Capitalism Flashcards
Ethical Capitalism 1. What are the two requirements for ethical capitalism in Bergman’s article, “Ethical
Capitalism? It’s worth a Try”?
Ethical Capitalism has at least two essential ingredients: A
1) focus on creating long-term economic and social value, and
2) a commitment by business to act as stewards of the full spectrum of its constituencies – customers, employees, suppliers, investors and society.
Ethical Capitalism seeks to build deep, trust-based relationships in the service of society as well as the bottom line. In other words, it is a business model with a “higher purpose.”
The Great Debate 2. How does Stewart use the Golden Rule to argue that capitalism can be ethically pursued
in “The Great Debate: Can Capitalism be Ethical?”
In the 1980s, the Brundtland Commission defined sustainability as an integration of economic, social, and environmental spheres, to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This is simply a special case of the Golden Rule: do unto future generations as you would have them do unto you. It is a definition which extends sustainability beyond traditional areas such as energy, natural resources and emissions, to community relations and working conditions. These basic ethical principles require individuals to consider the consequences of their actions upon both their peers and their environments
The logic of capitalism leads to overexploitation of resources, both human and natural: disguising the fox as a cuddly animal of organic fair trade will not remove this underlying trait. Until we shift our economy away from growth towards sustenance, we will keep robbing resource bases from groups that practiced different forms of economy long before we extracted ‘value’ from their lands. A turn to a sustainable economy will require a turn to an economics where ethics emanate from a care for the environment – including people – as its first priority. - See more at: http://theoccupiedtimes.org/?p=4840#sthash.Y4BcsdkN.dpuf
Žižek video3. How does Žižek critique the idea of cultural capitalism in the video, “First as Tragedy,
Then as Farce”?
Uses star bucks as an example. The culture is you are not only buying a product you are performing your duty of saving the environment, providing jobs etc. We basically trick ourselves into thinking we are makeing a difference,, but it keeps us fom thinking of ways to help others.
- How does charity “degrade and demoralize” according to Žižek? Harvey video
Charity Degrades because it is much easier to have sympathy with suffering than it is to have sympathy of thought. We set to remedy the symptoms instead of curing the disease. we have to reconstruct society, and the charity makes people not see the problems. It is immoral to buy property to save others from the woes fo private property.
- List one kind of theory as to what lead to the 2010 financial crisis that Harvey gives in
the video, “Crises of Capitalism”. 6. How does the accumulation of debt and financial crises play into the irresolvable contradictions in capital accumulation, according to Harvey?
Cultral value:US facinations with housed ownership. It is a cultral value to own own home, and have great tax deductions.
Regulation: too much regulations on banks.
Wages went down. Then people couldn’t pay bills, and so they got out credit cards. The major debt was housing debt.
Capitalism doesn’t solve the debt they just transfer it around because money is so volatile. Debts just move from one place to the next.
The system survives on expansion, however today’s inventions are destroyed by the expansion of tomorrow.
We believe that the only way to gain is to grow. We cannot so we create fictitious markets.
