Democracy is a political system. Capitalism is an economic system. They don't cancel each other out. The video was a stupid rant with no solutions, pointing out that poverty exists where capitalism exists. It didn't even try the weak argument that soviet communism was better.
No they don't cancel each other out and it was never mentioned that they do. What I said was that it's been the use of democratic pressure against free-market capitalism (the introductions of workers rights etc etc etc) that has produced what prosperity we have.
The video, I would say, was a highly pertinent rant that strongly challenges the common lie we've all been sold since we were kids: that capitalism works. The solution is something it doesn't need to put across because it's so obvious: we need to change our economic system away from capitalism. It was using poverty as a good example as to the ridiculousness of the claim that capitalism is responsible for our prosperity when the majoirty of the capitalist world lives in poverty.
Our prosperity is a result of fighting against capitalism?? The video spoke globally, so I assume you do as well. If that is the case, you are so off base its embarrassing. "Our" prosperity has come from empire-building, exploiting weaker societies and taking what we wanted. That worked for centuries.
What the video meant, which is something mentioned in other threads here, is that the prosperity the average person in the western world sees is down not to capitalism, but the headway that's been made since the turn of the twentieth century to curb capitalism's hideous and destructive nature. The headway has been made through a democratic struggle that's resulted in partially regulated markets, workers rights, decent working conditions etc etc...
Sure, the UK and US have enjoyed exploiting foreign societies, and still do, but that isn't what has given the average person prosperity in either country. The prosperity has come through the laws that have been passed to regulate capitalism, however small those changes may have been.
Your post suggests that without capitalism, we'd all be more prosperous. It's a ridiculous argument.
Of course we'd all be more prosperous! Capitalism sends all the wealth and power upwards to the few. Imagine if that didn't happen... take the UK as an example: rising poverty, rising gap between the rich and the poor. Last time I checked the GDP for the UK divided into 16,000GBP per person (that includes children). Now 16K in Blighty gives you an ok standard of living. And obviously with most homes having more than one person in (4 being the average I guess), it probably equates to a massive 64,000GBP per household - IF capitalism wasn't allowed to drive all the money to the few. That would create a country of VERY prosperous people...
(excuse my crude economics there, but you get the idea...)
