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Does Capitalism No Longer Work?
By OREN M. LEVIN-WALDMAN, Ph.D.Professor at the Graduate School for Public Affairs and Administration at Metropolitan College of New York, Research Scholar at the Binzagr Institute for Sustainable Prosperity, as well as faculty member in the Milano School for International Affairs,
In this most unusual election the Democratic party appears to be moving leftward with a call for a $15 an hour minimum wage, free college for in state residents in families earning less than $125,000 a year, and a variety of other programs to assist those at the bottom and in the middle of the income distribution. Meanwhile, the Republican nominee is calling for greater protection of American industries to protect American jobs from the ravages of globalization. In essence, both sides are rejecting the fundamental tenets of free markets, which have been at the heart of Americas core philosophy of individualism for more than two centuries.
Of course, free markets since the New Deal in the 1930s have not meant the same thing they did during the era of laissez-faire and robber-baron capitalism of the late Nineteenth Century. But adherence to free markets has surely been the defining characteristic of Republican party politics since its inception in the 1850s. Moreover, the regulations sought by Democrats beginning in the 1930s were always with the intent of preserving the foundations of free markets. What we see in this election year raises an interesting question: Have we reached a point where capitalism no longer works?
Clearly those on the Left do not believe that the economy is working for them. Middle class wages have been stagnant for more than four decades now, and inequality has risen. A strict adherence to free market ideology would mean that government does not intervene when the marketplace fails to provide sufficient opportunity for individuals to support themselves and live independent lives. It also means that it does not provide social supports to those who cannot make it on their own, and it does not regulate working conditions or consumer product safety.
If the result of globalization is that the living standard of workers falls because wages also have to fall in order to compete, then so be it. After all, this is the essence of a free market, which also creates the conditions under which individuals can achieve the ultimate in human agency and individual freedom. But those who challenge this free market ideology are really saying that human agency and individual freedom are unattainable under these conditions.
Read more: http://www.yonkerstribune.com/2016/07/does-capitalism-no-longer-work-by-oren-m-levin-waldman-ph-d
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Does Capitalism No Longer Work? (Original Post)
TexasTowelie
Jul 2016
OP
kristopher
(29,798 posts)1. K&R
Bill USA
(6,436 posts)2. unfortunately, once the media were captured/owned then the programming of the serfs went into
overdrive. With use of disinformation and with media's repetition of GOP memes designed to keep the serfs suspicious of those who could help them and the nation the stage is set for a decline in people's participation in our government. The Plutocracy that the GOP works for will not work in the long run. I still must believe that all is not lost. I still believe we have to keep fighting.
yurbud
(39,405 posts)3. for who?