How do you create fair, just capitalism?

Question

Where people wouldn't starve in the streets?

Where multi-corporations wouldn't eat up the whole market and rule every aspect of our lives?

Where the rich wouldn't be overpowered?

Where all people could get decent health and education?

Answer 1

If Josh L had submitted only his first paragraph, it would have been a great answer.  The muddle-mindedness that ensued trashed his answer.

Capitalism is merely the nature of man, investing his assets, his mind, and his effort first to survive and then to prosper.  One does not "create" fair and just, capitalism is fair and just by it's very nature.

It is the brainless attempts of the do-gooders to interfere with nature which tend to cause people to starve in the streets and all those things you list as negative.

We cannot ignore the morality of individual freedom.

Answer 2

First of all, you must rid the notion that big corporations are evil.  Big corporations provide jobs, jobs provide wealth, and wealth eliminates poverty.  Sure, it's easy to blame the rich for being rich and exploiting the poor, but in all reality, without corporations there would be no jobs.

And to answer your question more broadly: Capitalism is the only proven economical model that has actually reduced the poor-class of a nation.  Not everyone is a CEO, but typing at a desk job is better than living on the streets.  When the government controls the economy (i.e. socialism), everyone is equal, yet they are equally poor.  The magic with capitalism is this: when people work, money flows through the economy.  Businesses grow, and more jobs are created.  And the cycle continues.

But of course, there will always be the unqualified.  This is where the government comes in.  As a civilized society, it's heartless to let people starve on the streets.  This small sector of the population recieves government aid, and hopefully can actually get jobs.  And even if they can never get jobs (like the disabled), this is a significantly lower toll on the government then what we have today.  What we need to do is limit government control, and allow the free-market to flourish.  Only then will we see more people working, and less people relying on the government.

Answer 3

The Scandinavian model is a perfect example of this.

The indisputable truth is that capitalism left to its own means will always create an unjustifiable level of social and economic inequity.  Unrestrained "laissez-faire" capitalism is a horrible, failed model that was quickly thrown into the historical garbage dump quite a while ago; however, so did the "command and control" economies of Eastern Europe fail at achieving their goals.  What all industrialized countries have evolved towards is a mixed economy that respects the innate logic of markets while providing a significant amount of government intervention and regulation to make sure markets and capital are operating in a sociologically and ecologically responsible manner.  Most would argue that the answer is some form of social democracy, utilizing the following elements (these are the elements of the highly social democratic Scandinavian-Western European model, which still respects free-market capitalism):

1.  A highly progressive system of taxation (i.e. the more money you make, the more you pay in taxes - the very wealthy should pay a fairly high chunk of their wealth in taxes, while the poor should pay nothing and the middle class only a reasonable amount.)

2.  A strong estate tax to ensure that wealth is not allowed to concentrate over time into a few wealthy families, which would create a de facto aristocracy.

3.  A living wage that decommodifies labor and ensures that people who work full-time are not allowed to become part of the working poor.

4.  A government mandate to provide a wide range of public services, most notably education, healthcare, childcare, social security, unemployment insurance, welfare, disability insurance, and transportation.

5.  Recognition of the fundamental right to unionize and collectively bargain on the part of workers.

6.  Strong protections for minorities and groups that have historically been discriminated against (anti-discrimination laws and some form of positive discrimination/affirmative action.)

7.  A fundamental commitment to democracy, and laws that limit the extent of corporate influence in politics (i.e., publicly financed elections.)

8.  Finally, comprehensive regulations that force businesses to take responsibility for the externalities that they can create (i.e. environmental regulations, employment regulations, regulations on outsourcing/global transfers of capital.)

By applying these principles to a free-market system, you can create the sorts of vibrant, mixed-economy democracies that have long flourished in Western Europe.

Answer 4

Josh L...

That was an awesome answer.

It was right on!

Jost should definitely get the best answer.

It was a real, mature answer!