Capitalism x Socialism

An essay of me working through my skepticisms and conclusions

Capitalism is great for the economy, but not so great for the people…
Socialism is great for the people, but not so great for the economy…

The greatest problems lie in control…

Capitalism — throughout history capitalism has created great eras of innovation and progress.. as well as eras of moral repugnancy and abuse. Slavery was without a doubt an affect of capitalism, as well as classism and global warming due to pollution

Socialism — throughout history socialism has created great eras of sustainability and happiness.. as well as eras of moral repugnancy and abuse.
Communism was without a doubt an effect of socialism, as well as genocide due to totalitarian regimes

In both cases, it was the result of people having too much control over the livelihood of others.

In a capitalistic nation, private organizations can produce, sell, and monopolize goods and services without regard to the conditions of its laborers, or the impact to its consumers. Even being conscious and moral can oftentimes be in direct competition with the baseline profits.

In a socialistic nation, governments can produce, sell, and monopolize goods and services without regard to the will of its citizens, or the impact to its economy. Even being innovative and granting freedom can oftentimes be in direct competition with the rules and regulations.

Issues

The biggest problem of capitalism is the power private orgs have over people: their ability to control the very quality of life of its laborers, and by extension, its consumers.
If an organization produces food, its sole purpose is not to ensure the most people possible have food, but that it can extract the most profit possible from the selling of food. Therefore it inherently creates a myopic stance on balancing its moral high ground with its low baseline costs. The org knows it can cut production costs by cheaper means of production or cheaper means of distribution. For production, it can hire less people at the cost of yield or pay people less at the cost of turnover. For distribution, it can buy methods of transit or seek to own/control every step in the pipeline, or have people come to it. For costs, it can go at market price, sell higher or lower at the risk of demand, as well as market itself to justify a significantly higher price or cart.

The biggest problem of socialism is the power governments have over people: their ability to control the very opportunities of its citizens, ie their personal pursuits of happiness.
If a government controls the food, its sole purpose is not to ensure the health of the food market, but that it can supply food to as many people as possible for as long as possible. Therefore it inherently creates a blind stance on balancing the health of the market with the health of its citizens. The government knows it can reach more people if it hoards all the foods and the means of production as well as distribution and even costs for that food. For production, that means they can decide what gets made and how, at the cost of natural forces such as the market or desires of the people. For Distribution, that means they can decide who gets what and when at the cost of personal desires or preferences. For costs, that means they can raise or lower costs regardless of supply and demand.

They both have terrifying consequences (and cases of) greed overcoming moral responsibilities. Capitalism has driven the creation of chattel slavery and the sustained abuse of a whole phenotype of peoples, as well as wild swings of imperialism, corporatism, and monopolies. Socialism has driven the creation of eugenics and the sustained dictatorial power of several despots, as well as the wild swings of communism, fascism, and totalitarianism.

Flaws

Capitalism is great for the idea of the individual… but not necessarily, only conveniently, good for the collective of people… and rarely ever good at all for non-people.
Thanks to capitalism, one can work hard to become rich.
Thanks to capitalism, one is met much too often with the fate of another at your hands.
It is extremely hard, if even unrealistic, for the average person in a capitalist mindset to think of the consequences of their actions when it comes to doing whatever you can to minimize costs and maximize profits. If that means completely abusing or ‘playing the game’ of politics and buying off politicians to look the other way when cutting corners of labor conditions or waste management or zoning laws so that you can save more money than it would cost to be completely moral,… than so be it.

Socialism is great for the idea of the collective… but not necessarily, only conveniently, good for the individual… and rarely ever good for progress
Thanks to socialism, people can have their basic needs met by default.
Thanks to socialism, people are too often met with their limits due to the rules of another.
It is extremely hard, if even unrealistic, for the public’s government in a socialistic mindset to think of the consequences of their actions when it comes to doing whatever they can to be completely egalitarian in the production and distribution of goods and services. If that means ‘sacrificing for the good of the people’ by taking any already owned or newly acquired property or products and limiting others from owning the excess fruits of their labors to do with what they will, all so that they can share resources equally so no one goes without and no one has too much,… than so be it.

These high moral risks are not necessarily faults of the capitalistic or the socialistic concepts, more a consequence of human folly, bias, and greed.

Clearly both of these ideals are heavily flawed when alone and in the extreme.

