My sociology instructor states "democracy is the worried bed fellow of capitalism". Please explain!?
451974
Doesn't matter. He's absolutely wrong!
758330
Really America is a Republic, so Democracy is just a myth..Right now with Bush it's a Dictatorship, and Democracy is once again a myth. Democracy means "For the people, By the people" (Abraham Lincoln), not for the corporations, and the rich people that want to rule.
1004773
Back in 1776, monarchists argued against democracy as a form of government. They said it was absurd to believe that "All men are created equal" because anyone could see men came in different heights, weights and colors. Women did too, they said. Case closed.\n\nMy point is not about democracy. It is about debate. Before you argue about something, you should understand it. If you don't understand it, you'll look foolish. Gilda Radner, on the original "Saturday Night Live" TV Show, used to do a sketch every couple of weeks in which she made completely ridiculous arguments. One night she argued vehemently against the "Deaf Penalty", instead of the "Death Penalty". She looked absurd, which was the point, and we all laughed until the beer came out our noses, which was what she wanted. You don't want people to laugh at you.\n\nIn a serious debate, you should understand the other side. Note that I didn't say "Believe". Understanding is not the same as believing. If you were to study 20th century European Political history, you would have to understand several forms of government: communism (the UUSR), fascism (Germany, Italy), socialism (Lots of countries), socialist democracy, capitalistic democracy and constitutional monarchy. You would not believe in all of them; you could not believe in all of them at once. If you tried, your head would explode. You would, however, have to understand their basic concepts. \n\nIf you were to study comparative religion, you would have to understand what Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Taoists and Confucians believe. You would not have to convert to a new religion every week, but you would have to understand the other ones. You would not get very far in your studies if you dismissed all the other ones as "wrong". They believe their path is the right one just as strongly as you believe your path is the right one.\n\n99% of the biologists alive today believe that species evolve, and that the theory of evolution is the best explanation we have for the diversity of life.  Christian biologists, Jewish biologists, Muslim biologists, Hindu biologists, Buddhist biologists; Australian, Bolivian and Chinese biologists; 99% of them believe it is the best explanation. Yes, it is only a theory. Planetary motion - the theory that the earth went around the sun, not vice versa - was only a theory for a long time. Some people still don't believe it. Their eyes tell them differently.\n\nSpecies don't evolve at the same rate and they don't all have to evolve. Alligators, to take one example, haven't changed much for 40 million years. The ones that were 50 feet long have become extinct, but the normal 14-footers are still there in the swamps, hoping men don't shoot them to use their hides for shoes. They didn't have to worry about that 3 million years ago. We humans are at the top of the heap today, either because we evolved or God liked us better than He did the alligators. Either way, we can make tools better than any other species.\n\nYour question has been answered, hundreds of times, by people more versed in biology than I. It gets answered ever week here at YA.\n\nIf you are truly curious, ask your minister to give you a short, reasoned explanation of evolution. If he says he can't because it is wrong, he is as ignorant as those monarchists I mentioned in my opening paragraph.
716338
I think it makes you  pro- capitalism..or your beliefs are anyway..\n\nPeaCe* = D
593006
Show me the $$$MONEY$$$--it's the Amerrcan way of life.  Capitalism, privatizashun, an free enterprize.  If you don't like it, move to some commie country.
345184
You obviously dont know a whole lot about the situation.  The King took power from the Democracy when the Communists started revolting.  He did it to keep them from seizing power.  He has promised to reinstate democracy when the revolt has been put down.  Instead the Commies have been doing well as of late, and others are joining with them, because they are unhappy that Democracy isnt back yet.  Unfortunately if the King does fall, what you will likely see is the worlds newest Communist government, almost certainly not Democracy.
95780
Well, this country is neither pure communist nor capitalist. Neither works. We have a capitalist, democratic republic that uses socialist programs (sometimes too much) to help citizens and the economy.\n\nAs for me, I generally vote against things that drive us more towards socialist or communist ideals. The great thing about a free country should be/is that you have the right to succeed or fail. It is up to you as an individual to make something of yourself. The government should do its job of protecting the country as a whole, protecting our rights, and protecting the constitution, but it should not bring us to a "share the wealth" or "redistribution of wealth" system.
1169158
LOL, that's a good one.  It's all a matter of interpretation.  The buzzword is "democracy", when people use that word they can mean either an old fashioned American Style Democracy, or a European style social democracy.  Unfortunately since the mid thirties American government has been slowly morphing into the latter.  In a social democracy voting is merged with socialist ideology that everyone deserves a "minimum" standard of living.  In the older American model people got what they deserved through hard work or not.  Success was a prize to be won, not an entitlement to be taken for granted.\n      It all comes down to ideology, and niether one of the parties is "conservative" in the original American sense of limiting government's power, taxes on the citizens, and preventing a big central authority from dictating to the States or the people.  In my opinion, both parties are social democratic parties at their face value, but also elite privilege makers to keep corporate sponsors happy and donating to the campaigns.  We have evolved a strange two faced game where politicians try to placate the poor people with programs and the rich with tax shelters, leaving the hard working economic producing classes (middle or not) holding the bag.  The only real answer is a hard look at history (which most are scared to take) that inspires a new party that believes in limited government, freedom, and letting individual people sink or swim on their own merits, helped if they need help, by their families and local communities, not uncle sam's big fat pocket book. Happy surfing, I'm out.
