Do capitalism and democracy clash? Does capitalism remove the principles of democracy?

Question

I'm curious to view how people will answer this question. It is of my opinion that the ideals of capitalism, self prophet, individual gain etc with the reprecussions of corporate domination and globalisation completely contrast to the teachings of democracy from the age of enlightment through locke's social contract theory etc. If someone votes for a government should they primarily be catered for by their representatives in a democratic fashion???

I welcome all discussions, especially American conservatives, but please don't call me a liberal or use the term 'liberal media' because america doesnt have a liberal media nor am I infact a liberal.

Answer 1

Of course they do, in ways too numerous to count. And more so all the time with the increasing complexities of both the business and political domains, and both in theory and in practice.

For example, given the effect of money and wealth on the ability to influence what government does, it does not make economic sense for most people to bother voting, much less take the time and trouble to learn about the issues.

And even if they wanted to, given the control of the media by the rich, it is hard to make people aware of information that the rich want suppressed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_...

On the other side, if you really did have a true democracy (where the will of the people determined government action, independent of such republican protections such as the Bill of Rights), the natural result would be to strip most of the rich of most of their wealth, power, and privilege. (The founding fathers knew full well what they were doing when they chose a republic form of government over a democracy.)

Here is an interesting take in an admittedly over-simplified (but still instructive) analysis:

http://timharford.com/2006/01/whats-in-i...

And Howard Zinn is always worth reading (whether or not you agree with him):

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/B...

As is Chomsky:

http://www.chomsky.info/interviews/20070...

I love Tim Harford's writings:

http://timharford.com/2008/03/electoral-...

So far, this has been in the context of a single country, but don't forget the international aspect. How many times has the United States deliberately undermined a democratic government whose policies the multi-national corporations didn't like?

http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2008/...

And when the U.S. government didn't go in, the corporations paid off others to do so:

http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/in...