Has capitalism failed younger generations?

porchrat said:
There is no standard of living higher than in these Western capitalist nations. That alone says it all.
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Whilst that is currently true, the more important questions are how did it get to be that way and of course how sustainable it is in the long term.

The answers, you may find, are not much cause for comfort.
 
porchrat said:
There is no standard of living higher than in these Western capitalist nations. That alone says it all.
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But at what cost though, there's no free lunch, someone somewhere is paying a good portion of their prosperity in cheap resources or labour. Also trade and monetary policy that favours the already entrenched powers that be.

And don't forget the national debt in places like the US, some day the printing of "free" money will have to end and the chickens will need to come home to roost, I’d honestly like to see how their standard of living weathers that one.
 
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This might sound controversial but is the problem not that since WW2 the West (USA / Western Europe / Canada Australia) has not experience any real hardship?

"Good times create weak men, weak men create hard times".
 
R13... said:
Funny that. One of the reasons that the younger generation will likely never own a home is that conservatives refuse to allow interventions to protect their old money buddies.

Can you explain how social policies cause these failures?
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How prevalent is the notion that one needs to own a home world wide?
 
Bliksis said:
How prevalent is the notion that one needs to own a home world wide?
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Not wide, home ownership in Europe is rare. Many people rent their whole lives.

The problem is not with capitalism, the problem is with the youth. Life is not fair. Life is not easy. You have to fight tooth and nail for every last thing you get in this life, but too many of today's youth expect the world to operate like they want the world to operate.

Many South Africans were sold the lie of getting everything for free by the ANC and they fell hook-line-and-sinker for it. Nothing in this world is free and the only money you are ever entitled to is that for which you have worked nothing more.
 
R13... said:
Funny that. One of the reasons that the younger generation will likely never own a home is that conservatives refuse to allow interventions to protect their old money buddies.

Can you explain how social policies cause these failures?
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So only right wingers own property?

Another reason to not be a Marxist. You never seem to learn though.
 
AlphaBravo said:
The ideal mix between capitalism and socialism is what government must get right in balancing, easier said than done though.
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At its core, capitalism embraces competition.

At its core, socialism rejects competition.

The two cannot be reconciled. There are many attempts at this, and it looks good on paper. But ultimately the experiments will fail. The current state of Europe is a great example. It is now juuuuuust passing the halfway mark, where things start to fail. In another 20-30 years, it will be unrecognisable from its current state.
 
theMysteriousWanderer said:
Not wide, home ownership in Europe is rare. Many people rent their whole lives.

The problem is not with capitalism, the problem is with the youth. Life is not fair. Life is not easy. You have to fight tooth and nail for every last thing you get in this life, but too many of today's youth expect the world to operate like they want the world to operate.

Many South Africans were sold the lie of getting everything for free by the ANC and they fell hook-line-and-sinker for it. Nothing in this world is free and the only money you are ever entitled to is that for which you have worked nothing more.
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Yeah no, the cost of property in many cities in 1st world countries has gone crazy, it’s not hurt feelings it’s a genuine crisis. It’s a combination of many factors including an oversupply of money, foreign non resident buyers plowing money into these property markets, Airbnb businesses removing vast swathes of residential properties off the market and making what remains even more expensive for residents. One knock on effect is now unheard of levels of homelessness purely due to people being priced out of the market, often not being able to afford rentals even with a fulltime job.

Whereas in the past a factory worker with a stay at home wife and kids could afford to own a home from their twenties that is now typically totally out of the question even for a couple in their thirties with 2 paychecks and no kids.
 
Capitalism has failed full stop. And there is no end in sight.

Definition of insanity itself.
 
etienne_marais said:
The argument is that it is not Capitalism that failed but governments did (article). Incidentally many of these failures can be traced back to social and quasi-social policies and mindsets and the left in general (own opinion).
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Think your title should rather be then: Has governments failed younger generations, to which the answer is yes. But everyone knows that, even the most uninformed, because they feel it in their own lives.

There can be an argument made that capitalism has failed, because big corporations took control of governments by way of funding ruling parties to stay in power, which then accelerated the rich getting richer because of policies that favors them. But then you will be called a conspiracy theorist.

But I think you are focusing on the wrong point of capitalism. In my opinion, the point of capitalism is that it gives everyone a chance, if they work hard enough. Its definitely not easy though to work your way to the top, which is why so many people are struggling. So no, I don't think capitalism has failed younger generations.

A big fix in South Africa, in my opinion once again, will be if the government focuses more on teaching children craftsman type of work, rather than academic. This is coming from someone who went the academic route.
 
etienne_marais said:
The argument is that it is not Capitalism that failed but governments did (article). Incidentally many of these failures can be traced back to social and quasi-social policies and mindsets and the left in general (own opinion).
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The truth is their parents failed them if they're whining about life.
 
Bewlen said:
At its core, capitalism embraces competition.

At its core, socialism rejects competition.

The two cannot be reconciled. There are many attempts at this, and it looks good on paper. But ultimately the experiments will fail. The current state of Europe is a great example. It is now juuuuuust passing the halfway mark, where things start to fail. In another 20-30 years, it will be unrecognisable from its current state.
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Yes and no..

Capitalism and socialism CAN be reconciled and it worked really well in The Netherlands and in Scandinavia.

But then the UN turned all of Europe into a welfare "state" and the circle of money was broken and started flowing down a bottomless well.
 
Bewlen said:
At its core, capitalism embraces competition.
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Humans embrace competition. At our core, we're competitive. If we let the government decide on what criteria goods are dished out, people will find a way to argue why they are more deserving than others. That's a human trait. It's just stronger in some than others. Capitalism rewards competition in a way that is more palatable to most and appears more free and fair on the surface. The problem with most socialist systems is a minority has carte blanche on making the rules.
 
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Avbob se stoep said:
There can be an argument made that capitalism has failed, because big corporations took control of governments by way of funding ruling parties to stay in power, which then accelerated the rich getting richer because of policies that favors them. But then you will be called a conspiracy theorist.
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its a feature, not a bug

Monopoly describes a concentration of market share where competition is limited or nonexistent. The term “monopoly capitalism” is used to describe an aspect or stage of capitalism in which monopoly control is widespread and explicit, though the ideological fiction of free markets and competition is still maintained in public discourse.
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