384080
I,ve been short change for over forty years and run into stoned walled obstacles trying to risk two different small business ventures. Capitalism needs reform,modification to change the control of Money/Power/Wealth from its current structure rein and give it to public majority hence role reversal!
204252
Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.\n\nGeorge Bernard Shaw
857123
An advocate of democracy would only use confrontation in a situation where their own ability to rule themselves under their own consent were threatened beyond reasonable doubts, AND they were certain of invading the correct origin of that threat.\nIt is just as undemocratic for a country of elected leaders to occupy a country which tolerates dictatorship, as it is for an elite body (such as a dictatorship or oligarchy) to rule the people in a way they do not wish to be ruled.\nThe only way an advocate of democracy is justified in invading a foreign country is if that country has removed the possibility of the people to choose to resist -- that would take something like a subdermal ID chip in every person, with a tiny dose of some deadly toxin that could be released by a government radio signal, or something loony that we haven't quite invented yet......we still haven't found out how to totally remove choice from everyone, short of putting everyone in a prison cell.\n\nAs far as capitalism, well that depends first on your definiton of capitalism..... I always saw it as a state of the free market where the rich have used their economic resources to maintain and increase their power to an extent that a very few control everything, while a free or ALMOST entirely free market could operate outside of that state.\nSort of like monarchy CAN operate outside of tyranny and republic CAN operate outside of oligarchy.\n\nSo if you advocate a free market of any people, then invasion doesn't help them. But if you advocate that kind of capitalism I defined above, then confrontation might be to your advantage at home and abroad, especially if you hold stock in military manufacturing companies....
601777
In politics, class warfare has been used for centuries to attack the more successful.  For those without a lot of resources, these arguments can be appealing because some feel left out or treated unfairly.  However, if the groups that oppose capitalism had there way, economies and the societies would be much worse off.  Cuba, the Soviet Union, Canada and others states have tried alternatives to capitalism, all of which have failed, are failing, or are currently adopting a more capitalistic system.
560937
What is Communism? \nCategory: News and Politics \nWithout a doubt, you’ve probably heard about communism. And, also without a doubt, you’ve probably heard all sorts of horror stories about it — from your teachers, from the media, from politicians, even from your church pastor or preacher. \n        They tried to scare you. They want to keep you from finding out for yourself. If you asked one authority figure for a second opinion, they usually told you to ask another authority figure. And if that didn’t satisfy you, then they told you to read the history books they wrote for you.\n        Do you see a pattern here? The one person they will never tell you to talk to, however, is a communist. Why? Because a communist might go “off script” and tell you something they don’t want you to hear.\n        So, what is communism? Well, there is communism, the theory, and communism, the society. Let’s first deal with communism, the society.\n        To begin with, communism is a society without bosses or servants, without superiors or subordinates, without masters or slaves — in short, communism is a society without classes and the stress, conflict and antagonisms that go with the existence of classes. Contrary to the history they teach you, classes are a relatively new thing in the human experience, having been around for only about 25,000 of the last 50 million years of human existence.\n        “But,” someone might say, “there are a lot more people alive today than there were back then.” That’s true. What’s also true is that we are smarter, more conscious of our world and more technologically advanced than our ancestors. We really don’t need someone standing over us, telling us what to do and when to do it. If necessary, we can work that out together, in common.\n        Because it is a society without classes, communism is also a society where all aspects of society are developed and administered in common. That means not only the political system, but the economy, culture and social relations too. Can you imagine, having an equal voice, along with your co-workers, in deciding how conditions at your job would be determined? Or, having a say, along with your neighbors, in shaping how the city’s budget will be spent?\n        Democracy is a key element in the development of communism — but not the stale, formal “democracy” we are taught about in school; we are talking about democracy as a practice, a real-world tool that works for those who work.\n        As well, communism is a society without a state. Now, when we talk about a “state,” we are not talking about councils and assemblies that debate issues and adopt policy. When we say “state,” we mean the armed organizations that enforce “order” (the rulers’ “order,” that is), like the police and military.\n        “No police?!” Yes, no police. What are the police really for? Well, when you live in a society where goods and services are restricted to a few, you end up with the many in need. When you have so many in need, you need to maintain order. However, if you live in a society where the needs of everyone in society are met, what need is there for police? If everyone’s basic needs — good food, decent housing, worthwhile education, etc. — are met, what basis is there for most of the crime in society?\n        Sure, there may be times here and there that may require some kind of investigation or enforcement unit, but those times would be relatively few and far between, and could easily be handled as they come up.\n        It is also the case that communism is a society without money. “Without money?!” Yes, without money. Why does money exist? Basically, it was invented so that one group of owners wouldn’t get screwed by another set of owners. But, if you have a society where the factories and workplaces are owned in common, and we can sit down and plan out three months, six months or even a year in advance what w
157164
