Has Capitalism reached it's peak??

[Bonzo77]

Do you think it's all over for the current system? Has Capitalism finally reached the point of no return and began devouring it's self?

 

Banks have reached the point where they're deliberately squeezing every last drop from us, in the form of debt. Then the top 1%, or more correctly, top 0.1%, are the only real beneficiaries.

 

Land and buildings are being purchased by the mega rich, and rented to the mega rich.

 

There's massive investment into precious metals, pawn brokers, gambling and online gaming sites, cheap supermarkets, payday lenders......

 

is there any other methods left for making us in debt to the rich? What's going to happen when they finally take everything from us? Or, will the pitch forks come out before that happens?

[RonJeremy]

Erm .... No. You're wrong

[Anna B]

Capitalism in its present form, is by its very nature, unsustainable. There has to be a finite limit to growth and consumerism.

[SevenRivers]

Capitalism in its present form, is by its very nature, unsustainable. There has to be a finite limit to growth and consumerism.

 

I'd disagree, because capitalism encourages innovation, meaning new products come on stream for which there is always a market.

 

Take iPhones for example. Everybody in the world could have one, so you could say the market is saturated. But all they need do is create a new updated product, and the demand is created for the new product.

 

Finite consumerism assumes a point where nothing else worth consuming will ever be invented again, but products have in built obsolescence so it will never happen.

[Maz3]

I suspect it's got a bit further to go. There are too many of us (mainly older) who are still far too comfortable. But as the baby boomers, the large middle class and well paid working class sectors die away, things will be much more polarised. All pretence of fairness, democracy, community and so on are already beginning to disappear.

[blake]

There has to be a finite limit to growth and consumerism.

 

I agree, there is only 250,000,000 middle class Chinese people at the moment, and while that is a big improvement on the 27 there was fifty years ago, there is still scope for capitalism to make many more hundreds of millions of people richer than their grandparents ever dreamed.

[El Cid]

All pretence of fairness, democracy, community and so on are already beginning to disappear.

 

I agree. Capitalism does create wealth, but does it create a better society?

[*Belle*]

No, I don't think that they have finished with us yet. Historically, money was made by making or growing things and selling/ trading them. Now, the powerful make money by selling and trading money. As the only profit to be made on this is debt, sooner or later there is less physical cash in the system so we print some more. The cycle will go on until it does implode or until a few more with their hands on the tillers, wake up and realise that the only way forward is to invest in people. Of course that will never happen and once the oil/ energy starts to run out, the majority of world's population will die out. Its not over yet, but the wheels are in motion.

 

Years ago, we realised that giving food to third world countries was a waste of time. We needed to give them the means to grow their own. Now we have reached the stage where we are giving food to our own, via the food banks. We have learned nothing.

[blake]

There has to be a finite limit to growth and consumerism.

 

I agree, there is only 250,000,000 middle class Chinese people at the moment, and while that is a big improvement on the 27 there was fifty years ago, there is still scope for capitalism to make many more hundreds of millions of people richer than their grandparents ever dreamed.

[Anna B]

I'd disagree, because capitalism encourages innovation, meaning new products come on stream for which there is always a market.

 

Take iPhones for example. Everybody in the world could have one, so you could say the market is saturated. But all they need do is create a new updated product, and the demand is created for the new product.

 

Finite consumerism assumes a point where nothing else worth consuming will ever be invented again, but products have in built obsolescence so it will never happen.

 

But there is a finite limit to resources. Your point fails to take that into account. And we all know that where making money is involved, such quibbles will be swept aside without thought for the consequences.