Post date: Oct 18, 2010 1:21:27 PM
There have been many theories and ideas in the history of
mankind that have shaped our history and led us to where we
are now. The one theory that I believe that has had the most
impact on mankind is Capitalism. Capitalism is the
socioeconomic theory that has informed and shaped human
history for well over the past three hundred years. Started
as a professor's insight in Scotland, its widespread
adoption throughout the Continent has lead to an explosion
of changes that upended the world and is still causing it
profound disturbances or advantages depending on how you
look at it.
Based on the idea that the social good is best served byprivate pursuits (or so we were taught), it is almost Taoistin its simplicity and no less mystifying to some economistshonest enough to admit their befuddlement. In our day, ithas become just about the only way an average man can live,and even some rather morally extraordinary souls cannotremain untouched by it, whether compelled to work forwage-slavery or benefit themselves from the products ofwage-slavery.But what is one to do? There seems no other way to bestorganize society and its members. Communist China, thatgreat experiment in social engineering, has veered betweenrigid state planning to the loosest of state controls, andit can report egalitarian poverty and famine for all as wellas unequal access to wealth and security.So it's all well and good to criticize the failings of
capitalism, but perhaps no system can succeed completely. At
any rate, it does appear that capitalism, to borrow Winston
Churchill's comment on democracy, is "terrible but the best
we've got."
However, one is usually more likely to hit the bull's eye by
aiming for it, and part of trying to improve human
civilization increasingly involves the recognition that
capitalism is not the end-all and be-all of human progress
and development. It has brought awesome wonders, even as
Rome in her day was both fearsome and inspiring, but it too
shall pass as human beings continue to grow as a race and
learn to better and better manage their relations both
between themselves and within themselves.
In the 21st century no can really say true capitalism or
communism exist, most of the world is now a "Mixed Economy"
- a mixture of Public and Private Interest shaping and
guiding the progress of human history. Many theories have
come and gone some may stay till the end of time while other
may constantly change and adapt to our changing environment.
Seeing how lately a lot of attention is being given the well
being of our planet we might just see some changes come about
that may better our ways of living.
About the Author:
This article was written by Paul Wise. If you are looking for
more information about Capitalism, Paul recommends visiting
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