Communism vs. Capitalism, which is really better?

[Dorkamongus]

Since I never grew up in the Cold War, I've never really got why our (USA) country is so paranoid about Communism. I mean, if you look at it, Communism is, theoretically, better. It's built around true equality for all humans. Every man, woman, and child is given what they need and some of what they want and any contrubution they make is for the "greater good". There's no need for money, since all needs are met. Granted, the whole idea of Communism falls down when put into practice, but the entirety of the blame seems to fall on the shoulders of the leaders, not the government itself.

Capitalism, on the other hand, is better in practice, but flawed theoretically. It is based essentially around greed. Money is the central pillar, the Bible, and God all wrapped into one package. If people need or want something, they get money (somehow) and buy it. In order to get money, they get jobs. To get the better jobs, They need education. To get that education, they need money. So, to get that money, they need to compete with other people for the lower level jobs. From what I can tell, Capitalism is essentially "survival of the smartest, fittest, most appealing, and most well connected."

So, which do you think is better, and why? Please put down your reason for saying so, and feel free to tear apart this OP for your counter arguements if you wish. I'm mainly just curious as to what other people think.

 

[Drake_Dercon]

Communism. It may be unsustainable, but with a very much-improved education system, I could see a version working.
Capitalism, on the other hand has proven unsustainable in a global economy (as proven by the recent recession). Greed driving profits isn't exactly a good idea when one must be conscious of seven billion other people. At a minimum, some form of socialism (also stigmatized, I'd like to point out that the only difference separating the moderately effective Capitalist US state from a terrible socialist one is free healthcare, which is a good idea to begin with) one needs to be adopted if the government controls more while the people control more of the government (and that education boost happens, too), we might be able to progress a little better.

 

[Souplex]

Capitalism is better for one simple reason: It has a goal.
In Communism everyone goes around being equal, and as a result they don't work towards anything.
In Capitalism the goal is to own the universe.

 

[Kpt._Rob]

Both suffer from one serious flaw. Humans.

I would say that neither is better, and honestly they're both pretty shitty. I live here in the US, and I HATE the things that I see come out of capitalism. I mean, if you think about some of the things that we run as for-profit here, it's absolutely sickening. Healthcare for instance, I don't want ANYONE to be profiting off my illnesses, because if they are, then the sicker I am, the more they profit, and I don't want to give people incentive to make me sick.

I would probably say that communism is better in theory, but theories are treacherous things.

Ultimately, I'm afraid there simply aren't any good answers.

 

[Baron Von Evil Satan]

In Theory: Communism

In Practice: Capitalism

Communism is unattainable due to the simple fact that if you give a human power at some point they WILL abuse it. There's no getting around it.

Capitalism really isn't based on greed. It's based on supply and demand. If there is a high demand for a product, but low supply then cost increases, and vice versa. While a merchant can hike up prices simply out of greed, chances are he won't stay in business long due to people buying less expensive versions of the same product from other merchants.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Meh, I would prefer a Benevolent Dictatorship, but too much power to one guy gets them in over their heads.

 

[Blue_vision]

In terms of ideology, communism is superior. Its basis is an economic system where everyone helps each other, and can easily result in perfectly sustainable economic systems.
Capitalism is not. It is based on a growth model that not only doesn't really give two shits about what kind of good its doing, but it just doesn't work in real life.

Communism in the USSR and friends failed for 2 reasons: it still adopted a competitive growth/nationalistic policy similar, if not identical, to American capitalism, and it ended up being less based on true communism, and more fascism with a communist cover.

A mixed system+green is by far the best solution, with super-super good social security and government services, far smaller local economies, all sustainably based. Capitalism has the opportunity (and is in fact the way) to operate in smaller scales, but the bigger picture is governed by people who know what's best for everyone, and the people themselves, directly. Not that hard an evolution, but as soon as you start saying universal health care and better education to those americans...

 

[viranimus]

Basically... there both flawed and pretty much for the same reason. They are good in theory.. but once you release it into the world and into the hands of people, people will find a way to exploit and corrupt it to their advantage.

