| Capitalism is the best economic system on the | | | | mostly due to the decrease in the supply |
| planet for being efficient at the | | | | chain of the ever growing complex economic |
| distribution of wealth by turning people's | | | | system. The difficult times mostly began with |
| needs and desires into wealth. Without any | | | | a shortage of food due to drought or other |
| governmental intervention, the distribution | | | | natural disaster, driving up food prices and |
| of wealth happens naturally, with people | | | | causing an increasing in the price of |
| producing goods that other people want, | | | | everything eventually. These difficult times |
| selling at a reasonable profit and those | | | | lead to some unrest among citizens, |
| people making the profit then buy goods that | | | | eventually leading to some experimentation of |
| they need and desire. As products become | | | | other economic systems, such as socialism. |
| popular, more people begin to make the items | | | | Socialism does not provide the incentives |
| (usually of various qualities) and more and | | | | that the widely used capitalism has naturally |
| more people share the wealth. I would like to | | | | and those experiments did not last very long. |
| take a look at the negative consequences of | | | | Even in difficult times our world populations |
| Capitalism, and there are negative | | | | continued to grow, mostly because the |
| consequences. The sheer efficiency of | | | | difficult times were not everywhere but |
| capitalism is what has brought our world on | | | | limited to where there was an insufficient |
| the brink of no return with global warming. | | | | amount of rain or where the natural disaster |
| | | | took place. |
| Capitalism probably started as many as 10,000 | | | | |
| years ago with the advent of agriculture. | | | | The world population continued to grow like |
| People growing the crops needed some way of | | | | this for 10,000 years, being fueled by |
| receiving compensation for all their efforts | | | | agriculture and capitalism supplying the |
| tending and harvesting their crops. This | | | | means of distributing the wealth to those |
| allowed people to do a little bit more than | | | | producing the goods. The population, as we |
| just survive but hunting and collecting food | | | | all know is growing exponentially and by the |
| daily resulting in a slightly higher birth | | | | 1700s the world population is estimated to |
| rate. This lead to a rise in population for | | | | have been approximately 8 hundred million |
| the first time since our species took hold on | | | | people. In the early 1900s the population |
| the earth. Agriculture allowed people to stay | | | | doubled to nearly one and a half billion, |
| pretty much in one area leading to the | | | | then doubling again by 1960 to three billion, |
| development of village life which eventually | | | | with a population today of over six billion |
| increased in size to cities. There is some | | | | people. |
| speculation in scholars as to which came | | | | |
| first, the use of tools or the advent of | | | | In the last 100 years we have seen such an |
| agriculture. However, agriculture likely | | | | increase in population, it is unprecedented |
| began with a simple observation of the type | | | | in the natural world. In the past 100 years |
| of weeds growing in the tribe's trash and | | | | we have had additional help besides |
| bathroom area being the same plant as was | | | | agriculture and capitalism to aid in our |
| collected for a few dinners the last time | | | | living and growing, we have added technology. |
| they were hunting and gathering in that area. | | | | Technology requires fuels and resources such |
| | | | as petrochemicals to keep it growing and |
| As the use of agriculture grew, populations | | | | inventing new and more complex technology. |
| grew right along with it, spreading | | | | This technology is increasing our production |
| throughout the world like a creeping vine. As | | | | and distribution of agriculture products, |
| cities grew larger and larger, an | | | | feeding our increased population growth and |
| infrastructure was needed which lead to an | | | | also spreading the wealth to others, now |
| increasingly complex society. This lead to | | | | around the world and between continents. |
| more and more products needed to be produced | | | | |
| for the people living in those cities and | | | | This has all happened while we were looking, |
| capitalism was right there supplying the | | | | in front of our noses. It isn't a bad thing, |
| means and incentive for people to produce | | | | just something that has occurred. We did not |
| goods for selling in the cities. This can be | | | | notice it mostly because it happened to |
| observed today in even in the biggest cities | | | | slowly, until recently. We are noticing it |
| such as Bangkok, Thailand with their widely | | | | now because it effecting everything around |
| spread out "fresh markets" supplying food to | | | | us, including the weather. There is no |
| the average citizen in Bangkok. The money | | | | arguing any more, global warming is happening |
| that is spent on these goods funnels out of | | | | because we are burning our natural resources |
| the city to where the crops are grown. | | | | at an unprecedented rate because our |
| | | | population has grown that way. |
| There were, of course times of difficulty, | | | | |