First Blog- Capitalism and Me

I have spent a considerable amount of time wondering what my first blog should say and how it will describe me.  I wanted to write my opinions on many important political issues that I consider to be very important.  However, I have come to the conclusion that I should write on each political issue individually and throughout time.   I will write them as they affect me or I am confronted with the issue in a significant way.

Having said that, I think the issue of the day is economics.  Firstly, I would like to announce that I am not an economist but am working on my Master’s in  Comparative  Politics (Political  Science, area of emphasis: the United States and Western Europe).  Obviously, the economy has a huge impact on the political realm and the life of a people in a society.  This has become increasingly apparent as the world has interacted with the most recent recession.  Due to these factors and Michael Moore’s most recent film, the economy is the issue I will discuss.

Michael Moore’s overall argument in his movie “Capitalism: A Love Story” is democracy should replace capitalism.   This might seem strange since democracy is not often thought of as a form for economics.  Capitalism and communism (as well as socialism) are often portrayed as the ways in which a country can run its economy.  According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of capitalism is “an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market”.  Conversely, communism is “a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production”.  These are the two forms: government run or the free market.

The form of economics, of course, I wish to discuss is capitalism.  The definition states that prices are “determined mainly by competition”.   The propaganda used in capitalism is everyone has an equal chance and the person/company who works the hardest, offers the best goods, and does the best will “make it”.  Capitalism does not advocate that everyone will “make it” in competing for their item of sale.  However, the question to seriously ask ourselves is: Does everyone have the same opportunity to even try and make it?