Awesome presentation on capitalism and socialism

Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer

A 100% capitalistic society is doomed to fail. But so is a 100% socialistic society.

It's all about finding the right balance.

Nobody knows how great a percentage of capitalism a society can have. I'd say there is reason to believe it could be 100% or that it could be close but not quite. Our current society can probably be close to 100%, but there are still some moral issues that aren't a flaw of capitalism but an attribute of human behavior, so capitalism can't be used for them. Healthcare is probably the best example. The reason why free markets do not work for healthcare exclusively is because of emergency care. Humans, as a whole, have decided that we will provide emergency care to those who need it, even if they can't pay. This is the right thing to do because it's moral, but it's also the right thing to do because not doing it would provide all sorts of logistical problems for people who can pay yet may not be able to prove it at the time care is needed.

What this means is that capitalism by itself cannot solve the healthcare issue, so some socialistic form of something is needed (like mandated universal coverage). However, this is a unique scenario. Most things in society do not behave like healthcare, and one day healthcare itself will not behave like it currently does (when technology drops costs by several magnitudes more).

Socialism as a foundation has been proven false. Capitalism as a foundation has been proven true

05-05-2014 11:20 AM #1
Jack Sawyer View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries Join Date Jan 2007 Posts 7,668 Location Jack-high straight flush motherfucker	A 100% capitalistic society is doomed to fail. But so is a 100% socialistic society. It's all about finding the right balance.
	My dream... is to fly... over the rainbow... so high... Cogito ergo sum VHS is like a book? and a book is like a stack of kindles. Hey, I'm in a movie! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYdwe3ArFWA
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05-05-2014 04:39 PM #2
wufwugy View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries Join Date May 2006 Posts 26,076	Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer A 100% capitalistic society is doomed to fail. But so is a 100% socialistic society. It's all about finding the right balance. Nobody knows how great a percentage of capitalism a society can have. I'd say there is reason to believe it could be 100% or that it could be close but not quite. Our current society can probably be close to 100%, but there are still some moral issues that aren't a flaw of capitalism but an attribute of human behavior, so capitalism can't be used for them. Healthcare is probably the best example. The reason why free markets do not work for healthcare exclusively is because of emergency care. Humans, as a whole, have decided that we will provide emergency care to those who need it, even if they can't pay. This is the right thing to do because it's moral, but it's also the right thing to do because not doing it would provide all sorts of logistical problems for people who can pay yet may not be able to prove it at the time care is needed. What this means is that capitalism by itself cannot solve the healthcare issue, so some socialistic form of something is needed (like mandated universal coverage). However, this is a unique scenario. Most things in society do not behave like healthcare, and one day healthcare itself will not behave like it currently does (when technology drops costs by several magnitudes more). Socialism as a foundation has been proven false. Capitalism as a foundation has been proven true

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Awesome presentation on capitalism and socialism

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