After having read through Bill Gates’ article “How To Fix Capitalism”, I agreed completely with the various ideas Bill Gates states and I believe that creative capitalism can and should be an effective way to make the world as a whole a better place overall. In the following essay I am going to attempt my hand at explaining the current situation, explaining some of the background that brought us to this situation, expound on what a government can try to do to help rectify the situation, expand on possible systems that can draw corporations to help and finally example of how corporations can start helping. Creative capitalism is an effective way to increase the wellbeing of humanity as a whole and should be encouraged.
The richest of humanity see the most of improvements, and the poorest of humanity see the least of these improvements. Through capitalism the world has changed tremendously in a short amount of time. A host of new technology has been innovated, especially in the last 100 years. Humanity as a whole is much better off than it was before. As an example, most of us are able to take an airplane to travel from one country to another in one day or have fairly easy access to advanced health care. In a word, like Bill Gates said in his article “How to Fix Capitalism”, “Capitalism has improved the lives of billions of people- something that’s easy to forget”(Gates). But, it is not getting better fast enough, and it is not getting better for everyone. A multitude of people live on less than a dollar a day and it can be extremely hard for a person in such a situation to drag themselves out of poverty without help from others. Capitalism has the ability to harness self-interest in a helpful and sustainable way but only on beh...
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...ome--this kind of innovation makes a huge difference. You're less tempting to rob if you're not holding any cash.(Gates)
In conclusion, creative capitalism is already afoot and doing its best but there is so much more that can be done. Many companies forget that the poorest two-thirds of the world's population have some $5 trillion in purchasing power between them. Governments can also help by investing in creating more creative incentives. They can also make sure corporations get the publicity for doing good work so to shine a good light on those that help others. Customers of these corporations can help by buying products from companies that help with society. If more companies follow the lead of the more creative organizations in their industry, they will make a large impact on some of the world's worst problems and together we can make a change for the better.
In American Colossus: The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865 - 1900, H.W. Brands worked to write a book that illustrates the decades after the Civil War, focusing on Morgan and his fellow capitalists who effected a stunning transformation of American life. Brands focuses on the threat of capitalism in American democracy. The broader implications of focusing on capitalism in American democracy is the book becomes a frame work based on a contest between democracy and capitalism. He explains democracy depends on equality, whereas, capitalism depends on inequality (5). The constant changing of the classes as new technologies and ways of life arise affect the contest between democracy and capitalism. By providing a base argument and the implications of the argument, Brands expresses what the book attempts to portray. Through key pieces of evidence Brands was able to provide pieces of synthesis, logical conclusion, and countless
The free enterprise system is a debatable topic because it allows for competition in the business market, which may or may not work in everyones favor. A good example would be Bill Gates, in which the enterprise system worked successfully for him and helped him become a billionaire. In a free enterprise system, producers decide everything about their products or services, including their prices, ingredients, and what they choose to do with their profits. This also gives freedom to consumers to make their own economical choices. This has allowed businesses to engage in competition, and has been beneficial to many, especially Bill Gates.
Capitalism was all about wealth and the wealth of people. Capitalism met the needs of the people because the right to property was created. You can own your own house, factories and land. The right for an individual to exercise his or her own economic matters was created, allowing anyone to handle their own economic issues. You are allowed to earn as much money as possible from your products. The Bourgeoisie owned the factories and earned all of the money from the products
Capitalism as an economic system has not been around for a very long time. Stanford indicates that this economic system began in the mid-1700s in Europe . For a considerably young system, it almost seems impossible to imagine a different way of living. Capitalism has become deeply embedded in our social structures; it is naturalized as a way of doing day to day things. If this is the case, then we as humans have a long way to go if we are to achieve social and economic justice. The question I aim to explore is whether capitalism is capable of achieving socio-economic justice. I am arguing that it cannot achieve justice because there is too much focus on profit rather than people and it dislocates the consumers from the modes of production which indirectly promotes social inequality. Our current economic system which I will be interchangeably using as capitalism throughout the paper will examine why the focus on profit is detrimental to the social well-being of people and explain how capitalism is divisive and why this can pose negative outcomes for individuals and communities. It is with these arguments that outline the need for a fundamental change to how our economy is structured and managed.
