Capitalism: An Atypical Perspective on a Stark Reality

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Many people believe that capitalism has made a positive impact on the world, making it a better place to live in. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, in his article, “Making capitalism more creative” supports this belief. He emphasizes how capitalism has transformed this world and how it would make life better off in the future. Gates also stresses on how governments and different companies can involve new people in the capitalist setup to decrease economic disparity. However, capitalism is not as beneficial as Gates puts it. It has a dark side with respect to economic inequality, government involvement, new markets and social responsibility.

Capitalism, as a system is bound to increase economic disparity. Bill Gates argues that this system would make huge progress in terms of reducing the divide between the rich and the poor (1). However, capitalism would cause disparity not only within a country but also between different countries. A free market would ensure an increase in inequality because the wages of the working class never increase proportionate to the economic growth. This happens because of “inflation, rapid economic growth, the decline in the power of unions and their influence as well as the exchange rate of the dollar” (Thompson). The owners of companies always get the benefits whereas the labor receives very little for the work it has put into the products (Hanks). In terms of disparity between countries, capitalism, while proposing free trade, emphasizes the need for specialization. This specialization increases the divide between the first world and third world. The third world consists of countries which specialize in the primary industry whereas the first world concentrates on the secondary industry. The seco...

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...5. Web. .

Gates, Bill. "Making Capitalism More Creative." TIME 31 July 2008: 1-3. TIME. Web. .

Hanks, Craig D. "Social Benchmarks." Social Benchmarks. May 2009. Web. .

Millies, Stephen. "How United Fruit Robbed and Killed the People of Central America." Workers World. 3 Oct. 1996. Web. .

Smith, S. E. "What Is Predatory Pricing?" Web. .

Spaulding, William C. "Predatory Pricing - Microsoft's Modus Operandi." Web. .

Thompson, Michael J. "Capitalism Resurgent." Web. .

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