All systems will dictate how the people within them think. This why normally good intentioned people end up doing things that are agaisnt their own principles.
I was raised with the constant mantra of "Capitalism is the best system. There is nothing that compares to it." And in addition to this, it was always framed as Capitalism vs. Communism. Those are your choices. But what if both systems are crap? What if I am choosing between getting popped in the jaw or having a shot put dropped on my foot?
Capitalism is the evolution of trading things. I made a sharp thingy that cuts objects, and some other person has a goat I could use. We trade, and in the process we are both better off than we were before. But in this scenario, the meaning behind the action, the "why am I doing this" part of it is about helping my family and my extended family, or friends.
Capitalism is about hording objects. This applies on the consumer end, but more importantly, it applies on the business owner end, the producer/manufacturer. Money is an object that can be horded. Profit is added to the equation. The trading of objects now becomes about "how can I help myself". What is not stated in the approach is ".. and not help others or be concerned with them." Because of the amazingly large scale that items are traded over this globe, the profit potential is huge. Due to the system though, an inevitable mind set is brought about.
The only way to survive or get ahead in a Capitalist system is to make things cheaper.
This is where the system dictates how one thinks. The free market proponents will tell you that this not true, if you make something too cheap, people will not buy your product and you go out of business. The facts though, do not come close to supporting this. Two key points about this:
- A toaster made int he 30's is not like a toaster made today. Why? Because the mind set is different. One is "How can I make a product that is useful for the people that might buy it?" This produces the action of making a quality product that will last a very long time. It is the same approach one would take if they were making it themselves, just like the person in the example above who made their own knife. Compared to the mind set today which states "How can I make a product that will be useful for me by making me more money?" You will never see toasters made like they were in the 30's. You could actually repair them. Now we have accepted that you will need a new one after a while.
- There is a threshold for starting a new company that is producing an existing product. The market dictates that you cannot enter an established market by selling something at a higher price. You will not survive. No one will buy it because there other similar products that are available for cheaper. Furthermore, prices can only go down. That is competition affecting the system. Quality affects price and you will not survive by raising your prices. The whole notion that competition will balance everything out only works in the downward direction. The system usually does not reward those who make a better quality product. It only has to be good enough.
Since raising prices is not good for survival, how do you make things cheaper? The ways that products are made cheaper:
Cheaper materials
Cheaper labor
lesser quality design
The effects that these actions have for our society:
Cheaper materials - it means materials that may be harmful to the user are considered. It also means it is more likely to break and become useless, thus robbing the consumer or resources that would go toward the family because they have to go get a new one.
Cheaper labor - The best example I saw recently is that tomatoes from California are shipped to Mexico to be packed then shipped back for sale in the US. As Lewis Black would say "DON'T think about that for more than 2 seconds, or your head will explode." I think we have all seen the result of using cheaper labor and it has left America in an awful bind.
The key to all of this is the mind sets. One is where a concern about the welfare of your immediate family and items that would help toward that goal, vs. concern about my profits, which means in the end, because the system dictates there are only so many ways to achieve this, the society gets bleed to death. Remember, there is a CEO who needs to build a golf course in his backyard, so we need to find somewhere to cut corners in order to make this happen.
Things that capitalism has made cheaper in my life time:
Christmas. You could even argue that due to capitalism, the North Pole will disappear, thus killing Santa Claus, or at least forcing us to create a new icon.
Olympics.
Music. All I have to say is Brittney Spears.
Movies.
Guitar amps. I now make my own. And guess what they are modeled after, that's right, the old ones. Why, because they quite simply sound better.
Cars. Now you can argue that the technology that goes into today's engines is definitely superior, BUT, I have seen those front grills of big trucks with all that manly, shiny chrome steel, but when you go to touch it, oops, its just plastic. Yeah, I am tough now. It just has to be good enough.
Voting. It just has to be good enough.