Governments function with the purpose of providing "the good life" for its citizens. This may mean different things to different people, cultures or traditions, but most of the time it includes a few basic things like healthcare, education, welfare, housing, a safe and clean environment and so on. Governments provide public goods and services, meaning that the government deals with that which is collectively owned by all the citizens of the country. Doesn't that sound a little like communism?Who is the biggest employer in almost every country? The respective government in that country.
So, we have a huge percentage of the human workforce working in a communist setup (public sector), working with those goods and services that are owned collectively by the state and its citizens, but most of them believe that they are capitalists.
Could capitalism as it is today exist without the governments providing their socialist roles? Could the market cope with that many job losses? Would private enterprises just take over the roles and charge rates for that which was once price-controlled or even free? What would the consequences of this be? Most definitely our definition of "affordable living" would have to be altered. Having to pay private rates for all the things that the government provides would bankrupt us all - well most of us anyway.
The governments are supposed to redistribute the public goods and services in such a way that it is as beneficial as possible to as many as possible - now this kinda sounds like what Equal Money proposes... But, it very rarely happens that a government (or more accurately, those public officials working in the government) redistributes public goods effectively, fairly, equitably or in such a way that it is best for all the citizens. It can easily be said, and then agreed upon, that most governments are not doing their jobs properly at the cost of the health, comfort and safety of their citizens - does this not indicate to us very clearly that our system is in need of a serious re-structuring - when that institution which is supposed to regulate and police all the other institutions is bad at it's job, mainly due to the greed of individuals?
Are capitalism and socialism capable of existing separately from each other successfully? Absolutely not as they are now. The only way I can think of either of the 2 existing on their own is by manifesting in a pure and absolute manner - by their theories manifesting exactly. That is simply not something that seems likely, given man's knack at being stupid. The same problem would exist in either of those answers as in pretty much every other solution that has been put forward - not enough attention is given to changing the nature of us. If an absolute form of either capitalism or socialism were to be implemented immediately, our overwhelming greed would influence the new system and cause it to spin out of control, as it is spinning right now, crash and burn.I have seen no other solution that is as holistic as Equal Money. Whether we will be able to change our natures enough to realise it is another matter altogether.
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