How long do you believe capitalism will last?

[TMA_1]

Capitalism is such an open ended concept. That being said, as a concept it will never end.

Edric, you need to see Network. You mentioned that soviet russia really had capitalist leanings as far as it's economy was concerned, this was mentioned in the film. I had to mention this because the film is so damn prophetic, even going so far as saying the cold war was a smoke screen, Mind you that this film was made in 76!!! what the heck!!

[Khorne]

It's part of the human condition...I suspect it will be here for a long time yet.

[ant222]

[ant222]

[Darth Kwisatz]

You know I just thought of something, If capitalism purely means the handling or manipulating of wealth then, communism would mean the handling of communities or societies that means communism would last ( almost ) forever also, till mankind becomes total savages, in that case 'that' capitalism would die to :D.

This would prove true for communism in an entirely economically self-sufficient state with strict (and probably genetically engineered) succession planning for the super-elite, which of itself violates communist principles of class revolution. The difference is that communism is a designed system that must impose order on the chaotic human mind. Capitalism is an organic and adaptive, Darwinist system that fosters evolutionary improvement of itself. An analogy would be the ongoing resistance of clones to parasites compared to a free-breeding species.

[gunner154]

The human mind is not all that chaotic. According to Maslow's Theory of the Hierachy of Needs, order and stasis are rather important to human beings. The adaptation to societal currents is managed by planners, who are not necessarily super-elite (think of it as doing what you're good at as community service, if that helps). The planners do gather input from the population, since democracy is a characteristic of Communism.

[nemafakei]

DK: Eh? Communism is by definition organic and adaptive. With no state and sociery determined from the ground up, it'd probably evolve more effectively than capitalism. Socialism may also be more adaptive, but it depends more on your definition.

[Darth Kwisatz]

I don't think people are sufficiently reliable or politically adept to faithfully administer such a system indefinitely. The self-sufficiency criterion remains. Only in an Orwellian sense is communism sustainable, and that would seem to nullify its intent except as a system built by elites for elites. How long can dictatorships remain benign? Ancient Rome offers some clues.