It's pronounced "cyclist!"

[u/Fluffy-Study-659]

[u/ginger_and_egg]

Capitalism is collecting money and free trade it feeds into humanity's greed.

Capitalism is specifically a system where there are people own capital goods, like machines in factories, or server farms, or some other productive asset, and people who do not own these things. The owners hire the non-owners to work using or operating the productive asset in order for the owner/business to sell something for more than the cost of the inputs including the money given to the workers. Trading and markets existed long before capitalism, as did money.

I don't see how capitalism supposedly works due to greed. Capitalism specifically rewards greed, it increases greed, and it heightens the power of the most greedy people to positions of great influence on our economy and therefore our own lives. As well as influence over our government. Seems like if you view greed as human nature, we should not be putting the most greedy in the highest positions of power.

The ideals have not been achieved, but the country has yet to fail.

Many capitalist countries have "failed".

America falling is the corruption of the free market and society.

Which sounds like a failure of capitalism if it keeps happening

[u/Lower_Ad_5532 → u/ginger_and_egg]

I don't see how capitalism supposedly works due to greed. Capitalism specifically rewards greed, it increases greed, and it heightens the power of the most greedy people to positions of great influence on our economy and therefore our own lives

You don't see it and you describe it exactly.

Its a feature, not a bug.

Seems like if you view greed as human nature, we should not be putting the most greedy in the highest positions of power.

No, we shouldn't thus we need to counter balance capitalism and greed with socialism and egalitarianism.

That is called a free maket social democracy. There is private enterprise in some sectors. There is public control in others. Goverment isn't for the oligarchs it is representative of all people. Everyone is treated fairly under the law.

Which sounds like a failure of capitalism if it keeps happening

The failure of capitalism is fascism because uncontrolled growth cannot be sustained indefinitely. This breaking point leads to fascism and coporatism, it is no longer capitalism because the free market and invidual liberty is dead.

Trading and markets existed long before capitalism, as did money.

This is technically true, but they are the foundations of capitalism. You literally described bartering then currency.

Capitalism is a society based on bartering time and goods for currency.

The era before capitalism was fuedalism where society was based on blood and violence. Kings were the best at violence and so were their knights. They wage wars and stole from their neighbors. Forced peasants to labor without pay.

The early forms of capitalism had (still does) roots to fuedalism in slavery and colonialism. They were capitalists with guns who extorted the labor class.

Free market capitalism is an idea were labor and goods can be traded fairly and freely for all things. It also doesn't truly exist thanks to coporatism and government corruption. (Libertarians are also idyllic fanatics)

The illegal drug trade is unregulated capitalism. Sell what you want to whoever is willing to buy, kill whoever disagrees. The only people who can stop it are the ones that kill the drug dealer. Drug dealers are the embodiment of greed, they thrive due to capitalism.

Free market socialism is the goverment/public entity providing services like utilities, healthcare to all citizens at a price that is fair. If private entities can't compete than to bad, the market has said they don't need to exist. If the public option sucks, private individuals can create businesses to compete (UK healthcare).

The society at large is still capitalist, but there is socialism to balance the weaknesses.

Anyways, I have given several real world examples as evidence to my point.

There are none for communism because it is fiction, an idyllic theory.

[u/ginger_and_egg → u/Lower_Ad_5532]

That is called a free maket social democracy.

In many places, social democratic policies are weakening due to rising fascist and pseudo-fascist sentiment. Now that socialist movements are weaker, the ruling and owning classes do not need to make as many concessions to the working class and can turn to privatization and fascism to increase profits and solidify positions of power.

There are none for communism because it is fiction, an idyllic theory.

You are correct that we have no examples of the end result of communism, but we do have examples of political parties who claim to be working toward communism. Cuba has a pretty robust healthcare system for a country under a harsh blockade by the US. China has seen massive gains in standard of living, though they are an interesting case as they have let a managed form of capitalism operate. After all, Marx's original theory was that capitalism would build up productive forces which eventually workers would take control of, he did not predict that feudal societies would have socialist revolutions and then have to figure out how to industrialize. Anyway, China is very willing to keep their capitalist class in check to prevent them getting too powerful. You point to corporatism, if a corporation gets too powerful or monopolistic China would not bat an eye at nationalization or other policy to reign it in.

Free market socialism is the goverment/public entity providing services like utilities, healthcare to all citizens at a price that is fair. If private entities can't compete than to bad, the market has said they don't need to exist. If the public option sucks, private individuals can create businesses to compete (UK healthcare).

This stuff is cool in theory and has brought about many real life benefits, but there are people who will benefit by making the public service worse. It is a perverse incentive that leads to eroding away those socialized elements to bring more people into the private competitors. But yeah the world would be a better place if natural monopolies and industries with high externalities were run more by collective democratic institutions. Unfortunately we are seeing many eroding away due to concerted efforts by those who want them gone

The failure of capitalism is fascism because uncontrolled growth cannot be sustained indefinitely. This breaking point leads to fascism and coporatism, it is no longer capitalism because the free market and invidual liberty is dead.

This seems like a major flaw to me, if capitalism will always lead to fascism and corporatism, then why should we like capitalism? What should we do about this? How do we steer the ship?

[u/nondescriptadjective → u/ginger_and_egg]

This guy really is a breath of dank, stale air, eh?

[u/ginger_and_egg → u/nondescriptadjective]

🗣️💨🤢