As with all things in life, they require a healthy balance.

Yet… maybe no society has been built on pure capitalism or pure socialism.

Despite the obvious and constant failings of (imperfect) socialism… it is hard to give the ‘win’ to capitalism… seeing as (imperfect) capitalism has caused some of the most egregious and long-term side effects in the history of humanity (and of the world?).

How Capitalism Failed

• Chattel slavery was indubitably invented due to the powerful incentive of having free (or extremely low cost) labor/means of production of which you could sell, replicate, and improve (domesticate). This has created the side effect of entrenched racism and supremacy within the very foundations of a nation and throughout the world, such that current day peoples descended from said slavery are still feeling the very real ramifications and further oppressed by the very system and markets built on the abuse of their labor and existence.
• Imperialism was debatably driven by the powerful incentives of controlling the very resources of production, the raw materials found in the lands of other peoples. Since it was much cheaper to simply ride in on the coattails of war and pillage the lands instead of setting up equitable and mutually beneficial relationships, these peoples and lands around the world have been cast back decades and even centuries due to the damages of said conflicts. Even today, many corporations utilize sweatshops and blood mines to save on costs and monopolize their own means of production, as if they were corporate socialists themselves.
• Mass pollution is of course the final and greatest failure of capitalism. Due to both accidental ineptitude, and myopic cost-cutting, capitalism has played a key role in global warming. The powerful incentive to simply do what was best for the company regardless of environmental impacts has created a habit and even a strategy of dumping waste, wholesale slaughter of species (flora and fauna), as well as irresponsible end-of-product-lifecycle plans (or lack thereof). From the poisoning of rivers and thus people, plants, and animals downstream to the mass murder and herding of livestock to the landfills of biohazardous or otherwise unrecyclable products… the environmental impact has been traumatic. Even now, as wide reaching and dramatic effects become more and more apparent, many organizations and peoples remain staunchly blind to the facts of our dire situation.

I dont hate capitalism, I wouldn’t want to live without it. Nor do I love socialism, I wouldn’t want to live exclusively with it.
I simply am extremely skeptical of the unfair praise for one and criticism of the other… as if either one has an unblemished record of being good or evil.

Is capitalism really so praiseworthy and better than socialism just because its failures are not apparent in the short term like that of socialism?
Is socialism so worthy of critique and worse than capitalism just because its successes are not apparent in the short term like that of capitalism?

Socialism isn't an abject failure

Socialism in America is what ended slavery. The North didn’t want to free the slaves… they just wanted more rights to the means of production of cotton and other materials the slaves produced exclusively in the south.
Socialism in America is what ended shantytowns and saved the people after the Great Depression and gave bastion for the lower class citizens that inevitably fell through the growing cracks of an idealistically capitalist nation.
Socialism is likely what will save America from the impending job crisis of automation and the effects of global warming.

My Conclusions

Capitalism should not be lauded as the best thing to happen to humanity, nor even as the best we can do.
Socialism should not be dismissed as inevitably doomed to failure, nor even as the utopia never given a fair chance.

I seek to simply question the quick assumptions and blind faith we have.

I seek to show the follies of both, and thus the strength of their union.

I seek to make clear the need for complementary compromise, respectful discourse, and imaginative solutions for where we go from here.

Evolution is not a process of extremes or intolerance… it is one of learning and adaptation.

Let us learn from our successes and failures of both these ideas… and subsequently grow as an economic people.

Give individuals the freedom to grow by providing all peoples with their basic needs, to act as the safety nets for them to take risks on the free market.

We no longer live in a world of scarcity… nor a world where we can do whatever we want, without repercussions.

We no longer live in a world of isolated tribes… nor a world where everyone will or even can get along with one another.

We no longer live in a completely physical world… nor even just one world.

We live in a diverse world of possibilities.

We live in an enigmatic world of knowledge.

We live in a world of peoples and individuals.

We need to admit this.

Lets get it.

Thanks for reading!

Of course I know that most successful current-day nations due indeed have a healthy mix of both systems. My conclusion is not something new or amazing.

I simply enjoyed the process of thinking and writing this by following a particular style and only ever looking beyond myself a handful of times to confirm certain facts.

If you also enjoyed the journey of this ‘essay’, drop a green heart! It incentivizes me to control the means of my production. 😉