Capitalism & Democracy
Final Exam Essay Question:
“Our country was founded under, and has operated in accord with the basic principles of democracy and capitalism. However, the basic governing tenets of majority rule and the free market are not absolute. In fact in many instances, both historic and contemporary, we are able to recognize policies that run contrary to the ideals of "one person, one vote" and the "laissez faire" economy. Please describe how one or both of these principles is only partially adhered to in our country, and why?”
Retort-
Capitalism and Democracy, It was supposed to be a match made in heaven, we have always been taught, that they are the perfect Yin & Yang to each other being the twin ideological pillars capable of bringing unprecedented prosperity, freedom, and harmony to the world. In recent decades, the duo has shared a common ascent. By any measure, global capitalism is triumphant. Most nations around the world are today part of a single, integrated, and turbocharged global market. Because of capitalism, China has developed from a hard right communist state into a moderate socialist nation. Democracy has enjoyed a similar renaissance. Three decades ago, a third of the world's nations held free elections; today, nearly two thirds do. However, this fact is not a failing of capitalism but a suppression of democracy. As these two ideas have spread around the world, we have blurred their meaning, to the detriment of our democratic ideals. Capitalism's role is to increase the size of the economic pie, nothing more. And while capitalism has become remarkably responsive to what people want as individual consumers, democracies have struggled to uphold their own basic tenets; i.e. to articulate and act upon the common good, and to help society achieve both economic growth and equity. Democracy, at its best, enables citizens to debate collectively how the slices of the pie should be divided and to determine what rules apply to private goods and which to
“Our country was founded under, and has operated in accord with the basic principles of democracy and capitalism. However, the basic governing tenets of majority rule and the free market are not absolute. In fact in many instances, both historic and contemporary, we are able to recognize policies that run contrary to the ideals of "one person, one vote" and the "laissez faire" economy. Please describe how one or both of these principles is only partially adhered to in our country, and why?”
Retort-
Capitalism and Democracy, It was supposed to be a match made in heaven, we have always been taught, that they are the perfect Yin & Yang to each other being the twin ideological pillars capable of bringing unprecedented prosperity, freedom, and harmony to the world. In recent decades, the duo has shared a common ascent. By any measure, global capitalism is triumphant. Most nations around the world are today part of a single, integrated, and turbocharged global market. Because of capitalism, China has developed from a hard right communist state into a moderate socialist nation. Democracy has enjoyed a similar renaissance. Three decades ago, a third of the world's nations held free elections; today, nearly two thirds do. However, this fact is not a failing of capitalism but a suppression of democracy. As these two ideas have spread around the world, we have blurred their meaning, to the detriment of our democratic ideals. Capitalism's role is to increase the size of the economic pie, nothing more. And while capitalism has become remarkably responsive to what people want as individual consumers, democracies have struggled to uphold their own basic tenets; i.e. to articulate and act upon the common good, and to help society achieve both economic growth and equity. Democracy, at its best, enables citizens to debate collectively how the slices of the pie should be divided and to determine what rules apply to private goods and which to