Can someone plz explain what capitalism, socialism and communism are (legal, regime)

[NYRhockeyfan]

Originally Posted by petch751

“I have never understood why it is "greed" to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else's money.”
--- Thomas Sowell

Cool. You can find quotes.

You still don't address my valid points. No liberal is calling for capitalism's head. Most of Western Europe is a better place to live than the US.

[petch751]

Originally Posted by NYRhockeyfan

Cool. You can find quotes.

You still don't address my valid points. No liberal is calling for capitalism's head. Most of Western Europe is a better place to live than the US.

Yet you ignore the quotes.

[NYRhockeyfan]

Originally Posted by petch751

Yet you ignore the quotes.

Because they don't mean anything. I don't care who said what in a speech; the facts are there.

[BruSan]

Originally Posted by petch751

Yes I am because I am proof how capitalism has succeeded. I don't depend on handouts to support me and my family and even though there are people that make a lot more than I do I am not jealous or think I deserve their money. I do not believe the government should use force to take from others to give to me.... failures think like that.

If liberals really want the poor to succeed, they should not demonize those who provide jobs.

Bullcrap! You likely drove to work on paved highways provided by a socialist tax based system. You did not pay for your own hospital for your wife to have your kiddies in, nor did you pay for your own school, water supply or sewage treatment unless of course you're so successful you're living on a farm somewhere with your own well and septic tank and drinking unpasteurized milk or eating uninspected food.

You are, whether you wish to admit it or not, enjoying many fruits of a quasi socialist environment nutured by those dastardly Liberals with a capital "L".

No "liberal" by default, thinks they deserve the fruits of someone else's labour....where do you get this chit....never mind I think I know.

[Memphis1979]

Capitalism = Survival of the fittest. Let the free market decide which company and products win. No federal or state oversight, no making the playing field level, no monopoly busting, just free unadultered commerce.

Socialism = A form of government which advocates that the collective good should be paid for in a collective fashion. That government can, will, and should enact social safety nets so that no member of society goes without whatever items the majority of the population voted for. So if people decide every American deserves cable TV, and we have a tax program to pay for that, this would be considered a form of socialism. As a side note, the United States of America is a socialist country. 70% of the population likes social programs paid for by tax dollars.

Communism is a form of government where the state controls all industry, commerce, and wealth. The wealth is then distributed for the common good. This is not wealth redistribution as you hear Republicans talk about it. Poor families starved while farming in Russia to feed people in Moscow.

[Mircea]

Originally Posted by rishi85

I have been looking for definition all over the internet but it confuses me some more.

Yes, the Disinformation Superhighway is lots of fun.

Originally Posted by rishi85

From what I understand...communism is where the earnings are shared. So if person A works his derriere off and person B decides to lazy around, they both still get the same amount of money. The money owed to person A is divided. Such is how China and Russia function.

Capitalism is you get what you deserve. Hence capitalist entreprenuers are dime a dozen in the west. You show your talent and you earn a living.

Socialism is...I have no clue. They say Obama is a socialist who will ruin America. What exactly is socialism and how does it differ from the two above.

I am watching the Matt Damon film Elysium which, all pundits are claiming is a socialist agenda ridden work.

In layman's terms....anyone.

Capitalism, Socialism and Communism are Property Theories. These Theories answer one and only one question: Who should control Capital?

Capital is the means of production.

Capital includes, but is not limited to: cash, credit, labor, land, buildings, facilities, space, tools, equipment, machinery, vehicles, ships, aircraft, livestock, and a host of other things.

The land on which your house sits is not Capital, but it is Private Property, which is separate and distinct from Capital. Now, if you operate a business out of your home, then your home and the land may be considered as Capital. Your car is Private Property, not Capital, unless you use your car as part of your job.

Capitalist Theory says individuals should own/control Capital, because they are more experienced and sensitive to the needs of Markets. A Market demands organic tomatoes. The Capitalist immediately shifts Capital to make that happen. Here, the Capital required is cash, credit, land, labor and related farming equipment, machinery and vehicles.

Socialist Theory says organizations should own/control Capital. This "organization" is often a government, but that is not necessarily true. A Market demands organic tomatoes. A group of government bureaucrats don't want to devote Capital to produce organic tomatoes, because the government doesn't get enough profit off of organic tomatoes, and the government needs profit to spend.

An example of a non-government Socialist organization would be unions, who own/control Labor (Labor is Capital).

Communist Theory states the people as a whole should own/control Capital. An excellent example of Communism-in-action is publicly traded corporations. Who owns/controls the Capital of a publicly traded corporation?

The People. Sure, in this instance the People are a special class of people called "share-holders" but anyone who can give up $5 worth of dope for a week can be a share-holder.

The people/share-holders vote to elect a CEO; as required by federal law they vote on the salary and compensation for the CEO; they vote on important matters involving the corporation; and other related issues.

And then, of course the people/share-holders share profits.

Don't confuse Capitalism, Socialism and Communism with Economic Systems. There are three Economic Systems: Free Market, Command and Traditional.

The Traditional Economic System is used by 2 Billion people on 6 Continents and is largely tribal or clan-based. The "First Nation Peoples" in Canada still use it. Less frequently it is in use in the US on tribal reservations.

A Free Market System is any Market operating without interference and without regulations which coerce involuntary consumer transactions.

A Command Market System is any Market in which a Command Group dictates prices, quotas or coerces involuntary transactions.

Economic Systems answer 3 basic questions: What shall we produce? How shall we produce it? For whom shall we produce?

The Economic System is the answer to those questions.

Let's apply them.

