Cyprus-Forum.com

[Lordo]

Varufakis has his finger on the pulse when he describes how Capitalism works.

[Lordo]

How does it interact with democracy?
German Finance minister said:

Elections cannot be allowed to change economic policy

How revealing indeed.

[Paphitis]

How does it interact with democracy?
German Finance minister said:

Elections cannot be allowed to change economic policy

How revealing indeed.

Capitalism is free commerce, free trade and the ability of the citizenry to be entrepreneurs.

It inherently means decreased government interference but more tax revenue for the state through productivity.

Capitalism also sparks competitiveness in the marketplace, as well as innovation, inventions and so on for the betterment of society and the general public at large and has the greater impact on our lives.

For example. Amerika. Probably the most perfect of all examples to portray capitalism. It's a free capitalistic market with great innovations in the marketplace with things that effect our day to day lives each day - microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon, Car Industry at great prices, computer chips, motherboards and other gadgetry.

No other country has done any such thing to this level.

It looks like Varukuckis needs to start looking for cheap airfares to Mother Ruzzia.

And yet his daughter lives in Sydney. One of the most capitalist cities in the world in one of the most capitalist of nations. I really do not understand why people like this send their kids to live in a country where they don't like the political and financial structures they operate under. It must be a total burden for her. Varufuckis needs to get her out ASAP.

Having to deal with all this free market capitalism and democracy must be very hard for her.

[repulsewarrior]

...all of it based on Plunder, Paphitis; that the world's resources are endless. Don't forget, even by Capitalism's rules, there is a price for everything.

[Paphitis]

...all of it based on Plunder, Paphitis; that the world's resources are endless. Don't forget, even by Capitalism's rules, there is a price for everything.

No it's not!

We have consumerism in the USA and its got nothing to do with plunder. We are addicted to our tech and gadgetry, and even vanity materialistic things like BOSE headsets that cost a bit just so we can listen to music when going for a walk or jog. Believe me, I know all about noise cancelling headsets, and have always invested heavily in them as a pilot, but now these products are available for the general public and this is where it becomes a vanity purchase because do you really need it? Probably not. But for pilots, yes they are needed. Vital tool for the Flight Bag. It's the way the market is. Now though, the general public are buying this tech and they are willing to pay for them. Supply and demand.

But all these things improve our quality of living and comfort. Which is why people buy them.

That's what it is all about and we lap it up like little puppies or children in a candy store. It's business 101.

And it sure is way better here than in Ruzzia or Chy-na (although Chy-na is becoming like the US exactly). And its for good reason. Capitalism is what gives birth to great products, services and material things that feed our vanity and also improves our lives and it also creates competitive behavior to deliver those products and services to the public at cheaper prices.

The alternative is Communism and allowing the Government to stifle such free enterprise and in those countries you end up with a quality of life similar to those found in Ruzzia and North Korea where people can't enjoy the abundances and excesses of our lives in the west. Which would you prefer?

[repulsewarrior]

...what is Climate Change, but the result of plunder?

[Lordo]

...what is Climate Change, but the result of plunder?

You have hit the nail on the head RW.

In UK it started with:

The Inclosure Acts, which cover enclosure of open fields and common land in England and Wales, creating legal property rights to land previously held in common. Between 1604 and 1914, over 5,200 individual enclosure acts were passed, affecting 28,000 km2

So the land that belonged to the people was taken away from them which meant they no longer were able to support themselves or their families. They were made to look for work and work for those who stole their land and got paid by them a wage which was controlled by their master. Of course the food they grew belonged to master and the price charged was also dictated by the master.

Same thing happened in America too. Before the Europeans invaded America, the natives had no private ownership. Land was divided according to tribes and was owned by the members of the tribe. Then the Europeans came along and their land was taken from them while they were enclosed in the reservations.

Treaty of Hopewell
In 1785, the Treaty of Hopewell was signed in Georgia—the largest state at the time—placing the native Cherokees under the protection of a young United States and setting boundaries for their land.

But it wasn’t long before European settlers intruded on Cherokee land. The Cherokees cried foul and revolted against the white settlements. To reestablish peace between the Cherokees and the settlers, the Treaty of Holston was signed in 1791 in which the Cherokees agreed to give up all land outside of their established borders

The stolen lands were distributed to the Europeans free of charge. It did not take long for the Capitalists to buy these lands on the cheap by the millions of acres. So the Farmers then started working for the new owners and naturally found und it hard to make ends meat.

Capitalism like cancer set into the system.

Something very similar happened in Russia when the Soviet Union collapsed. The public were given shares of the Industrial complex but as they were again so poor were forced to sell their shares ata fraction of their worth so as to put food on the table.

[Lordo]

But what is really Capitalism? True example of capitalism is what happened in this incident.

Shkreli rose to notoriety after he hiked the price of life-saving AIDS treatment Daraprim to $750 a pill from $17.50 after obtaining the exclusive rights to it in 2015.

He bought the company and pushed the price up from 17,50 to 750. All legal and above board.

[Lordo]

But there are some myths about Capitalism and how we progressed because of it. This is simply not true, we progressed despite it.

There are 6 inventions which todays world is built on.
1. Jet Engine - designed by an Frank Whittle and got paid about 100K before his patent was taken away from him.
2. Rocket Engine - Designed by the Nazis and stolen by Americans and the Russians after WW2
3. Nuclear Energy - again designed by the Nazis but not quite completed before the end of the WW2 and again the scientists taken to Russia and America
4. Internet - Designed by American Department of Defence and UCLA.
5. WWW was invented by Tim Burners Lee while working at CERN
6, Penicillin- invented by Alexander Fleming while working at St Mary's Hospital in London

I see no private capitalist invent anything here.

[Lordo]

People confuse Entrepreneur with Capitalist.

1. Meaning - An entrepreneur is a person or group of persons, who carries out activities relating to the establishment of industry and innovations. A capitalist is a person who provides capital for any industry.

2. Status: The entrepreneur is the owner of the industry. The status of the capitalist in the industry is that of a debt provider.

3. Function: The function of the entrepreneur (owner) is to undertake risks. The function of the capitalist is to make capital available.

4. Reward - The entrepreneur gets profits as a reward for his services and risks. The capitalist gets interested as a return on the capital invested by him.

5. Policy Formulation - Normally, the entrepreneurs perform the functions of policy formulation for the industry. Capitalists do not formulate the policies. Although board of directors of the companies includes the representatives of the finance providing institutions.

6. Undertaking of Risks - The entrepreneur faces several risks and uncertainties in the establishment of industries and activities of innovations. The function of the capitalist is to invest capital. He has not to undertake risks like entrepreneurs.

7. Certainty of Income - The income of the entrepreneur is uncertain. He may or may not earn profits. The interest receivable by the capitalist on investment is certain. Hence, his income is certain.

Capitalists also carry out asset stripping of firms they take control of to maximize their profit without any thought for the workers who lose their jobs,