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Has capitalism increased hatred in the human race?

Has capitalism increased hatred in the human race?

  • Total voters
    67
Gee, another poll spammed by leftists with nothing better to do than skew the results of an online poll. :roll:

Here are the real results, if anyone is interested. Looks like the "nos" have it, not a big surprise.

greed.JPG
 
MildSteel said:
So you claim to be free of greed?
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I am not a greedy person. But that's not what we are talking about. I claim you are projecting your greed upon others. What other explanation could there possibly be? You are greedy, and therefore assume everyone else must be as well. In other words, typical lib.
 
countryboy said:
I am not a greedy person. But that's not what we are talking about.
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But that's what I'm talking about. If you are free from greed, then why are you so perturbed by the numbers in an informal poll? If you are free from greed, then why is it that what I am saying troubling you so? You say I am projecting my greed onto others, but at the same time you yourself are not free from greed. There are some intelligent people that post on here, although we may disagree, I think that very few of them would seriously put forward the notion that they are free from the quality of greed.
 
MildSteel said:
But that's what I'm talking about. If you are free from greed, then why are you so perturbed by the numbers in an informal poll? If you are free from greed, then why is it that what I am saying troubling you so? You say I am projecting my greed onto others, but at the same time you yourself are not free from greed. There are some intelligent people that post on here, although we may disagree, I think that very few of them would seriously put forward the notion that they are free from the quality of greed.
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Ah, I see. So, everyone is greedy. That's very convenient for your "theory". :roll:

Hate to break it to ya, not everyone is greedy.
 
MildSteel said:
Thoughtful people should try to devise and create mechanisms such that greed does not develop to the level that it becomes destructive.
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Lol !!

" Thoughtful people " ? Who and what determines who is " thoughtful " enough to create these mechanisms ? Because every " thoughtful" initiative to control Greed so far has included Tyrants, Dictators and Socialist initiatives that came with profound consequences.

When Chavez rolled in and Nationalized all of Venezuela's major industries it was under the pretense of " Fairness " and equality.

What he delivered was a large increase in State debt, inflation rates that are the highest in the world, private businesses have been expropriated private businesses, Nationalized Private Industries and private property.

Chavez railed against Capitalism while he implemented reforms that are responsible for the basket case that is Venezuela today.

The people that elected him weren't thoughtful, they were uneducated, easily manipulated and the perfect example of just how destructive low information voters can be to their Country and their people.

As a Thoughtful Conservative I don't want people like that ruining the futures of my Children and Grandchildren.
 
countryboy said:
Ah, I see. So, everyone is greedy. That's very convenient for your "theory". :roll:

Hate to break it to ya, not everyone is greedy.
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No, there are a very few people who are truly free from greed. But they are people who could care less about having money, sex, fame, power, or adoration. They are peaceful, tolerant, and merciful even to people who may hurt or kill them. They are very rare indeed.
 
MildSteel said:
No, there are a very few people who are truly free from greed. But they are people who could care less about having money, sex, fame, power, or adoration. They are peaceful, tolerant, and merciful even to people who may hurt or kill them. They are very rare indeed.
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I can see how hanging around a bunch of libs would give you that impression. Fortunately, it's not true. Again, you are mischaracterizing the meaning of the word "greed".
 
countryboy said:
I can see how hanging around a bunch of libs would give you that impression. Fortunately, it's not true. Again, you are mischaracterizing the meaning of the word "greed".
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No I'm not. I am repeating what has been said by persons in knowledge who could care less about politics and other mundane things.
 
MildSteel said:
No I'm not. I am repeating what has been said by persons in knowledge who could care less about politics and other mundane things.
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I can see that's your story, and you're stickin' to it. Fortunately, for the sake of the world, it's not true. Most people are not greedy. Greed is not synonymous with capitalism. That's just the way it is, get over it. If you want to be a commie so badly, move to N. Korea.
 
MildSteel said:
Capitalism is a mechanism by which individuals can accumulate vast amounts of wealth. Along with such wealth comes vast amounts of power in which the political system as well as the ideological environment in which people think can be influenced. With such power at their disposal, if people are not vigilant, the system can evolve over time into a tyrannical oligarchy. I personally find the recent erosion of civil liberties and privacy to be particularly troubling. It appears to me that in the name of security, we seem prepared now to sacrifice the very mechanisms that have allowed the nation to respond in the fashion that you referred to. We need to be careful.
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Of course we need to vigilant, our entire history is based on being vigilant. In fact one the main reasons for the US Constitution is to keep individuals from obtaining too much power. I think that people forget that we never have wanted a society that allowed individuals and groups more power than the government. So I really dont see why you keep pointing your finger at capitalism asserting that it makes people greedy when the problem really is that any economic system will have greedy people take over if there isnt any checks and balances.
 
countryboy said:
I can see that's your story, and you're stickin' to it. Fortunately, for the sake of the world, it's not true. Most people are not greedy.
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The bottom line is that you are still afflicted by the mentality of enemy and friend. So just like most people, myself included, you are not free from greed, although your arrogance will not let you see that.
 
