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I think you've got it all backwards. We created capitalism in our image, not the other way around. Capitalism is also what achieved those things which you are s

by shawnz 7y ago

I think you've got it all backwards. We created capitalism in our image, not the other way around. Capitalism is also what achieved those things which you are suggesting we should retake in the first place. Would it be better to not have capitalism if it meant not having those things?

tsimionescu 7y ago
Capitalism and human rights have nothing to do with each other. There are capitalist nations, such as Denmark or the US, which have pretty decent human rights for their own citizens at least. And there are other capitalist nations, such as China or the USSR, which have very bad track records on human rights. And no, state capitalism, such as you can find in China or the USSR, is not socialism or communism, any more than North Korea is a people's republic.
- shawnz 7y ago
  I know there are capitalist nations which have weak human rights. But are there any non-capitalist nations which have strong human rights?
  - tsimionescu 7y ago
    There haven't really been non-capitalist functioning societies for a century I think. There have been short-lived experiments that quickly collapsed into either authoritarianism, war, or back to capitalism. However, if you accept one of these short-lived societies - the very early bolshevik/Soviet regime, immediately after the revolution and before Lenin assumed complete control, was the first nation in the world to recognize the rights of gays to a normal life, and had some other very high-minded rights for its citizens. Of course, that very quickly ended and became one of the most vicious regimes in history... If you look at older societies, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois confederacy) in North America actually inspired some of the ideas of the US constitution. I also think a place like Athens had relatively strong human rights, if we ignore their practice of slavery and treatment of women. By the way, when I say non-capitalist society, I am thinking of a society where the majority of the population is not working for a wage, and where most of the land and business is not owned by a small group of people ('the 0.1 percent' in the US, the party leadership in China or USSR).

by shawnz 7y ago

tsimionescu 7y ago

Capitalism and human rights have nothing to do with each other. There are capitalist nations, such as Denmark or the US, which have pretty decent human rights for their own citizens at least. And there are other capitalist nations, such as China or the USSR, which have very bad track records on human rights. And no, state capitalism, such as you can find in China or the USSR, is not socialism or communism, any more than North Korea is a people's republic.

shawnz 7y ago
I know there are capitalist nations which have weak human rights. But are there any non-capitalist nations which have strong human rights?
- tsimionescu 7y ago
  There haven't really been non-capitalist functioning societies for a century I think. There have been short-lived experiments that quickly collapsed into either authoritarianism, war, or back to capitalism. However, if you accept one of these short-lived societies - the very early bolshevik/Soviet regime, immediately after the revolution and before Lenin assumed complete control, was the first nation in the world to recognize the rights of gays to a normal life, and had some other very high-minded rights for its citizens. Of course, that very quickly ended and became one of the most vicious regimes in history... If you look at older societies, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois confederacy) in North America actually inspired some of the ideas of the US constitution. I also think a place like Athens had relatively strong human rights, if we ignore their practice of slavery and treatment of women. By the way, when I say non-capitalist society, I am thinking of a society where the majority of the population is not working for a wage, and where most of the land and business is not owned by a small group of people ('the 0.1 percent' in the US, the party leadership in China or USSR).