Capitalism and Greed - Is There Any Better Alternative For Increasing the Quality of Life for the Majority of People On Earth?

Historically, capitalism has been a force for evil. The most undiluted form of capitalism occurred in Europe during the Industrial Revolution. The bourgeoisie were unregulated thus the "haves" had everything and "have not's" had little plus a bit of abuse from the "haves." Growing factories and production from England to France caused a huge outbreak of pollution due to the use of coal and other crude resources. Non-skilled laborers replaced skilled laborers as everything became mass-produced and mechanized. These workers had little rights and worked many hours with little pay. Children also worked, and it's not under the more traditional sense of apprenticeship but working in factories with machines that require little skill. If you read some Charles Dickens, his stories provide a lot of context during this time of rapid capitalistic growth.

These evils of capitalism brought about a genius (or two) who is still incredibly relevant and significant in many different disciplines of academia today. That man, of course, is Karl Marx. Marxian theories and economics criticized capitalism for its greedy, inhumane, and class-destructive principles. Capitalism created a large gap between the ones with capital and the ones without. Marx was not the first one to criticize capitalism. Adam Smith, the "father of capitalism," was also skeptical about the economic system he theorized. Under the influence of Marx, many social constructs and institutions formed in the following centuries. Some in the form of unions. Some in the form of government regulation. Some in the form of revolutionaries.

In the United States, capitalism was never directly part of the Founding Father's principles. The New Deal was socialist in many aspects. Federal regulations on interstate commerce can be considered socialist. The U.S. military is a socialist program. Obamacare is socialized medicine. These are just a few U.S. systems that are socialist and have been proven to be very productive and good for American society. I'm unsure how capitalism become so attached to Americans as a "good" ideal but I suspect it is because of the large amount of American exceptionalism propaganda spewed out by the U.S. government during the Cold War in an effort to combat the Communists like the propaganda used to encourage religious ideals against the Communists' atheism. (Perhaps better informed historians can add to this.)

Speaking of the Communists, communism has become a very ambiguous term in a historical sense and especially among Americans. Specifically, it refers to Marx and Engels's thesis in the Communist Manifesto which calls for the proletariat to rise and revolt against the bourgeoisie so class conflict ends and equality begins. In the early 20th century, communism took form as a revolutionary (formerly terrorist) group known as the Bolsheviks (and the Mensheviks, but who cares about them right?). Lenin and his followers went about a similar idea that Marx and Engels espoused but with a bit of a twist. Instead of revolting against bourgeoisie, Lenin revolted against the Russian tsarist autocracy. Communism then became something more than a mere economic theory. In fact, it was not even entirely Marxist. It was Marxist-Leninism. This one-party state grew to be something incredibly dehumanizing and intellectually crippling under Joseph Stalin and much of that was due to authoritarianism rather than economics. If you'd like some context, read 1984.

Of course, there is much more depth to this interesting part of European history. But I think I've written just enough to provide some support for my argument. Capitalism doesn't have the same connotations as communism does in the U.S. and this is often where I find people mistake communism's definition. China, currently, is not communist in practice and is only communist by name (why the CCP keeps their title is yet another interesting tale). During the Maoist regime, it was not even Marxist in many aspects but Maoist. However, it has also been a historical defeat for socialism. One of the main reasons why the Soviet Union collapsed was because of their centralized economy and inability to produce quality goods due to a lack of competition. Gorbachev made efforts to reform this system and ultimately ended the entire government structure, instead. There has yet to be a successful socialist nation as well as a mainly capitalist nation. The U.S., boasting the largest economy in the world, is socialist in many aspects. China, arguably the next largest economy, is very capitalistic at a civilian level. One thing remains true to capitalism: it caused unspeakable misery for the working class. Socialism, on the other hand, has only been defeated in practice and all the dehumanizing connotations that go with it has little to do with Marx and Engels's theory.

/r/NeutralPolitics Thread