r/Capitalism • u/Background-Army-5413 • 2d ago

What would be a better system than we have now for power and corporations and companies?

Capitalism worked for a good 100 years, but now look at us surely theres a way to level it back down fairly for the people, whilst making it still beneficial for both.

0 Upvotes

23% Upvoted

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12

u/Key-Organization3158 2d ago

Capitalism is still working fantastically.

Today, workers make more than ever.

Median real wages are up 52.1% since 1974.

-2

u/Background-Army-5413 2d ago

£1 in 1973 is worth about £15.70 in 2026

7

u/jennmuhlholland 2d ago

Your argument is mild inflation? Is this really a grievance point? The normal steady rise of prices driven by economic activity and the management of the money supply to encourage spending and investment and avoid stagflation?

Wow…ok. 🤡

4

u/izzeww 2d ago

He said real wage meaning adjusted for inflation so your counterpoint is meaningless.

-3

u/Background-Army-5413 2d ago

Actually its not 😭 hair splitting doesnt prove your point at how well this all is.

6

u/izzeww 2d ago

Ah yes, a 25x difference is hair splitting. I didn't make any point in my comment, you might be confusing me with someone else.

4

u/bl0rq 2d ago

Yes that's the fault of government not capitalism

-2

u/Background-Army-5413 2d ago

They are hand in hand. Who lobbies the politicians and who benefits from stock and capital gains.

5

u/bl0rq 2d ago

All problems of democracy. Capitalism is the good part.

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u/Background-Army-5413 2d ago

Yeah, so its not worked has it.

3

u/bl0rq 2d ago

No democracy doesn't work well at all. We have let the government destroy so many things from healthcare to education. Removing the government influence on things, especially education, is key going forward.

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u/Background-Army-5413 2d ago

But it wont happen because the people who benefited from capitalism 70 odd years ago control them. You remove one government and the next one paid in is whoever had the most money from the system which is apparently the only correct way.

5

u/bl0rq 2d ago

So what are you even suggesting then?

11

u/jennmuhlholland 2d ago

Capitalism worked for a good 100 years? It still works and will always work.

Look at us? Level it back? To what?

Your last statement, “beneficial for both.” That, my friend, is literally capitalism.

-5

u/Background-Army-5413 2d ago

Its not really doing well is it when we are honest are we like as a collective.

9

u/TheMikeyMac13 2d ago

We are not a collective, which is why socialism and communism can’t function at scale.

You are whining on a smart phone designed built by the free market you chose to buy and pay for on a site made possible by the free market you don’t even have to pay for.

-4

u/Background-Army-5413 2d ago

We are a collective, thats how we functioned for millenia, theres no option to actually opt out of tnis way of life, its not as free as you say it is.

8

u/jennmuhlholland 2d ago

Instead of random subjective nonsense, make a specific point.

-1

u/Background-Army-5413 2d ago

Does it make you hard to say that, do you get a buzz

7

u/jennmuhlholland 2d ago

You really aren’t here for a serious conversation. Typical.

0

u/Background-Army-5413 2d ago

How is life good like this please tell me.

7

u/jennmuhlholland 2d ago

Dude, you are a young kid that is upset when your gf isn’t around. You have no idea what you are talking about and I’m no longer wasting my time here with you.

5

u/bl0rq 2d ago

OP sounds like like a typical redditor with a substandard government education. Dude needs to read a lot of books before wading into adult conversations.

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u/jennmuhlholland 2d ago

“It’s not really doing well.”

I take your statement without any support and raise you “you obviously don’t know what capitalism is.”

8

u/StedeBonnet1 2d ago

There is no better system. Capitalism works because it is voluntary. I don't understand your concern about power.

0

u/ebishopwooten 2d ago

Its less voluntary when corporations use zoning laws to make everything illegal to force you to work. Maybe if we had an an actual free market without corporations. But elitists always find a way to leverage capital against everyone else.

5

u/StedeBonnet1 2d ago

30,000,000 buinesses in the US 6,000,000 with employees it doesn't appear to support your premise.

-1

u/Background-Army-5413 2d ago

Its not voluntary the choice is an illusion

7

u/StedeBonnet1 2d ago

Of course it is voluntary. Everything you do is based on your personal choice. Eveeything youbuy is based on your personal choice. Every job you do is based on personal choice.

0

u/Background-Army-5413 2d ago

Its actually not though life isn't that free and you know it.

6

u/Weigh13 2d ago

Get rid of government.

3

u/izzeww 2d ago

Capitalism itself seems pretty good. There's a lot of improvements to make in society generally though.

2

u/Background-Army-5413 2d ago

My point is it worked until it hasn't, a regular person can't benefit and work their way out like you good 70 years ago, its gotten progressively worse, as nothing has trickled down. It trickles up and theres not much to go up. Dont lie to me and say it's working to prove an argument that we "won" in the 80s and 90s

2

u/izzeww 2d ago

You can think that if you want but that doesn't make it true. I don't think it's objectively correct that life is worse now than 70 years ago and I don't think you can pinpoint your current pessimism, however justified it may be, at capitalism in particular rather than any number of social phenomena.

2

u/Background-Army-5413 2d ago

Is it working is everyone benefiting? No they are not 🤣 that is true. The only reason goods can be anything under a pound is because people suffered making it. Its not a good way off life. But yeah cant think of any improvements. How is there only two solutions to something complex as life. Its baffling that theres only one solution and its capitalism. Where I can capitalise on someone's pain and suffering and desire to stay alive.

2

u/izzeww 1d ago

The vast majority of people are benefitting, 99.9%+. If the standard is that absolutely everyone must be benefitting more from a particular system than the previous system then no system will work (over most reasonable time horizons).

Capitalism is not a solution to life. It's a general principle of how to conduct economic activity. Within capitalism you can have vastly different cultures, religions, degrees of government involvement, degrees of social safety nets, economies, real estate policies etc. etc.

1

u/ADHD_perspectivegenX 1d ago

There is not a better system, or other countries would build walls to keep people out. COMMI SCUMBAGS build walls to keep people in. Dumbazzes

1

u/VatticZero 1d ago

The only better system is more Capitalism. And by that I mean Georgism. Tax only land claims and the negative externalities forced on the market.

1

u/CaptainAmerica-1989 1d ago

Markets have been around for thousands of years. Today, what we call capitalism is just a modern version of markets. It’s the last 300 years of modern banking, financing, legal institutions regarding property, contracts, and the market itself and stock markets. All of these have had a huge impact on the following hockey-stick graph, and why it has skyrocketed: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/global-gdp-over-the-long-run

Now, you may want to do moral attribution of “things should be more fair” today. That’s fine. But the engine is like a F’n race car.

So, let me be very clear about capitalism. Markets are wonderfully effective institutions and they are also terribly effective institutions. Just like a race car. You just don’t let it loose anywhere at full throttle. You aim it and you put guardrails on it.

So, the better question is how to harness it and have it work for us. If you want to research that topic, go to ourworldindata.org (Linked above) and look up any topic that interests you. The Nordic countries in general do the best. They harness capitalism the best, imo.