Hello

Hello

Hi! and welcome to this blog. We are a group of students of the University of Puerto Rico at Carolina, and as part of our English class we created this blog to share some information about Capitilism.Our names are Sylgelis Cirino, Ivis Velázquez, Jose Alvarado, Guillermo Gorbea and Alejandro Navarro.

The End Of American Capitalism?

This is an article from 2008 about the crisis in the banking systems at the time and the bailout for them. The crisis with the banks also affected the hausing markets cause many people could pay of their houses. Th rest of the article just talks to us about how capitalism isn't doing America much good and the views of other countries. my opinion is that although capitalism has it's pros it also has its cons, and for it to be ideal there has to be more focus on the individuals that are working than the money.




the article is here:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/09/AR2008100903425.html?referrer=emailarticle

Capitalism Under Fire

This is a brief article about french students and workers who are protesting about the governments employments policy.The crowds in the street contest a certain form of capitalist economy that a large part, if not the majority, of French society regards as a danger to national standards of justice and, above all, to "equality" - that radical notion of which France is nearly alone in proclaiming as a national cause, the central value in its republican motto of "liberty, equality, fraternity."
My opinion of the article is that the french see the new employment policy as a way of advancing capitalism which it seems like they don't want. The person who signed the new policy didn't think about the consequence that the policy would bring. Consequences like the company having more autonomy and gaining more wealth from the unlimited labor from their employees.


To read the article here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/29/news/29iht-edpfaff.html

Images of capitalism

The right image shows many different types of social systems and what they represent. The image on the left image shows us how capitalism promotes companies.









http://www.google.com.pr/imgres?imgurl=http://ih5.ggpht.com
http://www.google.com.pr/imgres?imgurl=http://4.bp.blogspot.com

Capitalism Facts

Here are some facts that i have found about Capitalism in terms of many different topics like Progress, morality, power, etc.

Isn't capitalism opposed to progress?

Capitalism is the only "progressive" system, in the proper meaning of the term. The historical evidence to support this thesis is irrefutable. Capitalism is the only system that led to the freedom of slaves, the end of feudalism, the equal rights of all individuals, regardless of race, color, sex, etc.

Isn't capitalism immoral?
No. Capitalism is the moral system, since it is the only system that allows man to be virtuous -- to pursue the good -- by leaving him free to act by the use of his reason. Freedom to act is a precondition of morality. This is Capitalism's moral justification.

What is a monopoly?
Today, a monopoly is defined as a single seller in a given industry (appropriately defined).

Are not all monopolies harmful?
Being a single seller, by itself, is not good, nor evil -- it depends on how one obtained that single-seller status. Did one obtain a monopoly by economic competition in the marketplace, or did one obtain it by political pull, i.e., lobbying? If such status is gained by competition in the free-market then the "monopoly" -- the successful business -- is good

What happens if a business attempts to charge prices higher than its competitors ("exploiting")?
If any business attempts to charge prices higher than the market will bear, he will lose all his business to his competition, since he cannot force his competition out of business. The businessman's power is dollars -- not guns.

What happens if a business attempts to charge prices lower than his competitors ("dumping")?
If a business attempts to "corner the market" by charging prices that are too low (i.e., below its' variable costs of production), the business may drive competitors out of the market temporarily (at the price of eating up its financial capital and eroding its profits); but, as soon as the business raises its' prices (in order to reap profits in order to build back the capital it has given away by selling products below their variable cost), new competitors will enter the market.

Doesn't capitalism oppose "free" education?

Capitalism supports freedom in education as opposed to the tax funded "free" education run by the state. Under capitalism, the indoctrination of the young by the officials of the state is illegal. Under capitalism, education, like food, computers, and medicine, is taken on as a private profit making enterprise, not because education is unimportant, but because it is so important (like all private enterprise this leaves room for private charity, but this is a secondary issue).

How is 'free' education funded under capitalism?

The only "free" education under capitalism is provided by private individuals, i.e., parents paying for their child's education, i.e., individuals acting as a group, e.g., church groups and non-religious groups.

All the facts can be found at: http://www.capitalism.org/

You Should see

If you want to learn a little more about capitalism in the united states you should see the movie Capitalism a love story by Michael Moore. In the movie Michael goes to big name companies and various government offices to see their take on capitalism, some respond positively some do not.The link to some scenes from the movie are below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKQJx3L_CDQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOD5cPs01_s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2kfAr2h5NE&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frs25RsstoA&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4cJv-D7JPo&feature=relmfu