Capitalism Reflection
It seems that in the United States of
America Capitalism streams with grace. For
me capitalism seems to be the best
way for an economy to grow. Some may say,
capitalism is unfair in terms of
competition and giving the best possible price
to the consumer. Or that
capitalism creates classes where "the rich get richer
and the poor get
poorer". I’m no doctor of the economy, or a spokesperson
for all of America,
but I feel that company’s can be more profitable both in
an economic and a
personal standpoint by running a business based on capitalism.
Looking at
the predicament with competition, from most of my experiences at this
stage
of life for me, competition has done great things in terms of making
products
cheaper for me. For example, the computer hardware business, I built
a
computer one year ago using an Intel Pentium II 300mhz processor. I paid
$520
for the motherboard and processor. Since AMD (a competitor of Intel)
came out
with the AMD K-6-2 processor, Intel’s prices have dropped
considerably. As a
matter of fact, I was on the Internet just yesterday and
saw that I could by an
Intel Pentium II 333mhz processor and a
motherboard for just $335. It’s just
too bad that I couldn’t say the same for
Microsoft’s prices. But that topic
alone could spawn a novel. I think that of
late, many Americans have less faith
in their government than they did 50
years ago. And having the government
control the country’s industry would
create all kinds of dilemmas. I was
thinking about the statement "the rich
get richer and the poor get poorer"
and also about capitalism creating
economic classes among society. Again, I’m
not a economics major, so the next
few statements are going to be based on my
assumption that - the difference
between say, a doctors salary and a janitors
salary in a capitalist economy
would be much more significant than in a
socialist economy. With that being
said, I think that a capitalist economy can
promote much more motivation for
self improvement and fulfillment than a
socialist economy can provide. Lets
say you went to college for four, six, or
even eight years to be a business
executive. And the guy pushing the mail cart
who, perhaps, dropped out of
school in the 11th grade, was pulling in about the
same amount as you are,
now what’s that going to do for your motivation or
dignity for that matter?
Why bother going through all that work and mental
stress when we can be
lackadaisical and unproductive but still receive the same
opportunities and
benefits as the executives (kind of like Union workers –
Just Kidding)?
The point I’m trying to make is, most people like rewards, and
most people
like accomplishment. It just seems that capitalism can offer more to
the
society and its individuals by allowing them to set and work towards
goals.
Plus by providing a good standard of living for workers I think
capitalism helps
to allow people to gain confidence in their government.
Getting away form
capitalism, there are a lot of stupid and foolish laws that
exist today but most
are ethical. It appears that what is an ethical
guideline for most of us today,
often will be translated to law or regulation
some time in the future. I find it
strange how ethics and morals are learned.
I mean, I feel that I am a fairly
ethical person, especially in public places
like, work or school. A little
common sense can get you the basics of morals
and ethics. In the work place,
attention to the ethics beyond the basics
looks to be deteriorated for many
companies and employees for that matter.
Consequently, it looks like there is no
clear moral conductor to guide upper
management about what is right or wrong.
But, for me its confusing to
learn because there are so many different ways to
look at ethics, similar to
religion, how do you know really what style is best
for you and your
surroundings, or maybe, the best is a little of each?