As stated earlier in the essay, capitalism is much more of a social issue, therefore much more of the responsibilities that are put upon me, as an adult, will deal with the community. Karl Marx indicated in The Communist Manifesto what happens to all the money that we work to gain. Once we get paid, a majority of the money we earned goes to rent, food, bills, etc. (para. 40). He shows his understanding, and attempts sharing it with the reader, that everything we do is socially based; our money goes back to different parts of the community. This may sound exaggerated, but David Harsanyi expresses the how the world is run in a simple quote from his article, “We live in a world shaped by capitalism…these ethics are ones that rule our society,” (Harsanyi). Everything we do is connected to the community in one way or another. We pay taxes, which go back to society; there are bills we have to pay, which are linked to the community. Craig A. Lockard, heard from previously on his thoughts about capitalism, speaks about how it is related to society and the individual, “Capitalism as not just an economic practice but a cultural practice…it requires change in how people think and act,” (Lockard). The understanding is that capitalism is something that takes all the individuals of the community to make work, and is connected to the life of the
To begin, capitalism is the economic ideology that everything is primarily focused towards making profit through the production and distribution of a product. In the article “Capitalism: Where Do We Come From?” By Robert Heilbroner and Lester Thurow, they provide insight on how capitalism has changed over the years and the impact it now has in today’s society. “There were no factors of production before capitalism. Of course, human labour, nature’s gift of land and natural resources, and the artifacts of society have always existed. But labour, land, and capital were not commodities for
To begin, capitalism is the economic ideology that everything is primarily focused towards making profit through the production and distribution of a product. In the article “Capitalism: Where Do We Come From?” By Robert Heilbroner and Lester Thurow, they provide insight on how capitalism has changed over the years and the impact it now has in today’s society. “There were no factors of production before capitalism. Of course, human labour, nature’s gift of land and natural resources, and the artifacts of society have always existed. But labour, land, and capital were not commodities for sale” (Para,17). Capitalism has an impact in my life because in the 21st century children are taught in school skills that will benefit businesses, so that they can continue to make a profit through the production and distribution
When one gets down to the roots of capitalism you find that it is a form of government that allows the rich to get richer, the poor, poorer and the middle class to stay the same. Karl Marx wrote a book, Kapital about the what capitalism does to the people in a society, how it takes the humainty out of being and replaces it with x. Not only does it do that but it creates a chain of commodities, fetishisis, and alienation within a society.
Michael Moore used comical tactics as a way to appeal to his audience in this piece of literature. Michael Moore’s argument is that capitalism is destroying the nation’s economy rather than helping to develop it. The poor are suffering, while the richer are getting richer. The arguments that Moore used may not be considered tangible by all, but he definitely did have the evidence to support his argument. Michael Moore purpose was to expose this ground breaking issue of the dominance of corporate America through video. He used the web source as a source to get his message across because he knew the internet would be accessible to many people. Moore in this film used the different elements of reasoning to identify the message he was sending to his audience.
Even though it has incredible benefits a Capitalist society still has its drawbacks. To put it simply Capitalism encourages greed and certain abuses of power will always remain present in the system. Those who constantly attempt to ri...
In the “Gospel of wealth”, Andrew Carnegie argues that it is the duty of the wealthy entrepreneur who has amassed a great fortune during their lifetime, to give back to those less fortunate. Greed and selfishness may force some readers to see these arguments as preposterous; however, greed is a key ingredient in successful competition. It forces competitors to perform at a higher level than their peers in hopes of obtaining more money and individual wealth. A capitalist society that allows this wealth to accumulate in the hands of the few might be beneficial to the human race because it could promote competition between companies; it might ensure health care for everyone no matter their social standing, and parks and recreation could be built for the enjoyment of society.
The essential nature of capitalism is social harmony through the pursuit of self interest. Under capitalism, the individuals pursuit of his own economic self interest simultaneously benefits the economic self interest of all others. In allowing each individual to act unhampered by government regulations, capitalism causes inventions, prosperity and ideas to be created in the most efficient manner possible which ultimately raises the standard of living, increasing opportunities and makes available an ever growing supply of products for everyone.
There has always been a debate nowadays over the topic of capitalism. Those who favor capitalism argue that it is doing more goods than bads for us. But people who criticize capitalism, on the other hand, hold...
Capitalism dominates the world today. Known as a system to create wealth, capitalism’s main purpose is to increase profits through land, labor and free market. It is a replacement of feudalism and slavery. It promises to provide equality and increases living standards through equal exchanges, technological innovations and mass productions. However, taking a look at the global economy today, one can clearly see the disparity between developed and developing countries, and the persistence of poverty throughout the world despite the existence of abundant wealth. This modern issue was predicted and explained a hundred and fifty years ago in Karl Marx’s Capital.
Capitalism is a very complex system that is discuss by many authors, scholars and economists. Robert Heilbroner is a famous American economist who creatively discusses the system of capitalism in Twenty First Century Capitalism. He reveals the abstruse capitalism system and its role in society. Heilbroner begins by comparing traditional society with modern capitalist society and differentiate capital with wealth, which facilitate the reader to understand the basic definition of capitalism. He then illustrates the most crucial aspect of capitalism, that is, the two realms of capitalism. According to Heilbroner, the two realms of capitalism are state and economy or government and business. The relation between these realms is interesting in its nature, because one aspect of their relationship make them beneficial for society and another aspect turn them into dysfunctional in society. Realm of the state and the economy are beneficial when they rely on each other, as they support each other they results in peaceful state and economy of a society. At the same time, they have power to proceed independently. As soon as they split, they are dysfunctional for society because state might block the path of the economy to grow freely and economy can independently survive without supporting the government resulting in weak society. Western societies are the living example of capitalism. They present very languish condition of moral and social values, however, they proudly presents their materialistic life. This unbalance situation is because of the contribution of capitalism in modern society. The insatiable feature of capitalism results into accumulation of capital, which diminish the value of the human being and enhance the value of money an...