MildSteel said:
The bottom line is that you are still afflicted by the mentality of enemy and friend. So just like most people, myself included, you are not free from greed, although your arrogance will not let you see that.
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Lol, I'm not arrogant either. So, wrong again. I think you should quit while you are behind. ;)
 
FreedomFromAll said:
Of course we need to vigilant, our entire history is based on being vigilant. In fact one the main reasons for the US Constitution is to keep individuals from obtaining too much power. I think that people forget that we never have wanted a society that allowed individuals and groups more power than the government. So I really dont see why you keep pointing your finger at capitalism asserting that it makes people greedy when the problem really is that any economic system will have greedy people take over if there isnt any checks and balances.
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I have told you why. It is a system the leverages greed in individuals to achieve increases in productivity. As such it has a tendency to bring out that quality in humans, more so than systems that attempt to focus on sharing and social responsibility. I have said it many times in this thread.
 
countryboy said:
Lol, I'm not arrogant either. So, wrong again. I think you should quit while you are behind.
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OK good for you. Knock yourself out. Sorry that I rocked your boat.
 
MildSteel said:
I have told you why. It is a system the leverages greed in individuals to achieve increases in productivity. As such it has a tendency to bring out that quality in humans, more so than systems that attempt to focus on sharing and social responsibility. I have said it many times in this thread.
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Sure there are people that are cynical enough to look at it that way. But that doesnt mean that everyone has such bias.
 
Capitalism might give a means to express some people's hatred or empathy, but I don't think that capitalism inherently promotes hatred or empathy, anything else with an emotional basis.

What you find you your heart is what capitalism might give greater means for expression.

So really, doesn't the question become 'are people more hating now than before', and to that question, I'd have to say no.
 
I believe the best form of capitalism has to have checks and balances thrown into the mix in order to promote the growth of a large, thriving middle class. Capitalism, in its purest form and without government intervention will lead to monopolization, abuse of resources, crowding out of competition, etc. When government limits monopolization, sets boundaries on corporate structure, etc a middle class is allowed to flourish, spend money, create the demand for competition, etc.

When government lays in bed with big business, capitalism dies and oligarchy thrives. This is what we are seeing around the world today, especially in America. Innovation and hard work cannot enter the market in such a system, where big business can stamp out any competition.

When government places too much control on business, socialism thrives and capitalism isn't allowed to flourish. This promotes a large lower class, where very few are allowed to excel up the ladder due to innovation and hard work.

Neither one is good. We need balance in capitalism.
 
FreedomFromAll said:
Sure there are people that are cynical enough to look at it that way. But that doesnt mean that everyone has such bias.
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Well me personally, I try very hard not to bear malice towards others in my mind. But I am not totally free from it, neither am I totally free from the quality of greed. They are qualities that one has to make the effort to avoid, otherwise they will consume a person. I have seen it happen even to people who mean well. But they become so absorbed in their self righteousness that they cannot see that they are being victimized by those qualities.
 
MildSteel said:
I would argue that such production and return, in practical terms, are based on the notion of greed. It is simply a part of human nature. The question is how to create an environment such that it does not develop to the extent that it becomes destructive to human civilization.
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Production and return are not based on greed. They are based on Love, or at least a concern for creating a better standard of living for fellow human beings. Sure one can find instances where harm was caused, knowingly, for the sake of profit; however that is the exception not the rule.
 
johndylan1 said:
Production and return are not based on greed. They are based on Love, or at least a concern for creating a better standard of living for fellow human beings. Sure one can find instances where harm was caused, knowingly, for the sake of profit; however that is the exception not the rule.
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Ok, whatever you say. But love is based on wanting to please the object of one's affection, even to the point of being willing to undergo perpetual suffering if it means that the object of one's affection is made happy by it. So if you think that is the way capitalist systems operate, then there is nothing I can say.
 
To be honest, I really haven't had any experience living under a socialist system. But one thing that I have observed is that the persons who really feel passionate enough about it that they can make it happen as a reality tend to become absorbed in a sense of self righteousness to the point where they start to feel that anyone who does not agree with them is an enemy that must be put down to one degree or another. Although the ideology is attractive in theory, personally I find that aspect disturbing. I don't think that is part of the ideology, but still, it makes me uncomfortable with it. Part of the reason is that, as I mentioned earlier, I have seen time and time again that people who mean well can sometimes become absorbed in such self righteousness that results in destructive behavior. Just saying.
 
I don't think there is any possible way you could prove or disprove that statement/question. Too many variables.

Personally, I think people are people, and people haven't really changed that much in quite awhile.

What has changed is how much access we have to info on damn near anything we want to know/believe.

So it may seem like more hatred exists, but I think it's just more visible.
 
Of course not... what causes hatred is injustice and that accompanies all systems of government.
 
MildSteel said:
Capitalism leverages the greed in humans to fuel productivity. However, greed is based on selfishness, which produces hatred of others.

As such, has the advance in capitalism resulted in an increase in hatred in the human race?
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Emphatically no. Talk to someone from Eastern Europe sometime who lived under Communism and ask them who they hated, the Capitalists in the West or the Communists. They'll just about lecture you about the ills of communism until you're deaf. Communists are generally hated far more by the people they represent than capitalists.



The average peasant is far better off thanks to capitalism and they know it.
 
MildSteel said:
Well me personally, I try very hard not to bear malice towards others in my mind. But I am not totally free from it, neither am I totally free from the quality of greed. They are qualities that one has to make the effort to avoid, otherwise they will consume a person. I have seen it happen even to people who mean well. But they become so absorbed in their self righteousness that they cannot see that they are being victimized by those qualities.
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If one isnt mature, emotions will get the best them.

So logically you and I live in a Capitalistic society, right? Then why are we not greedy bastards looking for profit and nothing else even if we exploit others? Are we special, more special than anyone else? Wouldnt our existence present a flaw in the assertion that Capitalism causes greed?
 
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