Michael Parenti - Apocalypse Of Capitalism - Democracy NOW!

[SunnySide247]

Capitalism is natural in that all living things (humans) want to be able to provide for themselves and have access to basic necessities. In today's world the more you make, the better your chances of providing for yourself and bettering your situation. As far as I can tell all systems on earth have capitalist elements in their infrastructure.

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What isn't natural and what is the problem is a PREDATORY unchecked/unrestricted form of capitalism and all the retards or rats that defend THAT system

[jstreet2]

Words like capitalism and socialism can't describe complex economic behavior.

Corporations have socialist aspects, especially when they are monopolies or near monopolies such as Google or Microsoft.

Even oligopolies, where several corporations divide the markets relatively equally, have socialist aspects.

In several countries, the government has taken over and run a few of these companies and not very much changed except they couldn't compete well in a Social Darwinist world.

[sdfkjllshadflhadfshl]

There is no other system of government that can compete against capitalism when it comes to raising the standard of living for the ordinary person. Nothing even comes close.

[ThisBoyTV]

@sdfkjllshadflhadfshl

And there is no other system that hands over trillions of dollars to a few wealthy bankers from the "ordinary" person. Capitalism is a myth.

[sdfkjllshadflhadfshl]

@ThisBoyTV Which country would you point to as having provided a higher standard of living under a socialist structure?

[ThisBoyTV]

@sdfkjllshadflhadfshl

Let's start with Sweden and they never had to run around the world killing everyone to prove it.

[sdfkjllshadflhadfshl]

@ThisBoyTV Sweden is a constitutional monarchy with a democratically elected parliament. Just because they have health care doesn't mean they have socialism, heck Sweden even uses school vouchers to allow competition and improve results in education. Its easier to compare East and West Germany or North and South Korea to demonstrate the stark difference between state run economies and free ones.

[ngonea]

@ThisBoyTV -Bravo!

[TheGodlessGuitarist]

@ThisBoyTV Sweden is not a socialist country, it is merely a peaceful left liberal nation. The working class does not have control over production.

[ngonea]

@sdfkjllshadflhadfshl higher standard of living may not be the right term to use, how about quality of life? Things, too much stuff is what capitalism has delivered, and now it's too much cheap stuff, for the most part. How about families being able to spend time with each other, vs chasing after money for things? When living in what most define as a third world country, I discovered what it feels like to truly be peaceful, to have time to think, to eat unprocessed foods, to have fresh air.

[ThisBoyTV]

@ngonea

"Quality of life" says it all :)

[Tougemaster06]

@sdfkjllshadflhadfshl Sweden...Finland....Post 1940s Britain to name a few lol...

[aoiwarai]

@sdfkjllshadflhadfshl I would point to the US as a paragon of a particular kind of oligarchical socialism called "state capitalism". Pure capitalism, just like pure communism, is a vision of Utopia that has never technically been achieved in human history. Each country we called "communist" in the cold war referred to themselves as "socialist", Even the CCP is "socialism with Chinese characteristics". We consider it impolite to call ourselves socialist, but we have been since the New Deal right?

[aoiwarai]

@aoiwarai I should correct myself to say "state capitalism" and "state socialism". My point being, of course, the state is the mediator in either case, with changing degrees of capitalism or socialism over time, depending on needs, and DESPITE what any given government claims as its utopian ideal in its propaganda.

[vannajs]

@sdfkjllshadflhadfshl Yugoslavia it was a socialist country and it had a very good standard of living,in some points even better than many western country's at the time.Not to mention Sweden which has one of the the best standard of living in the world.

[BlackHawkEU]

@sdfkjllshadflhadfshl Higher than what? Higher than what it was previously in that country, or higher than a rich country?

Just because most socialist countries started in misery, is no excuse to just ignore progress they did. Sweden of today can be seen as a socialist structure and I would rather go in Sweden than in USA. I would choose real democracy any day.

[TheGodlessGuitarist]

@sdfkjllshadflhadfshl perhaps you could point out a country where socialism has ever been allowed to operate by the ruling class, bearing in mind this : watch?v=yQsceZ9skQI

[TheGodlessGuitarist]

@ThisBoyTV capitalism is fascism to it's core. It is a system that rewards the most narcissistic and ruthless, elevating them higher and higher within it's hierachy, which is held in place the contemporary ruling class. Hierachical systems are by their very definition tyranical and authoritarian elite serving systems.

So long as people continue to use money they will continue to empower them most virulent cesspool of humanity; the ruling class.

[TheGodlessGuitarist]

@TheGodlessGuitarist In fact, capitalism is without doubt the most efficient system of eugenics ever devised.

[xexixk]

@sdfkjllshadflhadfshl That's very funny because here in the US the top 1% is getting richer by the day and the middle class is being squeezed to the point that it will vanish if this lunacy is not stopped. Unregulated, unrestrained capitialism that continues to give more to those who already have the most and takes from those who have the least does not rising standards of living. Go study what conditions were like during the glided age or before the labor movement. That's where we are heading.

[sdfkjllshadflhadfshl]

@xexixk But we don't have capitalism in America, its been gone for half a century or more. What we have is Corporatism, which is very close to Facism, where the political class is bought and paid for by corporations. They pass laws that make it next to impossible for small to mid-sized companies to grow and compete with the monopolies who control the political class. Bigger government would only solidify this relationship as can be demonstrated by GM or AIG. Big gov IS the problem.

[xexixk]

@sdfkjllshadflhadfshl Yes, you do indeed make some very good points, what we have is not good, nor would pure unregulated capitialism be good either that gave us the gilded age. Theodore Roosevelt made some very good points about the dangers of allowing corporate money in politics. I would reccomend reading some of his writings dealing with those issues, some very good stuff. This is why I've always believed the anti trust laws should never have been allowed to go unenforced.

[xexixk]

The problem is the system of legalized bribary (also called campaign contributions) particularly since the supreme court gave personhood to corporations by ruling that limiting the amounts they could "donate" was a violations of their rights to free speech. Politicians are always going to do the bidding of whoever is bankrolling them. Until that system is abolished nothing will change.

[zOmAlGaNg23]

@sdfkjllshadflhadfshl The only system of government is ISLAM and they is why capitalism is alleging islam as terrorists, radicals and extremists. the world is really amazing, they call the freedom fighters as terrorists, then they invade there countries. but we are not still awakened all sorry my world!

[posimosh]

@zOmAlGaNg23 Wow.... Religious fanaticism Is bad for the people as all large and powerful religions (and for that matter States) is a way of controlling people.nothing more. If you like that, good for you! But to say its the ONLY way, please..

These followers will have their faith exploited by the leaders. The problem is that leaders become insulated,unchallenged, & empowered by followers. In almost every case, no matter the leaders' motives, followers become a means to an end, that end is power

[TheGodlessGuitarist]

@sdfkjllshadflhadfshl how is capitalism raising the standard of living for ordinary americans? Year on year they just become smaller and smaller cogs in a vile machine of planetary destruction, getting paid less and less whilst working harder and longer, meanwhile the rich are getting richer and more powerful and leading humanity over the cliff.

[reyter2007]

That is of course within the confines of capitalist economy and class society.

[reyter2007]

What's the mystery? Anyone who has read Das Kapital knows why workers must work harder, longer and for less money as productivity advances.

[ThisBoyTV]

A link is provided for you to a brilliant speech by Michael Parenti in the description and embedded in the video. He gives us the reason why so little has changed in almost 2500 years. It is the video named The Assassination of Julius Caesar.