First off, socialism isn't the perfect system either. We are already seeing the problems with it within the "welfare culture" so to speak. That is, why bother working too hard if you can just fall back on the state? Sure, there are plenty of ambitious, career driven people who would rather drive a BMW than whatever a state check could afford, but, as you have seen from the way our society is working, not everyone is so ambitious.
I, personally, can not stand the thought of 50% of my income going towards people that are not willing to do the work that I am doing right now to get my degree and make more money. I'm not saying that they don't have the right to survive, but there is a difference between survive and thrive. Why shouldn't I thrive on my hard work and intelligence? Why does it being a rare trait make it wrong for me to make as much money as I want and be able to live a nice life, afford my children healthcare and be financially secure?
The system could use much reform, I will argue that. It is not right that people can come into our country and be given all of these government benefits while they have never contributed money to the system. But socialism is not the answer.
I am not saying that this country should not be socialistic at all, no. I think, with the right amount of policy, socialism and capitalism can co-exist. But pure socialism? No. I think it would be a smart idea to impose ethical laws against businesses and enforce them. Regulations, fines, etc.
But ultimately, you are CORRECT. People are not always very intelligent. There are people that still smoke even though it's common knowledge that smoking leads to a slow, painful death and is a burden on us taxpayers. There are people that still eat fast food on a regular basis and do not exercise even though it is common knowledge that this causes obesity, heart problems etc.
We can't save everyone from their stupidity. And I don't believe that complete government control is the answer. If it's not what they eat, it will be another bad habit. If you have no respect for yourself, it will affect your life. We can give people as much "opportunity to succeed" as they want. That doesn't mean they'll walk through the door.
I understand the logic of it all, I really do. Cushion the world for people who can not think clearly for themselves. But when the government has that much power of the people's lives, and the intelligent people are the ones that control other people's lives, we basically have just a glorified human puppet show. In theory, society's intellectuals making the decisions for the rest of society sounds like a great plan.
But one must remember, all humans are flawed, even the intellectuals.
Well written. Ultimately, it always comes down to politics. You, yourself are trapped in this obviously broken system. You view "the government" as something external, rather than what it should be, a truly representative and controlling body of the people, by the people and for the people.
You make an interesting point, that the current system rewards laziness, stupidity and persons who do little or nothing to contribute to society.
Socialism, Capitalism, Communism... all three are great in theory but are only as good as the people that put it into effect and as history has shown, people are flawed no matter how well educated.
"Sharing the wealth" is a stupid idea, in my mind. I have no problem with helping those in need, but when it comes right down to it, my greed is what causes me to wait to have kids, to go to college, to work many hours... because I want to have nicer things and a better economic outlook. Working for a better future gives my life purpose. Take that away from me and what reason do I have to get up in the morning and do a job that I hate that needs to be done anyway?
I could go on, but it's a futile effort. 100% of the people in a country will not be happy. So long as someone has more than another, so long as someone WANTS more, there will be discontent. To change this would be to change human nature itself. I'm not even going to go into that argument.
I agree with you. What we need to do, is get rid of all the -isms, except Capitalism, for the time being. Money is the one thing that almost everyone understands and agrees on. There is nothimg wrong with wanting a better life for yourself and your family. Money is also an inducement and motivational force. You have admitted that you are greedy, however. We all need to know when enough is enough. People with money really need to ask themselves if what they are spending their money on, is necessary and/or damaging the planet. Should we not change our society to a sustainable one, your money will not be worth anything, and everyone's life will be worse, including yours. Once you have enough money, you really need to ask, how can I use the extra money to make the world a better place for all, instead of wasting it on luxury items and lifestyles?
My ideal for a luxury lifestyle would be to have a new Mustang, a nice, non-defective house with space for my children and some gardening, health care, good food, new clothes that fit, financial security and enough spare time to enjoy it all with my husband. Maybe go on vacation once or twice a year, take the kids to see a foreign country, provide them with education and proper care. I don't really see that as a waste of my money. I'm fine with my one bedroom apartment in ghetto-ville and my 17 year old rust bucket, but when I get the money to get that decent house, you bet I'll be getting it. Like I said, I'm greedy.
Let's see. The Mustang, the metals are recyclable so are all right. But how many plastics are used in it's manufacture? How much energy was used to produce it? Where did that energy come from? It runs on petroleum, and most of the petroleum reserves will be used up in only 40 years. What about the road you are going to drive on? More energy to build and maintain. Probably coated in asphault, another petroleum product. Most of our roads need to be re-built every 15 to 40 years. The house, again how many plastics
used in its manufacture? Asphault roof? If it is wood frame, that's all right, unless there's too many people depleting
forest reserves. Heating, air conditioning, electricity, where does all this energy come from? How are you (and your family) going to get to work, school, shopping, doctor, etc.? Walk? Gardening is fine, but many gardeners end up spreading exotic and invasive plant species, simply because they thought they looked pretty and/or are easy to grow. You could put the same time, effort and expense into growing edible foods (fruits, vegetables and herbs) instead, because we do not have any more arable agricultural land left, without destroying the last little bit of more or less intact ecosystems. Plus, modern agriculture is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. New clothes, check the labels to see if they contain plastics (polyester, nylon, rayon, dacron, etc.). I recently read an article that found that every time we do our laundry with these plastic clothes, we release 1900 particles per garment of microplastics into the environment.
Is it normal to believe capitalism cannot work because of the people?
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First off, socialism isn't the perfect system either. We are already seeing the problems with it within the "welfare culture" so to speak. That is, why bother working too hard if you can just fall back on the state? Sure, there are plenty of ambitious, career driven people who would rather drive a BMW than whatever a state check could afford, but, as you have seen from the way our society is working, not everyone is so ambitious.
