Hacker Read top | best | new | newcomments | leaders | about | bookmarklet login

The United States is a capitalist country. If you don't have capital, you're screwed.


sort by: page size:

This is a very important point. Similar to how most Americans think they are capitalists even if they don't have any capital.

You don't "become" capitalist, a capitalist has capital, and if you don't have any capital, you're not a capitalist.

Fair is fair: capital is what builds economies, capital wins wars, capital allows culture to form, capital makes resources available. And capital will go where it is best protected.

So a country that lets it's capital get destroyed is pretty much fucked.

This is the fundamental issue with most forms of communism, socialism and theocracy: they're perpetually short of capital.

Places like Northern Europe work very hard to simultaneously protect capital and human assets. And that's good. And we should emulate that. But all to often people try to down grade capital instead of upgrading people.

The places people so often think of as alternatives (Venezuela as a recent example) all too often fall for this error and doom themselves.


Capital != labor.

America is a Democracy or a Republic, not a "Capital-something". Capital is just a tool. A smart country reaches into its toolbox and chooses the best tool for the job. Extreme models; extreme capitalism, extreme free-market views, etc... will always get you into trouble. It pays to be agile.

Should we bail out GM? I don't want to, but if we do it won't crack my top 10 list of things the gov wasted money on over the last 20 years.


Under capitalism, it's good to own capital, naturally. You can start by saving a $100.

Lack of capital.

All capitalist countries appease the rich. It's how capitalism works. Capital means wealth.

Yeah, people should never say “we have no capital” when I see billions being used to buy bonds and prop up the stock market. It’s just ridiculous

Try building something without capital. It's really really hard.

In other words, the problem isn't capitalism, it is that capital often ends up in the hands of those least equipped to wield it well.

Capital is itself a product of labor.

It's funny to think we have reached point in capitalism where there is too much capital. I wonder if there is any underserved actually profitable places to put it at least in the west...

The capital in capitalism literally refers to using money to make money.

In the US, the vast majority of gross national income goes to labor not capital. FWIW.

Access to capital in a capitalist economy isn't important?

Lack of access to capital.

Capitalism has resulted in us drowning in capital. This seems to me to be a statement about its success, not its failure(s). Would the alternative (scarce, expensive capital) be better?

Maybe we're just not capitalistic enough. No cash without capital: http://Catallax.info
next

Legal | privacy