Have you ever heard the political term - Democratic Capitalism?

In modern times western thinking is to believe that business will solve all. We have all heard the Ronald Reagan quote - "Government is not the solution to our problem, Government is the problem." Modern democracy has produced no great leaders and Ronald Reagan seems to be the best that the Republican Party can come up with to inspire modern conservatives. The reality is that former Hollywood actor Ronald Reagan was a political dunce. It is clear that the US elites seek to use the incredible unpopularity of Jimmy Carter-like Obama to manufacture US public consent for a Reagan-like conservative to be elected in two years time.

American conservatives are fanatical in their belief that government and public assets are the enemy of capitalism and must be destroyed. American capitalists want to privatize absolutely everything and they seek 'small government' whatever that is. European thinking is very different to American. Europe/UK public's value public/national assets/utilities. We Australians think more like Europe/UK than the Americans. The Americans are the odd ones out of the west. Commonwealth nation Canada is more like Europe/UK and Australia on welfare and public utilities. Only in America exists this fanatical belief that government is the enemy of capitalism that must be defeated.

If you listened to an American you might end up believing that America invented capitalism and democracy ( and formed the first Republic ) all by themselves. They seem to think that before their glorious 'Founding Fathers' emerged the world was some horrid place ruled by evil Kings that everyone hated. Then all of a sudden the Founding Fathers popped up with a constitution that was given to them by god himself and after that everything was great all thanks to America.. Americans seem to forget that the US was not the worlds superpower before WW2. It was Britain that gave us Responsible Government.

The modern capitalist class emerged before we had modern democracy. Modern democracy emerged as a way of preventing proletariat rebellion. The modern bourgeois overthrew our Nobility but were unable to rule without making constant concessions to the masses. Socialists began to appear all over the world and started overthrowing the bourgeois class so the bourgeois solution was to give the masses Democratic Capitalism.

    DEMOCRATIC CAPITALISM

    Democratic capitalism arose out of the Industrial Revolution. A new class of bourgeois capitalists appeared, whose capital, invested in industry, provided the factories, machines and materials, which, by the labour of the workers, produced the manufactured product. The worker, having nothing to sell but his labour, was placed at the mercy of the capitalist, and only later, by slow degrees, was able to alleviate his lot of low wages, long hours, threat of unemployment and economic servitude by

    (a) combining in trade unions to increase his bargaining power;
    (b) by going on strike
    (c) by using his voting power, when acquired, to bid for the support of bourgeois parties, to form labour or socialist parties, and at last to form the government.

    The new bourgeosie, which included not only the industrialists and their managers and salaried officials, but also the merchants, bankers and professional men, by its wealth and numbers took political power from the rulers or Nobility. Extra capital for investment was acquired by the formation of limited liability companies, in which the savings of investors, big and small, were invested. The investors were now attached to the capitalist system by their possession of some of its industrial property.

    SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF DEMOCRATIC CAPITALISM.

    1. Originally uncontrolled under the laissez faire system, it gradually came more and more under government control, as a result of which its worst evils were mitigated or removed.
    2. It came to be considered the duty of the state to look after the individual and move toward the welfare state.
    3. Most of the ideas of Socialists, except their ultimate goals, have been taken over by the capitalist state and by all political parties.
    4. Capitalism preserves private ownership of industry and business except for the nationalization of some big undertakings and public utilities.
    5. Democracy is the political face of capitalism. Government is in the hands of representatives of the people and parliaments are responsible to the people. The executive power is in theory subordinate to the legislature and to popular demand and opinion.
    6. Democracy recognizes and respects economic, legal and political rights of the individual. Freedom from arbitrary arrest, freedom of religion, freedom of speech and association ( within reason ) are regarded as inalienable rights.
    7. Social freedom is bound up in social disunity, the existence of independent and conflicting organisations, often independent of the state. The interplay of competing interests and opinions is resolved by the will of the majority, but there is no attempt to achieve unanimity of opinion as in totalitarian states.


- The New Compendium of Modern History/George Bohman
  (Shakespeare Head Press Sydney)


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WJV wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2016 at 11:16pm:


The only way to resolve it is for them both to work together under a unifying idea, unrelated to class interests. Nationalism has often been tried as the idea unifying the two. How else can it be solved? Each group wants more, regardless of how much they have.

The CCP is halfway through the most rapid transition to capitalism in history, and is already internally democratic. If they keep going that will be another 18% of the world population.

freediver wrote on Jul 24^th, 2022 at 5:48pm:



And perfection will be achieved at the end of the next 5 year plan- if not before.