What do you guys think about capitalism and its implications (positive and negative) on society at large? I personally view capitalism as the root of inequality, a system designed to make the rich richer and enslave the lower and middle class people. Most of us at sajha live abroad in the most powerful capitalist societies. I am interested in hearing from those people who are determined to succeed in this system but hold the higher ambition to use their resources and knowledge to contribute to the upliftment of the Nepalese lower class. I am not simply talking about investing in Nepal; I read a lot of threads in sajha about possible lucrative business ventures in Nepal. I'm talking about TRULY contributing to the upliftment of our society from the grassroot level, about doing OUR BIT irrespective of the rampant corruption and sick political climate, and about real non-profit ventures that can make a difference.

Any comments or ideas are welcome.

Capitalism is good, Crony-Capitalism is bad!! I feel you are refering to Crony Capitalism not Just Capitalism right??

Capitalism with certain rules is the best. I mean capitalism has worked in america hasn't it

Compare USA with Nepal or any other socialist, communist country and try to find out why the USA is so far ahead of them. You think they were lucky? God gave them more or better? Since the early day of Puritans, these immigrants worked hard and within few hundred years they made the modern USA. Capitalism assures you opportunity (but not equal opportunity) with the realism of safety and security, and it's there for somebody to grab it, some make it some do not. It's the law of the nature. If everybody was to achieve A+ in your class, what is the fun? Some are rich, some poor. As long there is an opportunity, it's up to you.
Yet no system is perfect, including capitalism. Plenty of flaws.
Take a look at the recent news, those Arabs who dogged Western Capitalism all throughout their history are finally accepting the reality and marching all across the continent for better equality, freedom and prosperity. They will not achieve any of that if they end up with communism,socialism and extremism.

 Socialism is Ideal and Capitalism is reality.... But the main point in them is.. Capitalism always increases the gap between rich and poor in every circumstances.. But socialism never let u have wing n fly even if u are capable of doing that..
What I think best is Socio-Capitalism.. Where there is always space for every kind of people irrespective of their socio-economic condition. If u have capacity U fly and if U are crawling U will be lifted up to walk even run or fly.

I meant capitalism in general fellows! Onlyassignments bro, for which sector of american society has capitalism been beneficial? the upper class?? I do not claim my perspective to be the absolute truth....all opinions are welcome....lets focus our discussion particularly on the ways to bring positive changes in Nepal....do u have any creative ideas for changing our society through our individual efforts?? should we keep on waiting for the government to bring about positive changes in our society?? how should we go about being more self-sufficient as a nation and reduce the ridiculous dependence  on India??

Capitalism, focuses on the person as an individual. Rather than working for the good of society at large, individuals in capitalistic economies work for themselves, and often for their families as well but failed to engage the whole society,Like any ideology failed in past capitalism is failing as well.since it put so much emphasis on own benefits, corporate benefits and growth,GDP.Capitalism is failing so miserably to meet the needs of the vast majority of the world's population. Under capitalism, a small minority of people are in control of the money and resources of the planet that' will eventually lead into civil unrest, protest and problems. 

so capitalism need reforms othere wise it could fail miserably.

 

I think neither capitalism or Communism exists in its purity. It is not possible to have a 100% capitalistic society the same way it is not possible to have a 100% socialistic society.

Even if we consider USA as the most capitalistic country in the world, we see socialistic flavors in Medicare, Social Security, food stamps, Unemployment benefits, public transportations and Free Public Education, Most argue that the prosperity that we see in US today is the fruit of capitalism but the root of this success is the free public education for every WHITE MAN some 200 years ago. It gave base for huge resources for technological advances it had in last 200 years compared to the rest of the world. That technological success led to the millitary might resulting into being able to dictate the currency exchange rate, labor rate, unfair international laws, massive movement of labor forces, and political might. The point is, its not all capitalism that made US prosper. The head start on free public education made them a millitary giant and the millitary power is letting them get the best out of their capitalism.

