The History of ‘-isms’
If we look at the history of the last couple of hundred years one conclusion that can be easily drawn is that western style free market democracy is the best way to run a country. It leads to economic prosperity and brings the poorest of the poor out of misery.
But that stand is debatable. History also tells us that Capitalism often leads to economic disparity in a society and causes more unrest among the classes. It does bring prosperity, but only to a few at the cost of the many.
And as we have discussed before, the current form of western capitalism might not be good for a sustainable planet in the long run.
Singapore and China offer interesting alternatives to western capitalism. They still encourage industry and corporations to innovate and produce value while making sure that lowest rungs of society also rise up.
The only problem, they are authoritative, China absolutely, and Singapore partly. But it may feel like a problem only to us, because of our western world view.
Its very hard to strike the right balance between the right economics and politics to achieve long term, prosperous sustainable growth.
Check out this Video from the guys at Crash Course that throws more light on these ideas.
Democracy, Authoritarian Capitalism, and China: Crash Course World History 230
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