Poll: Capitalism or Communism?

[RickyRich]

Communism works. In theory.

Capitalism works. In theory.

Both are shitty in reality, but at least Communism sounds better on paper.

This is actually the best answer to the question. Bravo.

 

[park92]

i would say capitalism but communism could work if there was unlimited resources

 

[Tselis]

A mix of both, society should take care of it's own, or you get the shit running rampent in U.S.A. now. People should have a chance to exceed on their own though, and reap the rewards of their hard work.

 

[hawkeye52]

Communism looks nicer on paper but relies on the fact that one person is not going to be a dick and try and take over and form a dictatorship.

Capitalism looks nice on paper but relies on the fact that everyone is not going to be a dick to each other or that a single conglomerate of people acquire so much power(money) that they gain enough power as to the point where they can form a dictatorship in the shadows.

One has a longer incubation period then the other to have a bad end result and I believe you can see which has that and has had that period so that we are in the state that we are now.

 

[uzo]

Capitalism.

Because in most Communist societies you wouldn't be having this conversation.

 

[kickyourass]

A little bit of both would probably work best with a mild leaning towards the capitalism.

Even though I've often thought that a communist government might work if it was placed in the hands of someone who was NOT a total psychopath, say someone would maybe CARE if millions of their people were starving to death, I'll stick with capitalism.

 

[Iron Lightning]

How something in the middle?

That sounds good to me.

 

[r_Chance]

I was wondering what the general consensus is, please comment and tell us why.
My vote goes to Capitalism, because imo if you say Communism, you haven't seen/been in a Communist country.

You pretty much said what needed to be said.

 

[psijac]

Capitalism. It's shown to be a bit more successful than communism. You don't see any starving Americans.

Are you serious? No starving Americans? There are probably no homeless people either and everyone has free healthcare.

have you seen how *fat* poor americans are? www.peopleofwalmart.com

 

[psijac]

The problem is no one in there right mind wants power. So good people don't run for office greedy narcissistic people do. Between the choice to do good or stay in power they will always choose to stay in power.

http://youtu.be/IP_tC2dYX3o

 

[Acting like a FOOL]

State communism is Totalitarian(USSR,N.Korea,China)hopefully I don't have to explain why that's bad.

State Socialism enslaves the citizens to the debts of their governments(EU,USA,a few developing nations) not to mention that socialism for the people always winds up being socialism for the rich and connected. because after all, the wealth that makes the socialism possible is created in the private sector through financing, production and labor so corruption is inevitable.

fact: market economies provide more for people than command economies.
fact: free nations always achieve better standards of living than nations under tyranny.
fact: economic freedom correlates with economic security and growth because they are directly related.

So, if you now understand that all options that lead towards economies of command need to be moved off the table, we can actually work towards something reasonable and voluntary instead of superstitious and coercive.

 

[MrGalactus]

In Communism, if one person gets lazy, the system crumbles.
In Capitalism, if one person gets greedy, the system crumbles.

Capitalism. It's shown to be a bit more successful than communism. You don't see any starving Americans.

Are you serious? No starving Americans? There are probably no homeless people either and everyone has free healthcare.

have you seen how *fat* poor americans are? www.peopleofwalmart.com

Well, McDonalds is cheaper than cooking, so, it happens.

Communism has been tried again and again and again and it JUST DOESN'T WORK! It's well intentioned but fundamentally flawed.

Capitalism has been tried again and again and again and it JUST DOESN'T WORK! It's well intentioned but fundamentally flawed.

America is still kickin'. Granted it's in a rough spot, but Capitalism has lasted us this far. USSR didn't even reach it's 100th birthday.

Surely that's because they spent all their money on nukes and luxuries for their leaders, no?

 

[lacktheknack]

So, has all balance on the internet finally died? It certainly seems that way.

 

[davogovernor]

Communism has been tried and tried and it doesn't work while capitalism has worked and lasted through out the ages

 

[Me55enger]

Surely the success of one over the other would be to whoever can afford the biggest set of guns.

All communist and socialist states going bankrupt and collapsing because communism doesn't work might've had something to do with it.

