation such as Walmart which tend to siphon equity out of regions. If a currency can only be spent locally it will have a high velocity of money.
As far as minorities, they shouldn't have any rights superior to individuals (the smallest minority). Instead of having affirmative action enabling specific minorities to have precedence in attaining higher education, enough seats should be available to allow everyone to go to school. If poor people cannot afford it, the prices should be subsidized for everyone. For instance it costs around $13,000 CAD ($10,000 USD) for a Canadian student to go to school. This covers everything including housing, food, tuition etc. This is almost attainable for all people. Meanwhile our provincial government has been running a pilot project to introduce universal basic income. It would probably be about $1000 per person. Immediately this puts university education within the grasp of everyone. Even the poorest should be able to earn enough during the summer semester to cover any shortfall.
As I said, satisfying the rights of the individual is a far equitable solution than a specific group.
There is no such thing as "democracy". It's a scam solely designed to divide and conquer a People. Husbands against wives, against children, neighbours, work colleagues, friends, etc.. As long the masses don't see the light and come together to overthrow the "government" (Mafia) of the world they will win and we will lose.... The US and the EU are fast becoming marxist authoritarian dictatorships. That was the plan all along...This is also the reason why the US is so desperate to try to enforce this "democracy" onto other nations to divide and conquer and thus control those nations... It's called a 'rich man's trick'.
Well, historically, there has been such a thing as Democracy. Current definitions suggest that there still is.
Is it manipulated? Yes, of course. Is it under duress, in some cases extreme duress? Also yes.
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The corruption of democracy by money is a worldwide phenomenon. Here is Australia both major political parties represent specific interest groups not the people as a whole. Public funding for elections has been widely touted for many years, but always comes to naught. It's introduction would be welcome so that we start the game on a level playing field. It is a truism that money talks and the louder it talks the more politicians take notice. The people must take back what people with money have stolen from them over the decades, i.e. our right for true democratic representation where elected politicians carry out the will of the people not the will of the wealthy few who have corrupted it.
Sadly, the same is true here in the US. The people must take back the process, but the two parties do a very good job of preventing that in the name of "Our way is THE right way".
If We the People don't take it back relatively soon we will not have Democracy or Capitalism.
We live in an imperfect world. A world in which lopsided characteristics and imbalance flourishes. Regardless of the measure of battle we put in it won't transform into perfect world.....
In any case, maybe this battle to right the wrongs is the one that can prompt individual edification.Regardless of what number of strays we bring back home some individual will at present wind up destitute yet it imperative to recollect that each stray brought home is a win...
Keep it up..
Upvote and resteemit done..
Every win, no matter how small, counts. I truly believe that little teeny minnow sized wins beget larger wins. It is surely a battle worth fighting.
Some companies prefer outsourcing their workforce to avoid the giving benefits that are stipulated in the labor laws and they can maximize their profit through this scheme. And some were doing contractual basis and preventing their employees to be regularized. Sad Reality :(
I agree. Outsourcing and contract workers as a profit line item is a sad commentary.
Capitalism doesn’t require democracy in order to function as an economic system. Indeed, it doesn’t even need a nation state in order to function. Aka Syria where the nation state has failed illustrates that capitalism still operates despite the difficulties it encounters in realising a profit.
However, where capitalism functions within a democracy the actual structure of democracy, and in particular the decision making process, must be aligned with the profit motive. Otherwise, no form of democracy will be introduced and capitalism will stay with the status quo whatever that may be.
Neither capitalism nor democracy are systems that most people understand properly. They represent a point or a section along a continuum that isn't a single line, it is more in the shape of triangle. Consider government. While the US may consider itself a democracy it probably has reached the stage of an oligopoly - ruled by a few people. I am Canadian so do not have a dog in this fire but I would say that the Bernie Sanders experience is representative. He was never going to be allowed to be the "Democratic" party candidate for president. On the other side, I still remember Trump's first announcement where all the people in the audience were actors.
At the other end of the scale the "Communism" of China is an oligarchy as well ... a government run by a few people. At the third point "Theocracy" ... I imagine Iran might be an example where the government is run by a few people as well. Democracy is somewhere in the middle of this triangle where the people actually retain the power ... outside of the hands of a few people.
The same dynamic can be said of business. Who controls the wealth. In the US once again I would no longer say that it is a capitalist system. The lines of communication is owned by about 6 companies, the majority of sales is probably in the hands of 2 or 3 companies. I cannot even say what country is working under a communist system ... although possibly Belarus except its leader controls many of the reins and I think luckily he seems to be a benevolent dictator. As far as theocratic economics, I hope that the last one that we saw was in the dark ages ... where the churches tithed the population ...
So capitalism like democracy in my opinion are just islands and I cannot be positive that they exist in any population greater than about 1 million people.
Capitalism without Democracy rarely provides the 'free market' that is one of the pillars of Capitalism. I actually feel that the two will seek each other out when the conditions are right.
Singapore. One of the wealthiest (per capita) nations on Earth.
(This does not mean that Singapore is undemocratic, but that is what economic freedom without political freedom would look like.)
Democracy refers to a system of political power, free-market capitalism refers to liberty to own and exchange property. They are two different things.
Of course they are two different things. That is how they can possibly be married :)
Please note that I never used the term Free Market Capitalism, I used the much broader Capitalism in every instance.
And one more thing. Thank you for the excellent comments and the willingness to exchange ideas. The very reason I wrote this post.
We have lost sanity as well, especially in crypto world ...
Really interesting .. well done on the article
The worst thing is corruption and moral decay that upset this balance
Great post from you
Thanks for sharing..
I live in a country where the point about enabling all working people to vote is a given, all election days here are made public holidays for that particular year. Although in the States I imagine such a motion would be contrary to the goals of the political elite making its realization all but impossible.
It seems the intent of the political elite in this country is to curtail the vote rather than encourage it. Can it change? Will it change? Possibly the question of a generation.