Economic Theory

Introduction

Economic Theory is a description of the current economic system, the capitalism system, when compared with the old system, the Communism, in America. The American administration is known to fight communism from the past days and has been advocating for the capitalism. This led to the cold war and placing of embargos against countries practicing communism. They were termed as the American enemies. Some of these countries include China, Russia and Cuba among others. The euphoria spread to Europe and later the rest of the world. The pressure exerted upon the communist regimes led to fall of some of the greatest unions in the world like the former USSR. Those that survived were forced to adapt to capitalism or face the same fate. However, today in the most dramatic turn of events, the debate has moved from the international platform to the American home ground. Americans are divided into two groups, one supporting the present economic structure and the other preferring the communist system. The warring groups are fronting different reasons and causes to promote their own. This confrontation has put the government to task of ensuring that every group gets satisfied to prevent the creation of a rift in the American fabric.

Those who are supporting capitalism are giving, consumer rights and freedom among other factors as the best aspects of the system. They think the consumers should be left to make their choices and think that the government’s role should be minimal in these decisions. On the other hand, those against capitalism think it has given space for greed, corruption, impunity and unequal distribution of resources. Slavoj Verso Zizek is among those who opposed to the current system in his book,  ‘First as Tragedy, Then as Ferce’. He describes the capitalist system as wrong, oppressive and disorganized. He goes ahead to predict its collapse and restoration of the communism system which according to him is a system that belonged to man unlike capitalism which man owns. Going in line with the class exercises and analysis, Slavoj’s book and the current happenings, then it is evident that capitalism should be criticized and most probably done away (Zizek, 2009).

The recent occupation of the Wall Street by demonstrators is a clear evidence and proof of people’s dissatisfaction with the current economic system. The fact that these demonstrations are not organized and are leaderless is the final proof that the majorities of people have a negative attitude towards the system and want it abolished, and a more fair system put in place. The demonstrators comprised of individuals of all genders, age and color claim that the system has created space for corruption, impunity and greed among the well up and the politicians. The message on the banners clearly explains their course, thus, the government agencies are trying to burn them by claiming that no banners are allowed in the park. In this case, the government is applying the Arab World like tactics in trying to control the crowd. They include arbitrary arrests, kidnapping and use of excessive force and brutality on the crowd. In their minds, the people know that the politicians, who are the beneficiaries of this unpopular system, will not bring any changes or better the people’s lives. Although those for the system argue that it allows for the consumers’ choice and freedom, its demerits far outweigh its merits and should be discarded without further consultations and considerations whatsoever.

The ‘Bailout and Moral Hazard’ policy is another reason that makes the people view the current economic system as inappropriate and oppressive. The policy allows for the government to intervene and bail out those who are unable to repay their mortgages and bank overdrafts. It also allows for financial rescue to the collapsing institutions and companies, whether public or private. All these have been done in the name of protecting the economy against devastating crisis. The government terms this as a long term precaution. In this scheme, homeowners who either went for mortgages high beyond their ability to repay or experienced other kind of difficulties are bailed out by the use of public revenue otherwise meant for development of infrastructure, health care among other overhead services. Mostly only the rich get this advantage at the expense of the poor. The poor receive this cost inform of increased lending rates, poor services and economic collapse. This has been blamed for protecting ignorant and careless individuals against taking their own responsibilities. In addition, the causes of such occurrences are not given before the beneficiaries are bailed out. According to the majority, this will go ahead to encourage others to do the same. Most claim that the practice has been in existence for long, and it is the time it ended. The well-known instances include the Chrysler bailout of 1979, the Saving and Loans bailout of 1989 and the Airline bailout of 2001. Although some claim that investors and homeowners find themselves in the situation unconsciously while others are misled, demonstrators argue that this is part of the wide spread show of ignorance due to the security provided by this ill-advised economic policy (Zizek, 2009).

