SB 11 Capitalist or Socialist?

The ability to travel across impassable land and water became possible with the invention of ferry, train and then cars. One of the final pieces in connecting a nation was the telephone. This country, in one century made travel possible and communication nationwide nearly instantaneous. People changed lifestyles dramatically, from farming to industry, from rural living to city life. What will the next century bring for the descendants of the current 7 billion? The changes in globalization may not be any more detrimental than the effects we saw in our own country as we incorporated new ideas for what we believed would create better living conditions. Fear mongers are quick to speculate in all of the negative outcomes from loss of diversity. Theorists, such as sociologist, Immanuel Wallerstein, believes we need to move away from capitalism and towards socialism to survive. He predicts a severe crisis for many countries but especially ours in just a few years. The World-System theory divides every one up into one of 3 levels of survival with the people on the bottom barely alive, the ones on the periphery doing the work for the core. This system of inequality is looked at as global, due to many factors, there doesn't seem to be any solutions for those on the bottom to get out except to move up in the hierarchy ladder.  In the type of capitalist systems, everyone cannot be at the same level. Who would do the work for those with the money? This seems to be the basis for the idea that we need to throw out the capitalist system. This is not a new thought line, many countries follow and promote socialism. History has not been kind to socialists and the kind of leadership it has produced, but even in this nation, some form of socialism has always been promoted. In the United States, Eugene Debs ran for President as a socialist and had the backing of 6% of the vote. Socialists today see the inequality in income, property ownership and resources and see the solution in public or government ownership. The ideas are supposed to spread the wealth around more evenly and lead to less inequality. Followers recognize that to work socialism will have to be global, the combined resources can then lead to a healthier classless population with services and income that everyone needs. However this world will change in the next century, good or bad, we all are a part of the end result. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SttJu5M-6MI . Just for fun....an MSNBC interview regarding socialism today.

 

Sorry, I couldn't resist.