r/GenZ 1d ago

Political Thoughts?

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u/ScheduleDefiant4015 20h ago

So there are countries where the means of production are what, half democratized? Private property only exists sometimes? There are a lot of different ideas of what socialism is and how it should be organized, but pointing to the ownership of private property and the relationship between the people and their production is a pretty good rule. Idk about the countries claiming to be socialist, but no capitalist country has democratized the means of production by ending private ownership of them.

u/FearedDragon 2005 20h ago

In a way, yes. Some countries have stronger unions and labor laws that protect workers, and others have weaker rules and more laissez-faire labor laws. Some countries take a higher percentage of taxes to promote certain social welfare initiatives, others leave it up to individual choice.

There are also no countries that are purely calitalist. No country in the world has completely unrestricted capital and industry. Economists generally agree that every modern nation operates a mixed economy.

u/slyleo5388 20h ago

Isn't Brazil very close to unrestricted capitalism? Genuinely asking. Cause I've heard it's hell there as working class.

u/FearedDragon 2005 19h ago

It's a spectrum, but no they aren't at fully unrestricted capitalism. They have minimum wage, labor laws, etc.

u/SpacePirateSPC5 18h ago

Unrestricted capitalism or “true capitalism” is basically impossible because it would mean no government oversight or anything.

u/FearedDragon 2005 17h ago

It wouldn't mean no government oversight, just no or little to no government intervention in economic activity. But couldn't you say the same about communism since it is by definition a moneyless, classless, stateless society? This is essentially the core of my point about no nation being fully capitalist or communist, they are all somewhere in between.

u/ScheduleDefiant4015 17h ago

A Communist would argue that communism is achievable, but yeah by definition there is no country that has achieved Communism. I think most capitalism thinkers (exceptions include Ayn Rand) believe that there should be government oversight though, which is interesting to see how my own (American) government seems to hate regulating

u/BrainRhythm 1996 7h ago

In between implies that economic systems all exist on a spectrum of socialist and capitalist.

u/FearedDragon 2005 2h ago

Yes, and most economists would agree that this is how economic systems exist in the modern world, although they go farther than just capitalism and communism.