Cuba is doing fantastically at the moment. I've been there. Thriving and young tourism industry, combined with teade agreements with Canadia and whatever is left of the EU.

And it seems the North Korea can still afford to throw a pretend nuclear missle into the japanese sea once a year.

And last time i listened to the BBC, China isnt too bad either, in terms of economics.

Merely speculative, as i suspect many a person is thinking the R word...

Ends in ussia.

 

[Sarge034]

I voted capitalism only because a communist state will immediately turn into a dictatorship. A capitalist state takes time to turn into an oligarchy.

"Capitalism sucks, but it is better than anything else we have right now." - TheGodofEntropy

Bioshock quote for those who don't get it. Look it up. I'm serious. NOW!!! (I'm talking about the picture.)

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

Communism doesn't work not, because that goes against human nature. Basically "sharin' and carin'" is nice and dandy, but as long as there are assholes in our world this won't work.

Capitalism is just the best option we have at the moment. It not "good" but "not as bad as..".
And with certain regulations it could actually work.
Social market economy is the way to go in my opinion.

 

[hexFrank202]

Most scholars estimate that the USSR was responsible for about 20 million deaths throughout its existence, with most of those occurring during the Stalin era (1922-53). So if we are so critical of the Soviets for this, should we not be equally if not more critical of ourselves for that same number of people who die every five years due to poverty...

You need to elaborate on these figures. Which countries are these? Which countries have the most poverty related deaths?

...which is a necessary component of the system of global capitalism that we have imposed?

That's a terribly backwards way of describing 'the lower class'. Here in America, I can find a part-time job, work for a day, and now have enough money to feed myself for as much as four days.

If I work consistently, I can afford shelter, running water, whatever food I want to eat, a car, a cell-phone, a refrigerator, a TV with cable and a laptop, with a low paying job. Used to be, you had to sweat your ass off twelve hours a day just to barely have a decent meal. I don't know how comfy it is in your country, but however good it is, it's all capitalism's fault.

You look at the homeless people in America (or your own country, whatever) and think 'you know what we need to do? We should make everybody as dirt poor as that.'

"In communism, there are no "people in charge"."
Really? Explain.

It would be my honour to be allowed to hold a mirror up to you right now.

It's spelled 'honor' dude. I'll accept your country's habit of putting 'u's in words all the time when you accept your country's decline caused by socialism and its failed healthcare system.

Person B taking something from person C, D, E, F, G and H against their wills, that's what socialism and communism is. Person B is the government.

"That's capitalism. Person B is the capitalist class."
The 'capitalist class'? For someone who keeps going 'You don't know what socialism IS; and you never read a word of Marx.' you sure do have a lot of incorrect ideas about how capitalism works. But of course, that's a given, because anybody who thinks as lowly of it as you has to not actually understand it.

I abhor the ritual worship of "growth" as an end in itself, rather than as a means to an end. As if growth is a panacea for all our problems. Growth just means that things get bigger. It doesn't imply that any kind of progress or improvement is being made. It just means that things carry on as they always have done.

Okay, I have to give you that point. I admit, while capitalism does 'spread the wealth' better than any other means; while it does make the rich richer and the poor richer at the same time, it doesn't really make the world a better place. With only a few rare exceptions, like...

Telephones
Television
Cars
Planes
Computers
The internet
Light bulbs
Fucking electricity

Yeah so I have to hand it to you that capitalism has only completely changed the world for the better about eight times in the last hundred-and-twenty years or so. I'm sure this imaginary dream country with 'perfect communism' you have in your head would do much better!

 

[Cyd0n1a]

For those of you saying that communism hasn't exactly had a stellar record in history, I have this to say: The socities of the USSR and China were totalitarian dictatorships, not Marxist communistic ones. The scale of the error being made when saying that communism doesn't work and the Soviet Union is a fine example of why it doesn't, is vast.

I think that the best possible solution is a blend of the two, government control (and things like mandated healthcare and relatively high taxes so that a welfare state can be upheld) and limited corporate freedom. Both socialism and capitalism are needed (though I would argue that socialism should outweigh capitalism in this utopian vision of mine).

Also, if you want prime examples of socialism done well in a modern country, take a look at today's Venezuela or perhaps even Finland.