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With the 2008 crash there is plenty of examples of incompetent/unethical/(possibly)illegal actions taken by government, industry and consumers that helped cause

by opo 7y ago

With the 2008 crash there is plenty of examples of incompetent/unethical/(possibly)illegal actions taken by government, industry and consumers that helped cause it. Also economists came up with many possible suggestions (often contradictory) to make the system better so it doesn't happen again. While the causes and recommended solutions to the great recession are still being debated, most people would say the mixed economy we have is capitalist. So I find it odd that someone would claim we didn't have a capitalist system in 2008. Can you give a link to an example?

winstonewert 7y ago
Here's a link. It doesn't specifically address the 2008 crisis, but I think it does explain why some would say that America is not capitalist. https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/bernie-not-socialist-america-not-capitalist https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/bernie-not-soci... To summarize the issue: we have a mixed economy. We do not have what advocates of capitalism want: a purely capitalist economy (or at least something much closer to that). That's why they would say we do not have a capitalist economy.
- opo 7y ago
  >...To summarize the issue: we have a mixed economy. We do not have what advocates of capitalism want: a purely capitalist econom ... I agree. I asked for an example in my message, since, as you point out I've never heard a "pro-capitalist" singling out the 2008 crisis as "oh that wasn't real capitalism". People might want to narrowly define the meaning of a capitalist economic system but that is a bit different than what it looked like the OP was writing.
  - orthecreedence 7y ago
    If you want, oh, about a million such instances of capitalists denying 2008 as a "capitalist event," hang out on https://www.reddit.com/r/CapitalismVSocialism/ https://www.reddit.com/r/CapitalismVSocialism/ for a day. For every socialist who says the USSR was not actually socialist, there is a capitalist who will deny any bad thing happening under capitalism being related to capitalism itself. It's always the government's fault. As if the government made bankers bet on bets on bets on bets on instruments founded in shaky debt. This type of runaway effect is only possible in a system that supports the commodification of anything.

by opo 7y ago

winstonewert 7y ago

Here's a link. It doesn't specifically address the 2008 crisis, but I think it does explain why some would say that America is not capitalist. https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/bernie-not-socialist-america-not-capitalist https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/bernie-not-soci... To summarize the issue: we have a mixed economy. We do not have what advocates of capitalism want: a purely capitalist economy (or at least something much closer to that). That's why they would say we do not have a capitalist economy.

opo 7y ago
>...To summarize the issue: we have a mixed economy. We do not have what advocates of capitalism want: a purely capitalist econom ... I agree. I asked for an example in my message, since, as you point out I've never heard a "pro-capitalist" singling out the 2008 crisis as "oh that wasn't real capitalism". People might want to narrowly define the meaning of a capitalist economic system but that is a bit different than what it looked like the OP was writing.
- orthecreedence 7y ago
  If you want, oh, about a million such instances of capitalists denying 2008 as a "capitalist event," hang out on https://www.reddit.com/r/CapitalismVSocialism/ https://www.reddit.com/r/CapitalismVSocialism/ for a day. For every socialist who says the USSR was not actually socialist, there is a capitalist who will deny any bad thing happening under capitalism being related to capitalism itself. It's always the government's fault. As if the government made bankers bet on bets on bets on bets on instruments founded in shaky debt. This type of runaway effect is only possible in a system that supports the commodification of anything.