…economically
Everyone agrees that we gotta take care of our physiological needs: food, shelter, sex etc, before anything else – even if we’ve never heard about Maslow and his “hierarchy of needs”!! And to satisfy those needs in our present world, we need money – which we get from working for others or for ourselves. Now, without getting too heavy, it’s unanimously agreed that the SYSTEM that best delivers the goods to satisfy our needs is capitalism – wherein those who got the “capital to open up businesses to produce the said goods own the factories or farms etc, and employ others for a salary.
Now, if you just think about it, this would produce a society wherein those who own the “means of production” – in the words of one critic – would get steadily richer. Surely, you wouldn’t keep the business going if you weren’t making profits – which, if you don’t splurge it away in wine, women, and song! – will create your wealth!! And this state of affairs has been trenchantly criticized for “the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer” – and all sorts of “fixes” have been proposed and tried.
Burnham tried one he called “cooperative socialism”. And without getting into all the shameful details – it failed abysmally! Rather than fulfilling its goal to “feed, clothe and house” the people, they became hungry, naked and homeless!! Russia tried another version, with the state owning everything without the “profit motive”, and that also collapsed after 70 years. Finally, we have China presently combining state ownership with the profit motive, and doing pretty well, since all the capital was pumped in by American Capitalists who were only interested in profits in THEIR country!!
In Guyana, we finally got some money to help us take off more than the “bare necessities”. And the question is what system do we use to achieve our goal? To your Eyewitness, the answer is a “no-brainer”: capitalism!! So, the other question is whether he wants “the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer”. But actually, that statement isn’t correct!! While there’s no question capitalists will get richer, the WORKERS will also get richer, and have a higher standard of living than before. However, since “rich and poor” are relative terms, they’ll be poorer!!
Take India, for instance, where one study by a fella named Piketty says INEQUALITY there is even starker than during British days!! But imagine saying that CONDITIONS for the poor were better then?? When there was famine and over FIFTY million perished from starvation?? Ha!!
The point is – as another wise one said – if a certain inequality is necessary to raise the rest of society up, then so be it!! All boats will rise!!
