Bolivia: ‘For a lasting solution to the climate crisis we must destroy capitalism’
Bolivia grabs the bull by the horns; their official submission to the UN climate talks in Paris later this year puts capitalism at the heart of the crisis and calls for its abolition.
My response:
Destroy capitalism and return us all to poverty. Yeah, right! I mean, destroy the most successful economic system the world has ever known? Why on earth would you do that?
Capitalism, and its foundation, free enterprise, are not perfect, because people are not perfect. There needs to be laws to limit the effects of people’s greed. That’s what governments are for.
Why it capitalism so successful? Because it harnesses the creative ability of everyone who wants to have a go. Capitalism is not about big corporations, it is about small businesses of all the individuals who want to have a go to make something for themselves. It is small businesses, not large corporations, that drive capitalist economies! Do you really want to shut down all those people trying to make a life for themselves?
Socialist and all other command economies have been unsuccessful because they only harness the creative abilities of the elite. The rest just have to do what they are commanded.
There was a story from the time of the Soviet Union. Russian workers had a saying: They pretend to pay us, and we pretend to work. Not much happened there during all the years of the socialist / communist empire!
Only using the abilities of some of the people limits what an economy can do. Poverty for the masses is the inevitable result. Is that what you want?
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