How will capitalism evolve within the next 50 years? Will there be a further cl

1. 85

   gmwilliamsposted 9 years ago

   How will capitalism evolve within the next 50 years?  Will there be a further class divide than it
   
   is now?  Will the middle class as we know it disappear, with a small upper class and a majority lower class?
   
   

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2. 60

   cjhunsingerposted 9 years ago

   Capitalism, free enterprise and individual freedom are, essentially, one in the same. One cannot survive without the other and if current events are any indication, all are gone and, too, the "Great Experiment."
   America has died and socialism lives. Perhaps, a bit melodramatic, but considering our current economic standing of an $18 trillion debt and around $120 trillion in unfunded liabilities, a third of the American people on welfare, a 10% real unemployment rate, does provide room for speculation. We have a President that would make Benedict Arnold proud, a divided and splintered nation, a failed educational system, a lost industrial and manufacturing complex, a demoralized and betrayed military, a Dept. of Homeland Security that behaves more like the Gestapo, a DOJ that endears a racist agenda, accuses business of vast corruption, milks their treasuries and arrests no one, because they could never make a case.
   But, I digress and. perhaps, the enemy is not within and the freedom to achieve is much overrated.
   In 2012 in a conversation with a friendly adversary I broached the idea that Obama looks, as if he considers himself a king and what if he does not want to leave the throne? Recently, Dr. Ben Carson, spoke of this possibility in saying that,  it was a possibility that the 2016 elections could be suspended due to catastrophic internal turmoil or a world war. That this country is where it is, because of this President; speculation is open.

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3. 91

   goatfuryposted 9 years ago

   It isn't going away, that's for sure.  I'd highly suggest Jaron Lanier's "Who Owns the Future" as a summer read.  Very, very enlightening.

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4. 71

   Old-Empresarioposted 9 years ago

   It depends on the country (and additionally the state, if in the US) in which you live. In general, the United States is already not the best nation to be in if you are middle class or poor. The US is the place to live if you are already wealthy or if you want to get rich. This is partly due to its mostly-libertarian structure, though some states are more libertarian than others. In the US, the greatest problem is not capitalism or the government. It's the people themselves. Americans are not cut out for democracy. The founders knew this and it's why they didn't want it. Americans are too racist, too superstitious, too ignorant and too cowardly to trust anyone. It would not matter if the US were a pure libertarian capitalist society or a pure communist society. The system would be rigged, manipulated and most people would be tricked or cheated somehow. This is the uniqueness of the US. Americans generally hate each other and distrust each other. They always have. Ours was the last first-world country to abolish African slavery and it took the deaths of 2% of the population in a civil war just to accomplish this altruistic act. Face it. We are self-interested and we never do the right thing without a lot of arm-twisting.
   
   In spite of what some say, our federal government does not do that much for the poor. Some state governments do though. But we are overtaxed by the federal government. We pay as much in taxes as the more-socialist nations of Europe. The difference is their money goes to national healthcare and social security. Our money goes to defense and social security. We are surrounded by oceans and our population is armed to the teeth and yet we are so worried that the Martians in shmaghs or sombreros will invade us that we are devoting more than 3/4 of non-Social Security federal income to national security--which offers no return on investment.
   
   50 years from now? Capitalism will be here. I think little will change in the US. As much as people want to cut SS and turn that into federal income, it can't be done without a lot of legislation. Then Americans would go nuts if they saw income tax double and they don't have their SS. The age to claim will probably be raised. We'll have to cut military somewhere--probably in overseas bases since we have 700 of them. We're stuck in the Mid-East until we stop financing Israel, which we won't. The poor here are multiplying like rabbits. This Mid-East conflict will decide a lot of things for the US future.

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5. 68

   Scott Wolfposted 9 years ago

   Capitalism-what was left of it by then-died in 2008 when Lehman was bailed out. The entire world is now a fascist state, with the merger of corporate and state power now driving everything-currencies, jobs, interest rates, trade, dissemination of news, weather, and scientific advancement. A return to the free market will never happen.
   
   In truth, the repeal of Glass-Steagall in 1999 accelerated the U.S. empire's demise by allowing the big banks to unleash their derivatives monster on the entire world's wealth. These derivatives now total $1.5 quadrillion dollars,mostly interest rate swaps! This is in a world of $75T yearly GDP. Derivatives 20x the value of global GDP? Yeah, we have a stable capitalist system? NOT.
   
   So lets review: Because of deregulation, a bank can become “too big to fail”, eliminate competition as needed, create leverage against the notional value of the actual capital/assets it possesses by 30, 40, 50 times or more, punish savers, kill jobs, conjure up any price for any investment or derivative it has on its books regardless of market conditions, engage in accounting fraud, and expect bailouts at the first sign of sickness. THIS IS NOT CAPITALISM! 
   
   0% interest rates for 6 yrs, bond fraud, bailouts, and financial repression will one day make everything we believe to be money worthless. Attempting to remove risk from business cycles is impossible, like chasing the end of a rainbow hoping to find the Leprechaun's gold.
   
   What the world really needs to do is shun US Treasurys and starve the US Military Industrial Complex beast of its sustenance to wage its petrodollar war.Then and only then can we kill off parasitic entities  like Goldman Sachs,JPM,Barclay's,and HSBC.Unfortunately, when one looks at our unsecured border, financialized economy, corrupted govt, broken bond of common language, low wage service sector jobs, crumbling infrastructure, bankrupt counties, bankrupt cities,bankrupt pension system,and Military/CIA NARCO police state, well, America is already a third world country. Anesthesized, vapid, narcissistic, uninformed Americans just don't know it yet.
   
   We(the WORLD) are left with 2 choices now:
   
   1) A new currency system not based on the USD or a single nation's currency.Once the US privilege of forcing the world to trade in dollars is abrogated, it's game over for the United States.
   
   2) WWIII
   
   Either one will be catastrophic for Americans,and that day of reckoning is approaching faster than they could possibly comprehend.

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6. 72

   lone77starposted 9 years ago

   That seems to be the intent of the psychopathic "elite." Their corporations are creating more and more movies showing this "ideal." Acclimation for the masses?
   
   But that's all based on selfishness and physical commensurability.
   
   The wildcard in the mix is spiritual superiority, but it takes perfect, loving altruism to achieve this state. Even a small number of spiritual adepts can beat a planet full of meat bodies.
   
   This psychopathic plan will not work, though. Because it is based on selfishness (Ego), it will fall effect of its built-in unsustainability. And they like to use sustainability as an issue. It sounds so Earth-friendly. What it really means is Elite subduing Serfs.
   
   One doctor was told by one of her patients (a female national leader) that the great culling was about to begin. This was several years ago. The leader commented that all the "useless eaters" (the ones using up "our" resources) will be eliminated. Could the Georgia Guidestones be an indication of their plans?
   
   The Orwellian massaging of the masses has been going on for years. Take the term "conspiracy theory," for instance. A great deal of emotion has now been attached to this idea, but illogically. Conspiracies happen every day! Nearly every exam I give my college students I find a cheater or two. When it's two or more working together, it's a conspiracy. Nothing wild or crazy about that. Theories? Scientists use them all the time. Perhaps the only ones who want "conspiracy theorists" marginalized are those who have committed the conspiracies. And if they are the psychopathic elite who own news media and the military industrial complex, you get only the news they find favorable to their bottom line. Anyone who questions their "truth" is marginalized as a kook.
   
   But there are many layers of truth.

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