Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Modern capitalism and greed
Reflection of history of economic thoughts
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Modern capitalism and greed
Intended as a proprietor of interests of its citizens, American capitalism has been chosen by the Founding Fathers as their concept of the supreme governing force to establishing a productive, intellectually encouraging society for each individual citizen. Many supporters of capitalism look to it as the only way the interests of citizens can be adequately taken into account, allowing each to accrue unrestricted amounts of private property, while still maintaining a relatively large central government. The emphasis on individual profit has led to widespread success in the economic sector, allowing many to promote their skills to their own advantage. It relies on an invisible hand to guide the collection of the profits of individual effort to keep the economy stable for the benefit of all. It was originally intended to be system of returns, creating a trickle-down of the wealth of those that profited from capitalist enterprise to those that were not as fortunate.
It is evident that the definition of a “person” in a capitalistic society has developed into a secularized conception as an individual seeking fulfillment through the advancement of his own interest and reason. This change, often attributed to the modern concentration on logos in a scientifically- fixated society that derives understanding from research and reason, completely dismisses many religious concepts off of which the Constitution was written, and off of which the healthiest of societies can grow. The subconscious (though in some cases voluntary) acceptance of this in American culture has desensitized its people from the importance of relationship and communal support, leading to the loss of substantial numbers of people to poverty. From the lack of recent success...
... middle of paper ...
...ecember 2011.
Rand, Ayn, Nathaniel Branden, Alan Greenspan, and Robert Hessen. 1967. Capitalism: the unknown ideal. New York: Signet.
Rand, Ayn. 1943. The Fountainhead. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co.
Schieder, Manfred F. "Ayn Rand and Rational Egoism: The dynamo of human progress." Rebirth of Reason: Objectivism, Ayn Rand, Activism. http://rebirthofreason.com/Articles/Schieder/Ayn_Rand_and_Rational_Egoism_The_dynamo_of_human_progress.shtml (accessed December 9, 2011).
WIDFELDT, ANDERS. "Sweden." European Journal Of Political Research 45, no. 7/8 (December 2006): 1270-1274. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 10, 2011).
1967. "Nonworkers of the World, Unite!." Time 89, no. 22: 40. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 9, 2011).
The Guardian, "Inequality: The Mother of All Evils?." March 13, 2009, sec. Snapshot: The income Gap.
Berliner, Michael S., ed. Letters of Ayn Rand. By Ayn Rand. New York: Dutton, 1995.
Ayn Rand, a Russian-American philosopher who had influenced Western society in 20th century with her ideas of rational egoism, laissez-faire capitalism, elevation of reason and comprehensive philosophical system called Objectivism.
The Economist. “Inequality and the American Dream”. They Say I Say. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, Russel Durst. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2009. Print.
Berliner, Michael S., ed. Letters of Ayn Rand. By Ayn Rand. New York: Dutton, 1995.
Berliner, Michael S., ed. Letters of Ayn Rand. By Ayn Rand. New York: Dutton, 1995.
New Ideas from Dead Economists Lukas Fricke In this class we constantly talked about the free market place and how it truly made a government different. How it made a country different. How it made a people different. Today, we are going to explore the ideas of economics and how the economic greats, Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keyes, and Milton Friedman changed the ways we would forever do business.
Wilhelm, Heather “The Great Income Inequality Sham” Real Clear Politics. May 2013. Web. 29 Apr 2014.
...erican Capitalism." Introduction to Political Economy. 7th ed. Cambridge, MA: Dollars and Sense, Economic Affairs Bureau, 2005. 147-76. Print.
When one gets down to the roots of capitalism you find that it is a form of government that allows the rich to get richer, the poor, poorer and the middle class to stay the same. Karl Marx wrote a book, Kapital about the what capitalism does to the people in a society, how it takes the humainty out of being and replaces it with x. Not only does it do that but it creates a chain of commodities, fetishisis, and alienation within a society.
"Wealth Inequality in the United States." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Apr. 2014. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
Literature is often a key factor in understanding the meanings of certain philosophies. If philosophy were not explained to great extent in certain works of literature, man would have no means of understanding the crucial, insightful messages behind philosophy. One such philosophy, objectivism, is represented exceptionally in Ayn Rand’s novel, The Fountainhead. The compelling dialogue between the characters of the book allows one to uncover Ayn Rand’s own feelings towards objectivism. The connotations and the implications of several of the quotes within The Fountainhead accurately depict the essence of objectivism, as a way to live one’s life properly. They also encourage the opposition of convention through the telling of events that the novels main character, Howard Roark, goes through.
The essential nature of capitalism is social harmony through the pursuit of self interest. Under capitalism, the individuals pursuit of his own economic self interest simultaneously benefits the economic self interest of all others. In allowing each individual to act unhampered by government regulations, capitalism causes inventions, prosperity and ideas to be created in the most efficient manner possible which ultimately raises the standard of living, increasing opportunities and makes available an ever growing supply of products for everyone.
Sutter, John. “What is income inequality, anyway?” CNN. 29 Oct. 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.
Lynn Harsh (Nov. 2002). ‘Capitalism – A Deal with the Devil?’. Retrieved on Mar. 23 from:
Capitalism is what made our country strong, and it needs to be protected from its enemies. The study of capitalism reveals that this type of system inspires creative thinking and rewards successful innovation financially. This drives the economy forward in an excellent way. In his article, Arthur Brooks makes a strong argument which validates the need for free enterprise to remain unrestricted, and free to execute business unfettered (Brooks 545). He points to the intentions of our government, in its infancy, by quoting Thomas Jefferson, in regard to our economic system. Jefferson said at his first inaugural address "A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of bread it has earned" (qtd. in Brooks 545). In contrast, socialism is a system that advocates the control of production and distribution, of capital, and land. Socialism is more closely related to a command system, such as communism, than it is to capitalism. Communism distributes wealth equally to all. Robin hood is a fascinating tale that can be a demonstration of communism. Take from the rich and give it to the poor. Most people do not consider themselves to be wealthy. That is because it is human nature to alway...