 |
Can our World Survive Capitalism?
Author: Christopher Snyder  | Posted: 31-03-2008 | Comments: 0 | Views: 6 | Rating: (53)  (?) 
Capitalism is the best economic system on the planet for being efficient at the distribution of wealth by turning people's needs and desires into wealth. Without any governmental intervention, the distribution of wealth happens naturally, with people producing goods that other people want, selling at a reasonable profit and those people making the profit then buy goods that they need and desire. As products become popular, more people begin to make the items (usually of various qualities) and more and more people share the wealth. I would like to take a look at the negative consequences of Capitalism, and there are negative consequences. The sheer efficiency of capitalism is what has brought our world on the brink of no return with global warming.
Capitalism probably started as many as 10,000 years ago with the advent of agriculture. People growing the crops needed some way of receiving compensation for all their efforts tending and harvesting their crops. This allowed people to do a little bit more than just survive but hunting and collecting food daily resulting in a slightly higher birth rate. This lead to a rise in population for the first time since our species took hold on the earth. Agriculture allowed people to stay pretty much in one area leading to the development of village life which eventually increased in size to cities. There is some speculation in scholars as to which came first, the use of tools or the advent of agriculture. However, agriculture likely began with a simple observation of the type of weeds growing in the tribe's trash and bathroom area being the same plant as was collected for a few dinners the last time they were hunting and gathering in that area.
As the use of agriculture grew, populations grew right along with it, spreading throughout the world like a creeping vine. As cities grew larger and larger, an infrastructure was needed which lead to an increasingly complex society. This lead to more and more products needed to be produced for the people living in those cities and capitalism was right there supplying the means and incentive for people to produce goods for selling in the cities. This can be observed today in even in the biggest cities such as Bangkok, Thailand with their widely spread out "fresh markets" supplying food to the average citizen in Bangkok. The money that is spent on these goods funnels out of the city to where the crops are grown.
There were, of course times of difficulty, mostly due to the decrease in the supply chain of the ever growing complex economic system. The difficult times mostly began with a shortage of food due to drought or other natural disaster, driving up food prices and causing an increasing in the price of everything eventually. These difficult times lead to some unrest among citizens, eventually leading to some experimentation of other economic systems, such as socialism. Socialism does not provide the incentives that the widely used capitalism has naturally and those experiments did not last very long. Even in difficult times our world populations continued to grow, mostly because the difficult times were not everywhere but limited to where there was an insufficient amount of rain or where the natural disaster took place.
The world population continued to grow like this for 10,000 years, being fueled by agriculture and capitalism supplying the means of distributing the wealth to those producing the goods. The population, as we all know is growing exponentially and by the 1700s the world population is estimated to have been approximately 8 hundred million people. In the early 1900s the population doubled to nearly one and a half billion, then doubling again by 1960 to three billion, with a population today of over six billion people.
In the last 100 years we have seen such an increase in population, it is unprecedented in the natural world. In the past 100 years we have had additional help besides agriculture and capitalism to aid in our living and growing, we have added technology. Technology requires fuels and resources such as petrochemicals to keep it growing and inventing new and more complex technology. This technology is increasing our production and distribution of agriculture products, feeding our increased population growth and also spreading the wealth to others, now around the world and between continents.
This has all happened while we were looking, in front of our noses. It isn't a bad thing, just something that has occurred. We did not notice it mostly because it happened to slowly, until recently. We are noticing it now because it effecting everything around us, including the weather. There is no arguing any more, global warming is happening because we are burning our natural resources at an unprecedented rate because our population has grown that way.
Rate this Article:
Current: 0 / 5 stars - 0 vote(s).
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/can-our-world-survive-capitalism-373512.html
About the Author:Christopher Snyder is the Founder of Asia Products LLC and currently is living in Bangkok, Thailand. He writes on a variety of topics including current events, politics, and travel ideas. He manages an e-commerce store buying products to sell on www.asiaproductsllc.com. He is providing Asia Travel Ideas on his website : www.apllc-connect.com/ Copyright 2008 All Rights Reserved
|
Submitting articles has become one of the most popular means of generating quality backlinks and targeted traffic to your website. Join us today - It's Free! |
|
Got a Question? Ask.
Ask the community a question about this article:
Frequently Asked Questions
Intro to economics course--intro questions
By: Rick | 10-09-2008
what theory states that the more educated a woman is the less children she has
Economics
By: kumaran | 08-09-2008
what is enterprise resource planning
Hershey's
By: Kate_Z | 07-09-2008
Is Hershey's currently earning an economic profit or suffering from economic losses?
Global warming
By: marytellez | 05-09-2008
how can we solve global warming essay
What will be the biggest economic worries facing ...
