Capitalism
Capitalism: The Best Option
The current American economic landscape has been less than perfect for several years. The stock market has seen substantial losses, the banking industry has been dealt crippling blows, and the government has financially bailed out many major corporations out of taxpayer monies and the economy as a whole is suffering. From this, protests have begun across the nation. Some protesters, such as the Tea Party movement activists, are upset with government spending and demand it be stopped. Others, including the members of the newer Occupy Wall Street movement, blame the American capitalist system and state that a newer economic framework must be used if America is to continue as the prosperous superpower it once was. The question of the time is this: Is the American capitalist system preferable to alternative economic models?
When the question of capitalism 's sustainability comes up, there are a couple of obvious alternatives that come to mind, and also a couple of lesser known options. The main contenders that should be looked at as alternatives to capitalism are fascism, communism, welfare statism, and fascism. There are other economic models out there, but these are the more realistic contenders as alternatives to the current American system. After a thorough comparison of these models to capitalism, it is certain that the American capitalist system will emerge as the preferable choice.
Before a comparison of capitalism can be made to any other economic model, it is important that capitalism itself is clearly defined. Meyer Weinberg gives a complicated, yet informative definition of capitalism:
The basic characteristics are: (1) private ownership of the means of production, (2) a social class structure of private owners and free wage-earners, which is organized to facilitate expanding accumulation of profit by private owners; and (3) the production of commodities for sale. Conditioning elements are: (a) a certain division of
The current American economic landscape has been less than perfect for several years. The stock market has seen substantial losses, the banking industry has been dealt crippling blows, and the government has financially bailed out many major corporations out of taxpayer monies and the economy as a whole is suffering. From this, protests have begun across the nation. Some protesters, such as the Tea Party movement activists, are upset with government spending and demand it be stopped. Others, including the members of the newer Occupy Wall Street movement, blame the American capitalist system and state that a newer economic framework must be used if America is to continue as the prosperous superpower it once was. The question of the time is this: Is the American capitalist system preferable to alternative economic models?
When the question of capitalism 's sustainability comes up, there are a couple of obvious alternatives that come to mind, and also a couple of lesser known options. The main contenders that should be looked at as alternatives to capitalism are fascism, communism, welfare statism, and fascism. There are other economic models out there, but these are the more realistic contenders as alternatives to the current American system. After a thorough comparison of these models to capitalism, it is certain that the American capitalist system will emerge as the preferable choice.
Before a comparison of capitalism can be made to any other economic model, it is important that capitalism itself is clearly defined. Meyer Weinberg gives a complicated, yet informative definition of capitalism:
The basic characteristics are: (1) private ownership of the means of production, (2) a social class structure of private owners and free wage-earners, which is organized to facilitate expanding accumulation of profit by private owners; and (3) the production of commodities for sale. Conditioning elements are: (a) a certain division of
Cited: Burrows, Paul. "Is There An Alternative to Capitalism?" The New Colonist. The New Colonist, 11 April 2001. Web. 23 Feb 2012. Business Dictionary. "Communism." and "Welfare State." WebFinance, Inc, 2012. Web. 18 Mar 2012. Faiola, Anthony. "The End of American Capitalism?" The Washington Post. Washington Post, 10 October 2008. Web. 22 February 2012. Knapp, Alex. "Socialism vs. Welfare Statism vs. Free-Markets vs. Corporatism." Outside the Beltway. Outside the Beltway, 26 March 2010. Web. 25 February 2012. Richman, Sheldon. "Fascism." The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics, n.d. Web. 25 February 2012. Thompson, Bradley. "Socialism vs. Capitalism: Which is the Moral System?" On Principle, v1n3. Ashbrook, October 1993. Web. 25 Feb 2012. Weinberg, Meyer. A Short History of American Capitalism. New History, 2003. Web. 21 February 2012. Wheeler, Rob. "The Two Faces of American Capitalism." Harvard Business Review. Blogs.hbr.org, 7 October 2011. Web. 24 February 2012.