Shall we produce corn? The Free Market decides if it wants corn. In a Command Market, the Command Group decides if corn will be produced or not.

How shall we produce corn? The Free Market decides if corn will be organic or natural or produced using neo-classical farming methods (no pesticides and light on the herbicides), or if it will be Franken-Corn.

In a Command Market, a Command Group, like the government or a government agency like the FDA or Agriculture Department, or a non-government group consisting of Monsanto, Con-Agra, Cargil et al decide that you're going to be fed Franken-Corn whether you want it or not.

For whom shall we produce corn?

The Free Market decides. If there is a Market for corn wholesalers, retailers, restaurants, canneries, livestock feed, seeds, popcorn, corn starch, corn flour, corn meal, light corn syrup, dark corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, etc etc etc then you produce it for them.

In a Command Market, a Command Group like the Environmental Protection Agency might dictate that corn bey produced for Ethanol Markets, and that a certain amount of Ethanol produced must be made from corn.

In a Free Market, Americans could purchase insurance for Emergency Room coverage only, and nothing else.

But there is no Free Market health insurance in the US because certain Command Groups, namely the American Hospital Association, and the State governments and the federal government have said you are not allowed to purchase ER coverage only because that makes sense, and it costs less, and is affordable for everyone.

Is there a Market for catastrophic health/life insurance?

Yes....many Americans would prefer to buy a $1.5 Million policy, pay a fixed monthly premium for 10 years, have their employer pay all or part of it as benefits, never pay again after the 120 payments are made, be covered until the day they die, and then whatever money they don't use for catastrophic health care on there family, give the balance of cash to their children.

Why can't you do that?

Because there is no Free Market health insurance in the US.

A Command Group, namely the American Hospital Association, Liberals and the federal government have said you're not allowed to do that.

For Liberals, the idea that a Working-Class Black man might actually get $1.5 Million in catastrophic health/life through his employer, spend $350,000 on catastrophic healthcare for his family, and then leave his family $1.15 Million allowing them to gain education and purchase homes and move up the Social Ladder from Working-Class to Lower Middle Class is totally repugnant....it frightens Liberals to death.

Anyway, don't be fooled. Capitalism without Free Markets is slavery just like Socialism with Command Markets.

Hope that helps...

Mircea

[petch751]

Originally Posted by BruSan

Bullcrap! You likely drove to work on paved highways provided by a socialist tax based system.

So why should I pay more than you? Do I get to drive faster?

You did not pay for your own hospital for your wife to have your kiddies in,

ahh, yes I did. I paid the bill sent to me.

nor did you pay for your own school,

I pay taxes, and since my property is probably a higher value than yours I probably paid more. So did the teachers take more time with my kids?

water supply or sewage treatment unless of course you're so successful you're living on a farm somewhere with your own well and septic tank

Actually we have a septic tank

and drinking unpasteurized milk or eating uninspected food.

You are, whether you wish to admit it or not, enjoying many fruits of a quasi socialist environment nutured by those dastardly Liberals with a capital "L".

No "liberal" by default, thinks they deserve the fruits of someone else's labour....where do you get this chit....never mind I think I know.

The fact is I paid a hell of a lot more in taxes than you. Yet get a whole lot less for my dollar than you.

[johnrex62]

Simple terms:

Capitalism: You own what you earn and pay your own bills

Socialism: You own what you earns and owe most of it to everyone who earns less to pay both your bills and theirs. (Those that earn more than you "could" have to pay some of your bills) The expectations is most earnings are shared by group, but still owned by individuals.

Communism: The state owns you and your earnings and will give you what they feel you need to live (if they have it)

[CDusr]

Originally Posted by rishi85

I have been looking for definition all over the internet but it confuses me some more.
From what I understand...communism is where the earnings are shared. So if person A works his derriere off and person B decides to lazy around, they both still get the same amount of money. The money owed to person A is divided. Such is how China and Russia function.

Capitalism is you get what you deserve. Hence capitalist entreprenuers are dime a dozen in the west. You show your talent and you earn a living.

Socialism is...I have no clue. They say Obama is a socialist who will ruin America. What exactly is socialism and how does it differ from the two above.

I am watching the Matt Damon film Elysium which, all pundits are claiming is a socialist agenda ridden work.

In layman's terms....anyone.

These are essentially just different flavors of corporatism.

Corporatism
quote:
In 1881, Pope Leo XIII commissioned theologians and social thinkers to study corporatism and provide a definition for it. In 1884 in Freiburg, the commission declared that corporatism was a "system of social organization that has at its base the grouping of men according to the community of their natural interests and social functions, and as true and proper organs of the state they direct and coordinate labor and capital in matters of common interest".
...
Corporatist types of community and social interaction are common to many ideologies, including: absolutism, capitalism, conservatism, fascism, liberalism, progressivism, reactionism, socialism, and syndicalism.



corporatism (ideology)
quote:
the theory and practice of organizing society into “corporations” subordinate to the state. According to corporatist theory, workers and employers would be organized into industrial and professional corporations serving as organs of political representation and controlling to a large extent the persons and activities within their jurisdiction.

[whogo]

Too many damn definitions, these are my favorites:

Capitalism: Individuals own the means of production.

Socialism: Government owns the means of production.

Communism: An anarchy where individuals willingly share resources.

The welfare state that dominates the Western world is really closer to fascism.

Fascism: Individuals technically own the means of production but what is produced and how it is distributed is greatly controlled by government.

Mussolini was a socialist who realized government bureaucrats were terrible at managing the means of production but pretty good at stealing the output of production. He tweaked socialism and came up with fascism. He should be idolized by those who wish to further expand the welfare state.