Brief summary of the article “Capitalism”

In the text are reported several definitions of capitalism, which means different things to different people.

According to the author of Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (1942) Joseph Schumpeter, capitalism is a process in which the old economic structure is constantly destoyed for the creation of a new one. This process is called “creative distruction”. The writers Thomas Friedman and Naomi Klein (The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism) believe that the freemarket capitalism and frontier capitalism are the answer to all questions about the capitalist economy.

Al Capone considers capitalism as a legitimate form of power for powerful people. Wiston Churchill, British prime minister during the second world war defines capitalism as a healthy horse. Indeed many people can consider it either a cow to milk or a dangerous tiger, dipending on of which side they are.

Both Samuel Smiles and John Maynard Keynes compared capitalism to men. For the first writer capitalism is simply a man who doesn’t spend everything he earned working. Indeed , according to the the second writer, capitalism is a general thought in which the most cruel man of the planet would do the most cruel thing for the good of other people.

To Thomas Sowell, a famous economist, all that matters in capitalism is money, and nothing else can be considered. On the contrary, according to the philosopher Eric Hoffer, capitalism has very negative disadvantages because it corrupts everything: politics, sports, literature, art, labour unions. Anyway business also corrupts and undermines monolithic totalitarianism.

For Deng Xiaoping, Chinese Communist Party leader, being rich is being glorified and for Karl Marx capitalism is money and advantages in life. The capacity of capitalism is to add value to itself. Last but not least, John Maynard Keynes, who suggest capitalism as a new way of emlpoyment.