It's obvious that there are numerous structural problems with capitalism. On the other hand, it is the best system that we have implemented yet. Communism is impossible on the scale of a country. Every time communism is implemented, it quickly turns into totalitarianism, if it was even communism in the first place. While small communes can work, implementing communism in a large nation like the US is completely unfeasible. Other, older systems like mercantilism had their heyday and have faded. With the current form of socialism also failing, we need to figure out a way to solve our bloated government and massive deficits.
So, how do we fix capitalism? If you have been following the news about services like Uber, you may have heard of the "Collaborative Commons" or "sharing economy." The whole premise of these economies, is that eventually technology brings the cost of making energy and other products down so far(think cheap 3-D printing, solar panels, etc.) that people make their own goods and share services instead of relying on corporations. While we are far from this Utopian vision of collaboration, we can actively take steps to make sure we approach this future and achieve future prosperity.
An idea that I have been following and has been catching steam recently is the idea of a universal basic income. Switzerland is putting the idea to referendum, and if it passes, will be granting each citizen about $2500 per month, no matter how much the person makes. The idea also has widespread support, with even some conservative pundits on Fox News supporting the idea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07F1b3uPoGs
The idea of a universal basic income is to give everyone a set amount of money each month. It would act as a simple form of welfare and would eliminate the bloat of current welfare. It may surprise you that we have over 150 different welfare programs. 150 DIFFERENT PROGRAMS! How many can you think off of the top of you head? Universal health care, housing, child care, education, basic income,...and that's all I got. That's 5, and those 5 could pretty much cover every cost a person could have. Maybe a sixth program for handicapped/disabled workers. When you have 150 programs and theoretically only need less than 10, the state has grown far too big. Universla basic income is great in that it is a simple check, given to each person. In reality, a software program with limited human oversight could probably run the system with very little fraud, as long as birth certificates, death certificates, and other identification is held in a central database.
Universal basic income not only reduces bureaucracy, it also provides a much better safety net and eliminates welfare traps. A welfare trap is a situation when someone can make more on welfare than he/she can working a certain job. So, the person will remain on welfare, straining the state. Universal basic income is given to everyone, unemployed or millionaire, and does not go away, eliminating the disincentive to work.
The disincentive to work is also eliminated because, while it does provide everyone free money, the basic income is intended to only be used for necessities and would have very little, if any, money available after housing, food, health care, etc. Universal basic income could even be supplemented or replaced by universal housing and health care. The basic income would be decreased to only what is needed for food and electricity or internet or whatever else is needed.
There are disadvantages to universal basic income that needed to be figured out. How to deal with kids: provide an extra few thousand for each kid? limit the bonus to a certain number of kids? let people have unlimited kids? All of these scenarios have problems that need to be fleshed out, but currently, universal basic income has the most potential to move us towards a more equal society, and to eliminate many of the ills of capitalism.
So, how do we fix capitalism? If you have been following the news about services like Uber, you may have heard of the "Collaborative Commons" or "sharing economy." The whole premise of these economies, is that eventually technology brings the cost of making energy and other products down so far(think cheap 3-D printing, solar panels, etc.) that people make their own goods and share services instead of relying on corporations. While we are far from this Utopian vision of collaboration, we can actively take steps to make sure we approach this future and achieve future prosperity.
An idea that I have been following and has been catching steam recently is the idea of a universal basic income. Switzerland is putting the idea to referendum, and if it passes, will be granting each citizen about $2500 per month, no matter how much the person makes. The idea also has widespread support, with even some conservative pundits on Fox News supporting the idea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07F1b3uPoGs
The idea of a universal basic income is to give everyone a set amount of money each month. It would act as a simple form of welfare and would eliminate the bloat of current welfare. It may surprise you that we have over 150 different welfare programs. 150 DIFFERENT PROGRAMS! How many can you think off of the top of you head? Universal health care, housing, child care, education, basic income,...and that's all I got. That's 5, and those 5 could pretty much cover every cost a person could have. Maybe a sixth program for handicapped/disabled workers. When you have 150 programs and theoretically only need less than 10, the state has grown far too big. Universla basic income is great in that it is a simple check, given to each person. In reality, a software program with limited human oversight could probably run the system with very little fraud, as long as birth certificates, death certificates, and other identification is held in a central database.
Universal basic income not only reduces bureaucracy, it also provides a much better safety net and eliminates welfare traps. A welfare trap is a situation when someone can make more on welfare than he/she can working a certain job. So, the person will remain on welfare, straining the state. Universal basic income is given to everyone, unemployed or millionaire, and does not go away, eliminating the disincentive to work.
The disincentive to work is also eliminated because, while it does provide everyone free money, the basic income is intended to only be used for necessities and would have very little, if any, money available after housing, food, health care, etc. Universal basic income could even be supplemented or replaced by universal housing and health care. The basic income would be decreased to only what is needed for food and electricity or internet or whatever else is needed.
There are disadvantages to universal basic income that needed to be figured out. How to deal with kids: provide an extra few thousand for each kid? limit the bonus to a certain number of kids? let people have unlimited kids? All of these scenarios have problems that need to be fleshed out, but currently, universal basic income has the most potential to move us towards a more equal society, and to eliminate many of the ills of capitalism.