The problem with Capitalism is that the ones with more resources work on increasing their resources more and more....and the one with more always gets more...and the one with less gets lesser back. Ultimately this leads to a situation where majority of the resources are with very few individual's hand and the concept of FREE MARKET no longer exists. The FREE MARKET becomes the RICH MAN's MARKET.

The good thing about capitalism is that it is supposed to create prosperity for those who want to work hard and get more. It creates wealth, creativity, and gives person the satisfaction of the ownership and achievement. Capitalism promots rewards for hard work and success and is brutal for failures.

The problem with Socialism is that when there is a social safety net intact people tend to depend more on the safety net and lose their creativity. It might encourage lazyness. It also goes against the basic anmalistic instic of human nature. Its in our nature to want more and take more than anyone else. Similar to capitalism where the riches ultimately get hold of all the resources and become the economic dictators of the country, in socialism the ruling class eventually become a dictator as well.

Me, personally i prefer a mixed economic princple, the principle where you take the good points of each "ism" and fixes the flaws of each system. I like the political systems in Scandnavian countries, Singapore and Canada. In these countries there is a free market as well as strong social saftey nets.

Bravo sidster, socialism is dream come true for lazy whereas capitalism for hardworkers. Incentive to do better drives capitalistic society, financial markets in america has worked on capitalism there are always blips like recession but there are reforms which tries to correct the flaws.
Maybe its out of the line but whatever maoist are trying to sell to poor nepalese is not socialism its khaoism, selling dreams.

CrazyNep: I completely agree with you bro !

Lahure Kancha: Interesting video !

Sidster: Interesting thoughts bro !

  There are always 2 sides to a coin. For those of you who think US has fared so well under Capitalism, don't forget $50-Trillion debt US is currently buried under.  

For me, capitalism will eventually lead to demise of any society. Anything that has no checks and bounds  grows too much and explodes one day and capitalism is on the same track 


When I think of capitalism two things should stand out
1. Competition (that should ultimately reduce prices)
2. Trasparency (you should be able to find out excatly how much something is going to cost you)

But here in the US and almost any where else, both competition and transparency are slowly disappearing. 

Where is the competition? Why does Gasoline cost the same (may be a few cents up and down) in all gas stations within a city? Why are things so ridiculously expensive no matter which store you buy them in (Inflation cannot be the answer to everything). Why is healthcare so expensive here in the US (while in India and Nepal, it is dirt cheap). The answer is that the prices are set around the same mark by all the corporations and they decide to collectively keep it high. If some company wants to sell something for cheap, the big coporations just acquire these small companies and the prices never go down.

Where is the transparency? If you break your arm and call a hospital to inquire about how much it will cost you, they most probably wont tell you how much it will cost you. They don't have fixed prirce or even a ballpark figure for anything.  Heck if your insurance covers $1000 of the procedure, and the actual cost for the doctors to fix you up is only $700, the doctors will tell you not to worry about the cost since your insurance will cover all of it and they will charge the insurance company the whole $1000 for a $750 procedure. 

Like most of you have said Capitalism widens the gap between rich and poor. I agree with that. But then Socialism also does the same. Dictators have unlimited access to wealth and poor people are still poor. Capitalism makes it easy for anyone to do so.

So basically what I've seen is selfish people will use whatever system, be it Capitalism or Socialism, for their advantage. Money is everything now a days and people will go to any limits to earn it. No one gives a crap about society and the future of mankind. 

  "Social safety net intact people tend to depend more on the safety net and lose their creativity". It might encourage laziness". It also goes against the basic animalistic instinct of human nature" Sidster.

How do you analyze the wealth inheritance in Nepali culture and its impact on new generation? 

Bairagi,

I could not quite get your question, or its too broad to answer. Can you pinpoint the issue you want to analyse. Wealth inheritance happens everywhere in the world.