Capitalism at its finest

Capitalism is identified as a social system that currently exists in countries all over the globe. The concept of capitalism arises from private buyers owning resources for manufacturing and distributing commodities in which this process does not involve intervention by the government (World Socialist Movement 2014, para. 2). When it comes to capitalism there are various opinions, a large portion of these opinions include the optimists; who believe that capitalism is a pathway to a brighter future through the developments that are occurring in technology and thus new levels of collaboration taking place in turn creating a global movement. In contrast to this, the second body of opinions include pessimistic views on capitalism that revolve around the perceived lack of wealth equality, socialisation and poverty that is negatively affecting global societies. These perspectives will be further investigated within this piece and it will be demonstrated that the advantages of capitalism significantly outweigh the perceived negatives of capitalism. There are many benefits to capitalism and Clay Shirky (2014) author, New York University professor, and social media theorist comments on the effects of technology on global consumerism and communication. Shirky (2014) advocates for capitalism, as he believes that the advantages that it’s having on global networks have provided more abundance to the global economy. He proposes that the traditional supply-demand model that society was built on no longer governs the economy but rather it is now dictated by the abundance in resources via the elimination of scarcity. This abundance is made evident through digital media; as scarcity is removed due to the vast amounts of information that is now available. This surplus in available resources has therefore enabled greater levels of cooperation and collaboration, which is believed to eventually completely cease the age of scarcity. Shirky (2014) also discusses the impacts that collaboration is having on society, as through the combined efforts of others great accomplishments have become possible especially as new digital mediums have encouraged this behaviour. These mediums include websites such as ‘Thingeverse’ and ‘Wikipedia’ as these forums are reliant on users combining thought processes to allow new information and ideas to be formed (Shirky 2014). New buisness models are now based around technology and collaboration and this is now prominent, as particular enterprises (such as those that have previously been used such as printing press, books, newspapers, magazines and music) have become completely transformed due to these new technological advancements (Shirky 2014). Therefore capitalism is improving the world, as the global movement around technology is advancing society in a constructive way that has demonstrated beneficial to the general public.

The opposing view is represented from the stance that distinguished French economic professor: Thomas Picketty portrays (Hussey 2014). Picketty believes that capitalism is deconstructive to society as contrary to perceptions of poverty erosion, poverty is in fact rising rather than falling because capitalism is creating an increase in financial inequality, in which this dangerous increase will not stop without government intervention. Picketty’s (Hussey 2014) beliefs stem from the validation that’s been demonstrated via research, as it indicates that, the small elite control global wealth. The negative by-product of this financial disparity has enabled the rich to get richer whilst the poor only continue to get poorer. An example of where capitalism has failed the world has been seen in the 2008 global financial crisis as of course those who suffered most were the middle and lower classes (Hussey 2014). Basically financial inequality encourages poverty, this is seen all over the globe and it is a huge concern as this has lead to 80% of the worlds population to live on less than $10 a day (Shah 2013). To put this further into perspective, studies have shown that in 2005, the world’s wealthiest (20% of the globe) was responsible for 76.6% of total private consumption whilst the world’s middle class (60% of the globe) accounted for 21.9% and finally the world’s poorest (20% of the world) accounted for 1.5% of consumption (Shah 2013). These alarming figures are why Picketty so strongly advocates the need for more appropriate taxation to be introduced onto private property owners, in order to evenly balance global wealth (Hussey 2014).

In conclusion the concept of capitalism has awoken much debate, as optimists like Clay Shirky (2014) believe that capitalism is a pathway to the cessation of scarcity through the developments that are occurring in digital media. Shirky believes that it is through these new levels of collaboration that a global movement is being created. In addition to this, the pessimists like Thomas Picketty (Hussey 2014) believe that through poverty and global inequality, capitalism is destroying humanity at a dangerously fast rate. Although there are valid arguments either way, the rationale of this essay is in line with work by Shirky (2014) as it is obvious that through digital media and collaboration has lead to global movements that have ultimately benefited society so much greater than any negatives experienced through capitalism. Although there are flaws in the system, this is undoubtedly the case with any global system and instead of eradicating capitalism it is best to try and fix the problems in order to create a better world.