- Димитър Христев
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Is humanitarianism really helping out the poor people?
The word humanitarianism in my country brings the thoughts of "let's be humane and donate 1 euro for the poor people from Africa,or for that dying from cancer boy etc. Half of that money probably will be spend or stolen by someone but giving that 1 euro is going to make me feel better until the next campaign ". Are we really changing lives by giving that 1 euro?Isn't better to help one feed himself instead of feeding him with charity?
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Димитър Христев
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Димитър Христев
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Димитър Христев
Conor O'Higgins 20+
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Димитър Христев
But the meat was real meat, the milk was real milk the bread we ate was real bread. I remember we still had those things in the early days of the capitalism in Bulgaria. and I remember the 90's when the demokracy gave us Mcdonalds and KFC but the inflation was so high that 1 dollar was equal to 3000 bulgarian levs so we couldn't afford to buy "The Big Mac".
Тhere was no bread because there was no grain left, and there was no meat because all the communist farms were sold for few dollars to few "special people" and they slaughter 90% of all the farm animals for " export" and all the farm land was given back to ordinary people who had no interest or idea how to farm land.
So now 21 years after the capitalism "works" in Bulgaria we have banks and credists, most of the savings of the people are gone. 80% of the people used to own there homes but now is almost imposible to buy a flat. Most of the people live with 150-200$ a month same amount of money my parents use to live with 25 years ago but now we dont eat real food,we don't drink good water and we are slaves to the banks( I am not but I have good job). So what gave us the capitalism, it gave everything to few and few to everyone.
Both systems have their flaws I am sure you don't live the American dream anymore in America:) and the communism is dead. It's time for something new to start and change the world.
PS : I can not call the Wall Str a free market, can you?
Krisztián Pintér 200+
if it was a valid argument, i could just point to a failed state with a leader older than 40, and claim that people older than 40 ruin their countries.
Vijay Bhatt
The only way to solve poverty is through "thoughts" and through self-study because it is the right intention that leads us out of poverty.
Krisztián Pintér 200+
Estela Estela 10+
Most poor in capitalists countries (the US, for example) have at the their fingertips what most lower-middle class people in that same system don't have which is:
Practically free Housing (could be as low as $100 per month or less)
If there is no housing (because when real estate is at a premium--low cost housing is not as common) there are still free shelters that people can stay at while they wait for housing slots to open up.
Free food (not just with food stamps but there are TONS of food banks (at least in CA anyway)
Free medical care--many poor people get free Medi-cal for their kids through special programs, and free Medi-Cal for adults who have disabilities and little or not income.
Low cost utility programs.
So, these people may not be successful by most 'capitalistic' standards but they have, arguably, more options than the poor in non-capitalists countries. I guess things are kind of like this:
In Capitalism: Those who can, or have an advantage (ie born to already rich families) do alright and those who can't, or don't have as many opportunities can still get help (as elucidated above).
In Non-capitalists: Either no one gets ahead (except leaders) or most people don't get ahead but a handful elite get ahead.
Yeah, we still have elite in capitalism and it has flaws, what system doesn't? I guess capitalism works for now--when we are out of resources who knows but for now in this type of system population growth is expected to stabilize, we have clean drinking water and basic services etc. Check mate for capitalism for now.
Mr Kebabsoup
Yeah...except that this was done at the expense of pretty much the whole rest of the world.... Ever wondered where your iPhone 4 ended up when you throw it away? Ever wondered where all the green biofuel was cultivated? Capitalism only works because those who suffer because of you are far from your eyes and far from your heart.
Krisztián Pintér 200+
capitalism in the west grew locally. and even today, it is the engine of growth.
Mr Kebabsoup
Locally... like with quasi-free raw material from Africa, cheap manpower from Asia. That kind of local growth? If the west grew locally, we would still be in middle age. We were able to grow so fast only because we fed capitalism with the blood of the less fortunate.
And growth of what? Growth of our over-fat bellies? We grew enough. It's time for a diet. Let's at least save the crumbs for those who haven't eaten yet.
Krisztián Pintér 200+
Orlando Hawkins 20+
Krisztián Pintér 200+
capitalism is cooperation. for more on this, watch the talk by matt ridley. nobody on this planet knows how to make a pencil. but together, through capitalism, people work together, and you can pick a pencil in a supermarket at any time. that is a global cooperation of scale impossible to comprehend.
Orlando Hawkins 20+
Secondly you do not need capitalism to make pencil's. As a matter of fact (I'm speaking about the U.S. since that is where I live) machines are the one's making pencils, not individuals coming together creating them for themselves. There are so many cities in the united states that suffers because not enough money in being generated within the city and because the local governmental officials has done nothing but serve their own selfish interest.
But let me ask you this. If Capitalism is such a great system, then why is their a global economic crisis? Why are third world countries being exploited by these industrial, capitalistic countries for their resources and business expansions? Capitalism is a joke.
Mr Kebabsoup
Of course, again you look inside the capitalist country. Don't you understand that the poverty that capitalism creates is outside? In all the other countries?
"you can pick a pencil in a supermarket at any time. that is a global cooperation of scale impossible to comprehend."
Global cooperation? The wood for your pencil probably comes from a devastated ex-forest where the fauna and flora are disappearing. And the children working there probably won't ever have the chance to go to school. It's not cooperation. the rules are just written and enforced by those who have the cash. End of the line.
We, and our previous generations, under the banner of capitalism, have developed in the most selfish and irresponsible way. Capitalism is a crime against humanity. And now it's probably our children who are going to pay the price.
Krisztián Pintér 200+
machines are also created by capitalism. and what machines makes, have to be decided. capitalism is needed for that too. nobody on the earth knows how to make a pencil, let alone the machines that are used to make it. and the cooperation between literally thousands if not millions of people who make the pencil is organized by the price system, free trade and decision making entrepreneurs. that is, capitalism.
the global economic crises is caused by government regulations that aimed to solve "problems" caused by the free market. for example a some-decades old effort of the US government to grant big houses to everyone in the country, no matter if they can afford it or not. here is another clip you badly need to watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj8rMwdQf6k
it is a little long. peter schiff, broker, talks to mortgage bankers at a conference in 2006. forecasting the meltdown, and explaining its reasons.
Mr Kebabsoup
What you describe here is the theoretical capitalist utopia. It's all full of rainbows and unicorns, in fact it's just as pink and happy as the communist utopia.
What we see in reality are electronic waste landfills in Nigeria, mercury poisoned children working in gold quarries, or exploited manpower to cultivate our daily coffee.
The only goal in capitalism is profit. It can involve cooperation, but only if it means more profit. It is definitely not based on cooperation, because in capitalism, if you are given the opportunity to eat your partner, you're gonna do it. Do you really call that cooperation?
Orlando Hawkins 20+
Also for the name of capitalism, political and industrial interest, all the biotic community on earth is being harmed. We, as human beings, not politicians should realize the affect that we are having on the earth. We should realize that we are part of nature, not against it or as Aldo Leopold stated "we are members/citizens of the earth, not conquers"...so that pencil that you are talking about and as Mr. Kebasoup pointed out was only created by a systematic process, that allowed the government to "legally" cut down trees.
Also capitalism did not create machines....people's education, hard work and innovative skills made the machines possible, not capitalism.
Krisztián Pintér 200+
Mr Kebabsoup
Krisztián Pintér 200+
in the real world, not in your imagined world, socialist countries collapsed, and capitalist countries thrive.
people's hard work and skills seem to be miraculously higher in capitalist societies. why is that? either a coincidence, or capitalism is needed for work and skill actually turning into goods.
Martins Fontes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pin8fbdGV9Y
Димитър Христев