The Great Debate - Capitalism vs Socialism

Hosted by Socialist Alternative - www.sa.org.au

With the global financial crisis bulldozing the living standards of millions across the world while the rich are bailed out to the tune of trillions, the claim of Capitalism being the best of all worlds is once again coming under mass scrutiny. The age old question of Capitalism vs Socialism seems more pertinent than ever. Socialist Alternative at Macquarie University recently threw down the gauntlet, challenging supporters of capitalism to a debate on campus.

Follow Socialist Alternative on Facebook - www.facebook.com/socialist.alt
Follow Socialist Alternative in Sydney on Facebook - www.facebook.com/SocialistAlternativeSydney

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• socialist
• alternative
• debate
• capitalism
• socialism
• marxism
• egypt
• tunisia
• financial
• crisis
• profit
• exploitation
• proletariat
• working
• class
• ruling
• australia
• sydney
• macquarie
• uni
• mqu

[kajmobile]

@shelzoth the only people who say govt prolonged the depression r libertarians who have no interest in facts and just want 2 eliminate govt

what u learn in scholarly textbooks is that the central bank prevented the great recession b4 the great depression and was stopped from intervening in the great depression by right wingers which is y it became a great depression.

the lesson learned was that the central bank must intervene which is y there hasnt been a great depression since then

[kajmobile]

@shelzoth i never said u cant own a hamburger. i asked what gives u the right to take personal ownership of the planet and use that to make a profit at the exclusion of everyone else?

that is only a useful construct to the very, very small minority of people getting rich off the ownership. it isnt useful to the people who were murdered in order to acquire the land. and it isnt useful to the vast, vast majority who live in poverty and dont share in those profits

[shelzoth]

@kajmobile I know you're no so daft as to be against ownership. I am pretty sure that you agree that you own your own body, and I am pretty sure you would object to me prying a burger out of your hands as your're about to eat it it. No, i am not being dumb, i am just taking your assertion to its logical conclusions.

Yes, ownership is a social construct, but a useful one.

Actually government intervention prolongs recessions. That's what the implementation of the new deal proves.

[kajmobile]

@shelzoth Capitalism requires ownership of the earth's resources and the only way to gain private, exclusive control of the planet is by theft or murder. nature doesnt sell land. So there's nothing free about capitalism

Without constant government intervention, capitalism would've ended long ago, probably during the great depression, because society would never tolerate the outcome of an unregulated market that constantly fails and has no help for the majority that will struggle in it

[jumpnjza2]

Glory to North Korea!

Fuck Imperialism!

[shelzoth]

@marsglorious You are blaming the problem of increasing government deficits on capitalism. I am countering that point by pointing out that government spending is the antithesis of capitalism because it's outside of the FREE market.

[marsglorious]

@shelzoth I think we are arguing two destinct points. I took your comment as suggesting they are unrelated, which I think they are. Though you seem to be arguing that Government Debt is not intrinsically part of capitalism, which is true.

I

[shelzoth]

@marsglorious Government debt is incurred by the antithesis of capitalism. Any government that coerces debt onto other people isn't capitalism. I don't think you even know what capitalism means.

[marsglorious]

@shelzoth Perhaps you misunderstood me. I was referring to your statement that government debt and capitalism are unrelated. I pointed out that due to political lobbying that comes as a result of large scale capitalism, there is deregulation and taxes are lowered, often leading to financial meltdown and decreased government revenue, such as the GFC. The government is then left to bail those companies out and, with lower revenue, have to incur debt. Thus they can be related.

[shelzoth]

@marsglorious Completely wrong. Government debt is incurred for no other reason than too much government spending. You can't say that corporate welfare is a function of CAPITALISM when it's clearly a function of government (without government ,corporate welfare could not exist).

Your hatred for the rich then goes on for a few lines. I won't waste my time with that ignorant demagoguery.