Regarding capitalism and democracy, here’s a perspective to consider.
Sometimes they go well together, since they share the premise of individual choice, unencumbered by government mandates – with the outcome determined by the aggregate choices of the participants.
The key difference in premise is that democracy is founded on ‘one person, one vote’, while capitalism is founded on ‘one-dollar, one vote’. In Democracy it’s the aggregate votes of people that decide; in capitalism, the aggregate dollars.
Capitalism and democracy play best together when the endowment of dollars-per-person has some modicum of parity. Because of the intimate linkage between governance and economy, a radical skewing of wealth distribution inevitably bleeds over into a skewing of political power in the same direction.
This skewing can be particularly severe in a mass-media environment where sharing ones message to an electorate requires significant economic resources.
Beyond a certain degree of wealth distribution skewing, any remaining semblance of democracy is just an illusion.
Sometimes they go well together, since they share the premise of individual choice, unencumbered by government mandates – with the outcome determined by the aggregate choices of the participants.
The key difference in premise is that democracy is founded on ‘one person, one vote’, while capitalism is founded on ‘one-dollar, one vote’. In Democracy it’s the aggregate votes of people that decide; in capitalism, the aggregate dollars.
Capitalism and democracy play best together when the endowment of dollars-per-person has some modicum of parity. Because of the intimate linkage between governance and economy, a radical skewing of wealth distribution inevitably bleeds over into a skewing of political power in the same direction.
This skewing can be particularly severe in a mass-media environment where sharing ones message to an electorate requires significant economic resources.
Beyond a certain degree of wealth distribution skewing, any remaining semblance of democracy is just an illusion.
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