I, personally, can not stand the thought of 50% of my income going towards people that are not willing to do the work that I am doing right now to get my degree and make more money. I'm not saying that they don't have the right to survive, but there is a difference between survive and thrive. Why shouldn't I thrive on my hard work and intelligence? Why does it being a rare trait make it wrong for me to make as much money as I want and be able to live a nice life, afford my children healthcare and be financially secure?
The system could use much reform, I will argue that. It is not right that people can come into our country and be given all of these government benefits while they have never contributed money to the system. But socialism is not the answer.
I am not saying that this country should not be socialistic at all, no. I think, with the right amount of policy, socialism and capitalism can co-exist. But pure socialism? No. I think it would be a smart idea to impose ethical laws against businesses and enforce them. Regulations, fines, etc.
But ultimately, you are CORRECT. People are not always very intelligent. There are people that still smoke even though it's common knowledge that smoking leads to a slow, painful death and is a burden on us taxpayers. There are people that still eat fast food on a regular basis and do not exercise even though it is common knowledge that this causes obesity, heart problems etc.
We can't save everyone from their stupidity. And I don't believe that complete government control is the answer. If it's not what they eat, it will be another bad habit. If you have no respect for yourself, it will affect your life. We can give people as much "opportunity to succeed" as they want. That doesn't mean they'll walk through the door.
I understand the logic of it all, I really do. Cushion the world for people who can not think clearly for themselves. But when the government has that much power of the people's lives, and the intelligent people are the ones that control other people's lives, we basically have just a glorified human puppet show. In theory, society's intellectuals making the decisions for the rest of society sounds like a great plan.
But one must remember, all humans are flawed, even the intellectuals.
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suckonthis9
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Well written. Ultimately, it always comes down to politics. You, yourself are trapped in this obviously broken system. You view "the government" as something external, rather than what it should be, a truly representative and controlling body of the people, by the people and for the people.
You make an interesting point, that the current system rewards laziness, stupidity and persons who do little or nothing to contribute to society.
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NeuroNeptunian
11 years ago
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Thanks.
Socialism, Capitalism, Communism... all three are great in theory but are only as good as the people that put it into effect and as history has shown, people are flawed no matter how well educated.
"Sharing the wealth" is a stupid idea, in my mind. I have no problem with helping those in need, but when it comes right down to it, my greed is what causes me to wait to have kids, to go to college, to work many hours... because I want to have nicer things and a better economic outlook. Working for a better future gives my life purpose. Take that away from me and what reason do I have to get up in the morning and do a job that I hate that needs to be done anyway?
I could go on, but it's a futile effort. 100% of the people in a country will not be happy. So long as someone has more than another, so long as someone WANTS more, there will be discontent. To change this would be to change human nature itself. I'm not even going to go into that argument.
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suckonthis9
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I agree with you. What we need to do, is get rid of all the -isms, except Capitalism, for the time being. Money is the one thing that almost everyone understands and agrees on. There is nothimg wrong with wanting a better life for yourself and your family. Money is also an inducement and motivational force. You have admitted that you are greedy, however. We all need to know when enough is enough. People with money really need to ask themselves if what they are spending their money on, is necessary and/or damaging the planet. Should we not change our society to a sustainable one, your money will not be worth anything, and everyone's life will be worse, including yours. Once you have enough money, you really need to ask, how can I use the extra money to make the world a better place for all, instead of wasting it on luxury items and lifestyles?
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NeuroNeptunian
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What do you consider to be a luxury lifestyle?
My ideal for a luxury lifestyle would be to have a new Mustang, a nice, non-defective house with space for my children and some gardening, health care, good food, new clothes that fit, financial security and enough spare time to enjoy it all with my husband. Maybe go on vacation once or twice a year, take the kids to see a foreign country, provide them with education and proper care. I don't really see that as a waste of my money. I'm fine with my one bedroom apartment in ghetto-ville and my 17 year old rust bucket, but when I get the money to get that decent house, you bet I'll be getting it. Like I said, I'm greedy.
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suckonthis9
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Let's see. The Mustang, the metals are recyclable so are all right. But how many plastics are used in it's manufacture? How much energy was used to produce it? Where did that energy come from? It runs on petroleum, and most of the petroleum reserves will be used up in only 40 years. What about the road you are going to drive on? More energy to build and maintain. Probably coated in asphault, another petroleum product. Most of our roads need to be re-built every 15 to 40 years. The house, again how many plastics
used in its manufacture? Asphault roof? If it is wood frame, that's all right, unless there's too many people depleting
forest reserves. Heating, air conditioning, electricity, where does all this energy come from? How are you (and your family) going to get to work, school, shopping, doctor, etc.? Walk? Gardening is fine, but many gardeners end up spreading exotic and invasive plant species, simply because they thought they looked pretty and/or are easy to grow. You could put the same time, effort and expense into growing edible foods (fruits, vegetables and herbs) instead, because we do not have any more arable agricultural land left, without destroying the last little bit of more or less intact ecosystems. Plus, modern agriculture is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. New clothes, check the labels to see if they contain plastics (polyester, nylon, rayon, dacron, etc.). I recently read an article that found that every time we do our laundry with these plastic clothes, we release 1900 particles per garment of microplastics into the environment.
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/science-environment-16709045" rel="nofollow">http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/science-en...</a> >
How are you going to get to the foreign country? Fly? Jet fuel is another petroleum product (kerosene). Remember, only 40 years left.
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NeuroNeptunian
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...Maybe I'll just get on welfare and sit here for a while. My car uses quite a bit of gas too.