By: Dosay13 | 02-09-2008
what will be the biggest economic worries facing the new president in January 2008
IIdentify weeds in vegetable garden
By: Dorothy | 25-08-2008
Need help finding help to IDENTIFY and eradicate (preferrably non-chemically) weeds in Midland, NC, vegetable garden which had been heavily mulched with large hay/straw rolls last summer.
Q&A Powered by: 
Latest Environment Articles
Positive and Negative Aspects of Radioactive Elements
By: Dr.Badruddin Khan | 06/10/2008
Radioactive elements have a lot of important uses and they also cause some dangerous problems if they are not handled properly. Ever since Henri Becquerel first found out about radioactive elements more elements have been investigated for their radioactivity, and different isotopes of elements have different radioactive behavior. Many are used commercially and medically, and others are just nuisances.
Acid Deposition
By: Dr.Badruddin Khan | 06/10/2008
Acid rain has become a popular phrase to describe rain, snow, fog, or other precipitation that is full of acids that collect in the atmosphere due to the burning of fuels such as coal, petroleum, and gasoline. Acid rain occurs when polluted gases become trapped in clouds that drift for hundreds and even thousands of miles and are finally released as acidic precipitation. Trees, lakes, animals, and even buildings are vulnerable to the slow wearing away effects of acid rain.
Global Warming: A Ghastly Proposal
By: James Nash | 06/10/2008
Global warming is occurring at even a more accelerated pace than what was originally predicted. It is starting to look like a nightmare for humanity and becoming more a ghastly proposal, not an "inconvenient truth."
Key Questions About The Voluntary Carbon Market
By: James Nash | 06/10/2008
The voluntary carbon market experienced further growth in 2007, and experts predict the pattern to be repeated through 2008. Have these initiatives achieved their purpose, and is the market really providing the consumers with what they want?
New Green Museum Allows Roof To Leak Water Like A River
By: Aydan Corkern | 06/10/2008
What is the point of having a leaky roof on a museum that is supposed to protect the earth and educate about going green?
Is Your Smoking Vehicle Choking Up The World
By: Aydan Corkern | 06/10/2008
Everywhere you look, green is the craze, so are you killing the world or helping the earth?
Tips on Caring for Antique World Maps
By: Danuin Mumm | 06/10/2008
Paper is rather fragile, but many antique maps — drawn on parchment, have survived through centuries. If you would like to get your hands on a authentic, antique world map, you’ll need to know how to preserve it. It has lasted through centuries because it was properly preserved, and you’ll need that knowledge as well.
How to Tell if Antique Maps are Genuine
By: Danuin Mumm | 06/10/2008
There is an increase in people fascinated with antique world maps. Collecting antique maps and prints can be a very rewarding and exciting hobby. Maps have always been considered fascinating, and many today are finding out why. Not only are antique world maps interesting, but they’re very beautiful as well. Historic maps are truly a work of art, as any map enthusiast will tell you.
More from Christopher Snyder
Saving the Earth
By: Christopher Snyder | 15/09/2008 | Environment
The problems with the world are complex... This article takes a brief look at what the author believes to be the biggest of problems...
My Favorite Thai Food
By: Christopher Snyder | 15/09/2008 | Main Course
this article is a list of my faviorite Thai food, but it continues to grow...
Thailand - Political Situation Update
By: Christopher Snyder | 15/09/2008 | Politics
A brief artical to provide you with a situation update on the politics and safty in Thailand from an American Expat perspective
Thailand Travel Tips and Customs
By: Christopher Snyder | 31/03/2008 | Travel Tips
This article provides a list of tips and customs to help in your trip to Thailand. Understanding these simple things will increase the pleasure that you will have while traveling in Thailand.
Four Things That Make America Great
By: Christopher Snyder | 31/03/2008 | Politics
This article provides a brief description of what I think makes America a great country. I have come to these conclusions from experiences I have had traveling in other parts of the world. I wrote this in the middle of last year. This week Thailand is experiencing political unrest AGAIN, which reminded me of this writing.
Political Unrest in Thailand
By: Christopher Snyder | 31/03/2008 | Politics
The situation in Thailand reminds me the old saying, "be careful what you ask for you may just get it". In September of 2006, Thailand went through a military coup. The military asked for the Prime Minister to step down, he did. Now the Thai People are struggling with a new government.
Objectivity - What is it and Why is That Important?
By: Christopher Snyder | 31/03/2008 | Philosophy
I have been thinking about the importance of objective thought of late and decided to put some thoughts down on the proverbial paper. I hope this can help people have a better understanding of how understanding objectivity can temper the extremes that has put our world in peril.
Thai Meets West - Land of Smiles
By: Christopher Snyder | 31/03/2008 | Travel Tips
The people of Thailand are an interesting group. They hugely influenced by Chinese culture, being located just to the south of China, so I am sure that some of the things I am going to describe are part of the greater "eastern" culture as well as the Thai culture. However, Thais have developed a unique blended culture of their own.
|
|
News and Society 