1.     The first task of public education in a capitalistic society is to teach students to “respect authority.” This is done by placing a teacher or school bureaucrat in the role of the students’ parent or guardian, the authoritarian figure they are familiar with at home. Authority is imposed through a system of punishment for those who do not do what they are told and rewards for conformity. Strict adherence to stupid and trivial rules like always walking on the right side of the hallway teaches us to obey no matter how stupid the order is. We are taught that people should be able to tell us what to do. We are thereby prepared for the world of bosses, cops, politicians, and military officers ordering us around and treating us like we are stupid and inferior.   \n\n2.     The second task of public education in a capitalist society is to rob us of our individuality so that we will submit to what we are told to do and not pursue our own ideas, desires or talents. It does this by placing us in an environment with thousands of people our own age and using authority figures to label anyone who does not go along as worthy of scorn. This is the basis of what we know of as “peer pressure” which is essentially a system for teaching innocent children to value mediocrity and obedience and encourage them to harass anyone who doesn’t obey. Any deviation from society’s norm is immediately condemned, individuality becomes deviance. This makes us used to doing what everyone else does and blindly “going with the flow” for fear of stepping out of line and being persecuted. This forms the basis for the system of social control in the workplace where people submit to exploitation rather than being labeled a ‘troublemaker” and are encouraged to betray their fellow workers to the boss even if they work at a minimum wage job and can’t possibly benefit.  \n\n3.     The third task of public education in a capitalist society is regimentation. The Capitalist System looks at people as nothing more than a piece of meat: A resource whose whole purpose is to make money for them, buy their products and die in their wars. Modern industrial society is organized into work shifts which can run 24-hours per day making money for the rich. Industrial society is based on three ideas created by Fredrick Taylor, Henry Ford and Max Weber. Taylor had the idea of reducing the workers motions to that of a machine so that capitalists could maximize their profit in any given time period. Ford is credited with the assembly line so that all the workers would limit their robotic motion into a single meaningless task. Weber helped construct the modern bureaucracy in Nazi Germany to control large numbers of people with a militaristic organization. His ideas were adopted by capitalists around the world after World War II. For thousands of people to be able to work in this kind of work environment, they must be conditioned from a young age to live “by the clock.” Even in the service industry or other areas of work outside the factory these same principals of organization apply to varying degrees. The public school system conditions students to conform their desires to a strict schedule by imposing punishments for those who don’t show up at school on time, go to class on time or complete assigned tasks on time. This prepares us for a life in the factory or office where “time is money.” To maximize the degree to which students can be exploited when they enter the work force, they must be conditioned to be nervous or guilty about not showing up on time and subject to the time schedule created by those in authority.  \n\n4.     The fourth task of public education under capitalism is to discourage dissent. This begins with the system by which our performance in school is evaluated. We are repeatedly graded based on our ability to repeat facts, figures and phrases regardless of where we understand their meaning. Rote memorization robs us of our ability
1179477
"through the use of fear, societies gave up their rights under the guise of security."  i think this statement sums up best all the uproar over what the bush administration is or isn't doing to 'protect' us as americans. there is a fine line being walked (and not very delicately if you care to notice the details) between "security" and "loss of freedom". and the culture of fear and separation noted in the article is all too apparent today... after all you're either a "patriot" or you "support the enemy". \n\n"those in power are of a smaller segment of society, but they hold the wealth and control" is an accurate description of where america is today. a minute percentage of people possess the lion's share of the wealth: the inequality has always been present but never to this degree. if this is indeed a part of the definition of fascism, you could argue that we are getting closer...\n\n"fascist nations... typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections." let diebold reign! here's to florida, and to ohio, proud supporters of the winning side!\n\n"governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion...." and how often to religious leaders echo the sentiments exactly of the us government? do you watch the 700 club?\n\nwhere did the platform for intelligent discussion of the issues facing the US go? why are people (being manipulated?) becoming so polarized? where has 'the beauty of the gray' disappeared to? isn't it funny how so many things in life are suddenly black and white, like apples and oranges?\n\nif you deceive often enough and use the proper (official?) channels, one of two things will happen. they will come to believe it as gospel ("this is a delicious orange! when did they start growing stems?") or they will use the knowledge they already have to resist ("THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!" -jean-luc picard) the lies. \n\nare you really willing to doubt that this is in fact an apple? and will we be reluctant to let go of a moniker we've worn proudly for over two centuries? stay tuned...
909383
Well, I don't think there would be a democracy.....without good education there are no good jobs and without good jobs there is no economy...without the economy.....\n\nwell you know
674565
The majority of Democratic leaders where "educated" (aka brainwashed) in the liberal, eastern colleges.  If you do an honest study of the back-round of most of those professors, you will find that they have STRONG links to communism.  If we are allowed to believe in God, then we wouldn't listen to those Jacobi's. Then, their poor little feelings would be hurt.  I'm not against education, but I cannot see where the Ivy League schools are educating rather than indoctrinating.