- Capitalism and Alternatives -
a capitalist society is the fact that the people, not the government, make the choices
Posted by: Bruce Williams on September 11, 1997 at 11:50:29:
In Reply to: History...we're condemned to repeat it posted by Ted on September 10, 1997 at 12:21:32:
:There is a price to be paid for everything. Technological advances
:are not without consequences. Both tangible and intangible products :change our lives in unforseen ways. The automobile solves one problem (transportation) but creates others (pollution, crowding, injuries and death).
For the most part I agree with what you said. But I believe that you have overstated the problems associated with cars. Overcrowding was present long before cars. The plagues of Europe were caused by a combination of overcrowding and unsanitary practices. Obviously overcrowding was present long before the automobile was present. And lets face it, overcrowding is really caused by to many people for the land to support.
As far as injuries and death go, they were also present long before the car was here. "In the days of old when nights were bold" they rode horses. I don't know about your experiences in life, but I have had relatives and friends killed both in car crashes and from accidents with horses. If I remember right, it is much more hazardous to ride horses than drive cars. (May have something to do with lack of experience on the part of the horse/car drivers also). P.S. Have you ever heard of anyone being hurt by falling off of a horse (hint - Christopher Reeves (sp).)
I think that technology needs looking at, but in a realistic light. When you start over exaggerating your case people begin to doubt what you say. Be realistic.:Fractional reserve banking allows banks to lend money
:to individuals and businesses who need it, but it also makes those
:institutions inherently unstable and potentially disastrous for their
:depositors.
Just because there is a possibility of disaster hardly rules something out. If that were the case then we would have to rule all life out. Life itself results in a disastrous end at death.
Again, like the people who made horse drawn carriages. When the automobile came along the disastrous result to them was the loss of their livelihood, so should we freeze all technology were it is so we won't harm any more companies/employees? If so then you can forget advancing the car so it is safer and causes less or no pollution. :Taken as a whole, state capitalism is a zero-sum game and
:has no claim to inherent superiority over other systems.
State capitalism? I would need more information on how you define state capitalism before I could respond to this. :But without the car, there would be no need for the repair. As I said,
:capitalism solves one problem by creating another. Whether you spend time doing the repair yourself or earning money to pay someone :else, it is still time taken away from you. By introducing complexity into
:our lives, capitalism keeps us in the same place we've always been:
:locked into a cycle of work-and-pay.
What part of capitalism requires you to buy the car?
Lets go with the old excuse "I need a car to get to work"; and work it from the angle of the suburbanite getting from the suburb into the city.
The suburbanite has a couple of possibilities. He/She could move into the city closer to work and walk or ride a bicycle to work, or use the mass transit system that cities have, or work to get his/her employer to move all/part of the business closer to home. Each has its advantages and disadvantages depending on what that person wants. If the majority of people in the U.S. did this then the auto manufacturers would have fewer people to sell to (we could rent cars for vacations/outings - another business) and there would be less pollution (we THINK).
This general idea can be played out against MOST of the problems we have. The thing about a capitalist society is the fact that the people, not the government, make the choices. With a freedom to chose and provide viable alternatives the people themselves can and will eventually find the answer that is right for THEM. No other method allows so many people to supply viable alternatives or even useless items for everybody else.
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