Economic Blog

We've read a few pieces recently about commerce and capitalism, individualism and collectivism. Taking to mind especially the most recent readings on Creative Capitalism and on labor unions, please blog about your opinion on the following:

Is it possible given human nature that, as Gates says, we can "create a world where no one has to live on a dollar a day or die from a disease we know how to prevent?" Can capitalism and humanism co-exist to the point where all have basic human rights and the opportunity to pursue economic aggrandizement? Can workers get to a place where they have fair wages and benefits everywhere? If not, why? If so, what do you think has to happen for us to get there?

In my opinion, it is essentially the thought of an idealist that we can create the world that is essentially almost perfect. To me, it seems that the natural flow of the world works in a fashion that is best explained by Chaos Theory, otherwise known as the Butterfly Effect. A certain event occurring will have an effect somewhere else. For example, people talk about eliminating crime once and for all. Not only is this improbable, but it also causes one to think- what will happen to millions of jobs? That would render Law Enforcement null and the Judicial System's docket would be cut down severely, thus causing millions of people to loose jobs. Some might say that this is pessimistic or even just downright horrible; I say that even though it is not ideal, it is the way that things are. So when someone proposes a world where disease is virtually non-existent, I say that it is impossible (I realize this is tackling one section of the quote, but it is an easy example). Especially given human nature, this is not possible; although Bill Gates is donating billions (and the addition of Warren Buffets' vast fortune is not overlooked), it is still not enough, and not enough wealthy people in the world share Bill Gates sense of philanthropy.

I also believe that capitalism and humanism cannot exist in perfect harmony because to me, the entire concept of capitalism is essentially Economic Darwinism. As for fair wages and benefits, this is something that is a bit more probable. However, many Americans do not realize that cheap labor is a large part of the reason for the lower cost of goods in the United States. Therefore, while conditions might improve (particularly for migrant workers, illegal or not), some may claim that they always deserve more.