Consumerism has been defined as a socio-economic order encouraging and allowing individuals to buy goods in bulk. In some instances, the consumers will buy more than they need either for storage or status show off. This kind of leaving has been advanced by globalization and open market. It was once condemned by ThorstenVeblen. It allows for consumers’ freedom and choice, and the only limiting factor is the individuals or a population’s purchasing power. In this system, people consume beyond their needs and sometimes financial abilities. This burden may be passed over to others through the bail out and moral system. It has led to conversion of the education system of the state where children are no more encouraged to learn to get knowledge and skills and instead are advised to go after money and power with which they can use to attain and exercise control over other people.

The system through consumerism has brought to live the materialism philosophy weakening the societalfabric. This has led to breakdown of the society unity, spirituality and communal coexistent. This is evident by the existent of cut throat competition between individuals and companies. In this system, the social status of an individual is defined by how much they can consume and for how long.This has made people insensitive to the suffering of the others as everyone is trying to accumulate as much as possible to raise his status.

Those opposed to this kind of lifestyle feel that people are supposed to have simple lives, live according to their means and with the welfare of others in their minds. They feel that this kind of exorbitant buying is the main cause of inflation and hyped prices. They feel that capitalist has not been able to control this but rather promoted it. They prefer communism that in a way controlled the prices and put limits to consumption. It also encouraged consumption of local products protecting the economy against counter feits, low quality products and saving on the importation expenses. In the previous system, consumption was not viewed as a measure of wellbeing but as a necessity (Moulton, 1975).

The current system puts the economy in front of everything else. It denies all the other factors the importance and the attention they deserve. It tends to assume that the market is self-driven. However, in fact, the presence of man cannot be ignored if the economy was to run. Among the people who have criticized this system due to the crisis and lack of the common good is Pope Benedicts XVI. He has termed it as a sumptuous and blamed it for making machines instead of humans. It is a system that advocates for capital intensive form of production leading to workers losing their livelihoods and others are getting poor pay. This occurs as every firm tries to expand its profit margin in comparison to the other. The previous system advocated for quality service and quality. These led to better pay, good working conditions and appropriate labor laws (Hutton, 2006).

The current economic system has led to what may be described as society permissiveness. This, in other words, may be described as liberalization of the society. The societal norms and the way of life have been changed in order to fit the interest of the culprits. The socio-economic independence has led to disintegration of the communal fabric. Everyone has the right to whatever they feel is right as long as they do not have a direct impact on others. Due to this phenomenon, the religious beliefs and standards of behavior have been discarded and people have settled for a crude way of living. Such factors as homosexuality have been accepted without a question and legalized. The family setting has been altered and its functions apportioned to other institutions within the society. Such factors have made the society become a source of permanent conflict leading to continuous suffering of the people. Compared to the old system, the current system seems mediocre and unappealing. It is characterized by drug abuse, sexual transmitted diseases, suicide cases and other human vices. All these are due to the frustrations and illusionment of the people by the economic factors.

Individuals brought up in the current system have concentrated more on money, social status and the economy to an extent they have failed to know their rights. This has been portrayed by an attempt by the demonstrators to do away with the police practice of carrying out unwarranted searches withdrawing of blood and other illegal activities. This has been experienced due to the loop hole of corruption created by the existing system. The demonstrators are urging all people to go against these and call their lawyers for appropriate advice. However, they advise people to be law abiding and to be good examples. They warn their followers against drunk driving for their own safety and for the purpose of the law (Conklin, 1991). The police practices, which have heard Texas hit most though argued to bring social order, they have been termed as abusive. They are viewed as those put in place to let people feel the presence of authority and power.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it would be true to say that both systems have benefits and loses to count. It is also evident that whatever system is, it has a direct impact on the lives of the people and so, only the best and with less harmful effects should be selected. It is upon the political readers to choose their destiny; this is by choosing to listen to the people’s desires or not. Recently, the world watched as the citizens brought down their leaders who dared not listen to their voices crying for change. The government officials intimidating demonstrators at the New York Square should watch this. Getting rid of the abusive economic system is the only way of getting the demonstrators off the streets. The people want the previous system restored.