The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism What is Capitalism? Is it good for our economy? What actions have drove us to our current position in today’s society? These are all questions answered in Robert P. Murphy’s The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism. Murphy describes Capitalism “as a system in which people are free to use their private property without outside interference” (Murphy, p. 1).
Democracy allows for free enterprise and accordingly the economic status of people may vary in a country from very rich to poor. Communism does not allow for private ownership of property . There can be marked many obvious and contrasting points in these two economic systems. In a communist system the whole planning of the economy remains in the hands of the government. Small businesses generally do not exist in a communist society because of the immense powers vested in the hands of the government.
The last thing you want to know about capitalism is that the role of government is limited. Next we have a Socialism market, which puts the governments & direct resources in key industries for their market. After that, the basic productive resources are owned & operated by government, but are still privately owned. Finally, we have our Communism market which means the basic productive resources are owned & operated by governments. Then, the government plans & draws up detailed orders to allocate all resources.
Marxism is a conflict perspective based on the ideas of Karl Marx. This conflict theory does not share the functionalist view that society is built on harmony and success. It sees society divided into to two opposed classes, one of which exploit the labour of the other. In a capitalist society the bourgeoisie exploits the proletariats. Marxist believe the conventional families are the foundations of capitalism it does this in many way; Private property inheritance, Marxists believe that all functions of the family are performed purely for the benefit of the capitalist system.
As the essay title states John Fiske argues that popular culture lies not in the production of commodities so much as the productive use of industrial commodities. What is meant by this is that popular culture produced upon the constant and active use of it by its consumers. He dismissed the idea that it is imposed from above on a helpless passive mass, which is what the Frankfurt School and other mass culture theorists suggest. In his book Understanding Popular Culture, Fiske states, ‘culture is a living active process, it cannot be imposed from without or above’ (Fiske, 1996, pp.23). Here Fiske is claiming that there are two economies, the financial economy which revolves around the commodity and is only really concerned with the exchange value of the product, and the cultural economy, where the audience actively take an interest in finding meanings and pleasure within the product.
There are governments that totally control their economy and do not do business with other countries. There are governments that rule monetary policy and tax business, but do not become concerned in the markets otherwise. Similar to mixed economies, the positions of a government in the configuration of an economy is crucial to understand in order to understand the economics of the country. Concepts of Macroeconomics and Understanding Business or economic cycles focus on the variations, both anticipated and unexpected, within an economy. Variations in business cycles are able to be seen as short-term and long-term progression developments and they could shift.
Karl Marx was one of the founders of sociology. He focused on the effects of capitalism. He thought that the economic system of the society determined the beliefs and values of that society. Marxists believe that the most important force in society is class conflict. In capitalist societies, workers are employed to produce goods which are sold by their employers at a profit.
Capitalism mostly has free market economy, which means that people buy and sell things by their own judgment. 2. What do property rights mean? Property rights are particular constructs in economics for determining how a resource is used and owned. Resources can be owned by individuals, government or associations.
(wisegeek.com) A command economy, also known as planned economy, the central or state government regulates various factors of production. The government is the final authority to take decisions regarding production, utilization of the finished industrial products and the allocation of the revenues earned from their distribution. China and former USSR are perhaps two of the best instances of Command Economy, but countries like North Korea and Cuba still practice command economy. (economywatch.com) A mixed economy is the combined of both market and command economies. A more specified definition of mixed market is an economic system that includes a mixture of capitalism and socialism.
According to Marx, this economic system which he termed capitalism created an exploitative relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, since the proletariat had little or no control over the distribution of profits and the labour which they provided (Giddens 2001:12). For Marx, capitalism is not only seen to be an unjust and oppressive system of economic production, but also one that exploits, one that limits man from his full capability, separates man from the products of his labour, and