Edit: In reevaluation I would have to say capitalisim is worse. With communism it can easily be toppled by the corruption of the people. However Capitalism is based on finding and exploiting advantage. So in turn its basically everyone looking for a way to screw someone else over.
Make no mistake. Capitalism is doomed to eventual failure just as much as communism was. Might not happen in our lifetime but it is coming. The problem with capitalism is that it is built on everyone buying low and selling high. Eventually the gap will become too wide. If everyone is selling cheap no one is able to make enough profit to sustain buying anything. It eventually gets to a rock bottom point where no one can afford anything. Much like how in our modern economy corporations ship jobs overseas in order to maximize profits by having their overhead lower. However they wont be able to sell their products because the people that lost the jobs making those products wont be able to afford to buy them.

 

[Kakashi on crack]

Theoretically speaking, Communism is the perfect system.

Physically in the owlrd htough, humans are too selfish, and governments are too power hungry for it to every be achieved. Even Russia was really socialist. (If you want to go into details so is capitalism)

Overall, as a real-world situation, I would go with capitalism due to the greater chance at a happy -real- life. In theory though, assuming communism was kept at its core beliefs, I would have to go with communism.

 

[Dango]

I like the ideals of communism, but I prefer the actual practice of capitalism.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

communism on paper, but capitalism seems to work for the most part

oh man..where is this one user...i think it is kair? they would go into pages of why communism is better and at any opportunity puts down capitalism and the us basically..

 

[Jelly ^.^]

You'll never eke a balanced discussion on the pitfalls and benefits of either side, or even agreed cohesive definitions of either on an American forum for consumers in the entertainment industry.

Sure get the popcorn out, but I don't see this thread going anywhere except in circles and then backwards off a cliff.

 

[SwagLordYoloson]

Capitalism, because you have to work for something, in communism there is no sense of achievement, yes everyone else has what you got, but you didn't have to work any harder than them or suck up to your boss any more.

 

[Velvo]

Communism in the real world has long been associated with the worst types of corruption that can be found in modern governments. Being an economic policy, there is nothing saying that a nation with a firm grounding in democracy and plenty of checks and balances couldn't make Communism work really really well. Seeing as this has never really happened (I mean, I'm amazed that ANY nation ever got a firm democracy with inherent checks and balances. Gotta love the 18th century!) we can't really say if it could work in the manner that Karl Marx expected it to (once having said that the worst country to try communism in was Russia, and the best one to try it in was the United States).

Capitalism has a very long and successful career since basically the invention of business. As an economic policy, we've had time to work out the kinks and keep things on the level. Greed can easily overtake any enterprise with enough money shoved into its nooks and crannies, and capitalism, while still full of money laden nooks and crannies, usually has plenty of regulations to make sure individual businesses stay legit.

All we need for Communism to work is to have a state that runs government businesses as tightly as Capitalist states already regulate businesses that are separate entities. That is to say, have a state that regulates itself, aka, checks and balances.

Hell, if the American founding fathers were responsible enough to include self-regulation into their own government, then I don't see why we can't do something like that now. Only, you know, better, cause we all see what happened to THAT country. Gosh what a nightmare. Still can't believe it actually happened. I mean, nuclear apocalypse? What a cliche.

 

[Trolldor]

False corrollary. The opposite to Communism is democracy.

 

[rekabdarb]

In a world were violence doesn't exist, communism.

But since there is greed and sin and blah blah blah capitalism is a decent replacement.

(Only Real 'Communist' is Jesus Christ)

 

[Romblen]

Capitalism, for the simple reason that it works in practice. Communism doesn't account for the fact that as humans, we don't want to be equal. We want to be better than everybody else, and capitalism is a way of working towards being better.

While not always the case, in capitalism, you usually get what you work for. Working more hours gives you more income. Going through college gives one more opportunities, and so on. In a system where everyone is equal, that would only apply if everyone put forth an equal amount of effort.

 

[Ultra_Caboose]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the only place that you'll find communism working exactly as it should is in Star Trek.

Both can be flawed when human nature is factored in, but capitalism is certainly the lesser of the two evils. Communism can turn to fascism really easily, and capitalism will more or less have freedom at the cost of shit being really expensive.

 

[Nifarious]

One isn't better than the other. There are bad and then decent versions of both. It all comes down to corruption, which is inevitable when power comes into play. Effective checks and balances are hard to come by. And the bigger the country, the bigger the problems. The way of life shouldn't be all that different for someone living in either economic system when its effective, so I think preferences are just polemics. Granted, my field isn't economics, and neither is it politics. But neither do I see questions like which religion is better going anywhere either. The problem is the word better.