Simple fact: The world gives money and power to those who can find clever ways to take other people's money. The object of every government has been to find ways to take as much of your money and services as possible. When that power is delegated to private corporations or people it is because the governments feel corporations can do a better and more creative job at taking your money, and in turn, the governments can make money off of the success of private entities through taxation.

Simple fact: Higher salaries for the people will not lead to easier lives. It will lead to higher expenses. If the average American salary is $50,000 and each family can afford $1,000 a month for a mortgage, for example, then market prices for homes will be adjusted accordingly. Demand for homes will drive the prices up to a point where someone can "just barely afford" their mortgage. If a superstar statesmen comes in and the economy is rolling and wages go up by a lot, lets say the average salary is now $60,000, then home prices will once again adjust to the market. Demand from the people will drive the home up to the point where once again someone can "just barely afford" a home. The last five years saw a housing boom because the federal reserve lowered interest rates. It became cheaper to borrow. Interest payments were lower on homes. Now it was suddenly "easier" to afford a home, yet the market adjusted prices back to the point where people can "just barely afford" a place to live.

The point: It will never be "easier" in this world. The system is designed so that most people will ALWAYS have to work hard just to get by. A capitalist society in the first world is not smooth sailing and never will be.

Ways to make money

Earned income: wages and salary. you work very hard and you work at the mercy of an employer. lowest rewards, most work. This is how most people get their money!

Passive Income: you buy something once and earn money off of it forever. you rarely do any work. examples are real estate and royalties from patents. by having passive income, you are 'collecting' money from others - encouraged behavior.

Portfolio Income: owning all or part of a business that collects money from others through goods and services.

* The hardest and least rewarding way to make money in this world is to work hard for a salary.

The easiest ways to make money in this world are through passive and portfolio income. You are rewarded handsomely because you are collecting the peoples money. The system allows people to earn money this way because it [the government] in turn makes money off of you (income tax, property taxes).

Rich people learn how to borrow money from banks and pay it back with other peoples money. The people with the money in this world are those who can cleverly collect money from others.

No, I think that is called criminalism.

Capitalism makes a hell lot more sense than socialism, communism and facism. I mean communism means everyone is equal however hard they work. So lazy larry who doesn't go to work and stays in bed all day earns exactly the same as working William who works 9 to 5 everyday all his life. How can that make sense?

Capitalism means lazy Larry doesn't get anything until he goes out and gets a job or finds a way to make money through commerce (makes perfect sense) and working William earns the money he deserves to get by. Benefit money shouldn't go to people like lazy Larry but to people like working William.

You missed the entire point of the thread I guess. The whole idea was to point out that you SHOULD be ambitious and you SHOULDN'T be lazy or allow an economic system to hinder your potential for success.

It doesn't really matter what economic system is in place, the point has ALWAYS been to take as much of the peoples money and services without encouraging riots coups and revolutions.

This is the same principle whether you are talking about a monarchy, communism, dictatorships, or capitalism. The governments will take as much as they can reasonably take without pissing off the people to the extent that they in turn risk losing power.

The soviet union took from its citizens every single ounce of service and gave back to them the bare minimum. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need" was the common phrase. Capitalism, for the most part, does the same thing for the average citizen. All prices adjust back to market. The average citizen will always just get by. It's both a structural result and a cultural problem. We live good but still struggle. That's because everyone needs a car, a computer, air conditioning, etc. People get a raise and typically the first thing they think of is "how can I spend this?". We live in a consumer economy.

Anyway, while I am 100% for the "welfare state" that is the USA (you wrongly call us a capitalist nation which is untrue. We are a mix of a market economy with safety nets and a wealth of social services), I realize that there are times when capitalism is awful for the nation. A good example is hurricane Katrina's aftermath. Prices for building materials & labor skyrocketed because of demand. Oil prices in the region skyrocketed because of demand. The government is forced to pay astronomical prices (which your taxes are funding) to people who are in all honestly benefiting from one of the worst disasters in our nations history.

And while the whole country is gung-ho about capitalism, most people embrace "socialist-like" principles in their daily lives. Do you have any type of insurance? What is so capitalist about everyone paying a standard amount into a safety net pool that is paid out unequally during times of diaster, something communism took care of? What about welfare? Unemployment insurance by the state? Medicaid? What about flat income tax rates or sales tax rates? Everyone pays an equal amount but receives unequal benefits.