Opportunities and Challenges

     Happy Labor Day weekend all!  This week I am diving into the opportunities and challenges of democracy and the opportunities and challenges of capitalism in democracy.
     The opportunities of democracy starts with the involvement of the citizens in decisions.  The power to vote.  Democracy also provides protecion of the rights of the citizens.  There are checks and balances in place to make sure that one person cannot make all of the decisions.  Making government agencies work together.  A challenge is that there is not 100% particiation of the citizens.  When everyone des not participate, everyone is not represented.  Democracy is also plagued by inequalities.  The wealthy have more pull and seem to be more protected by the government while the poor participate less and laws seem to fail that are set out to procect them.
     With all of the opportunities that Democracy has, it provides a perfect platform for capitalism to flourish.  Capitalism promotes competition in the economy.  Prices are set by the price the producers are willing to sell for and the consumer is willing to purchase.  If prices are too high, consumers won't buy the product, and if another producer is selling the same product for less, the consumer is going to buy the less expensive product.  This promotes competition in cost and quality.  Because government regulation is limited it allows capitalism to grow.  Growth in the economy is the best way to measure the well being of a society.  Capitalism needs regulation to survive.  To keep one company from having a monopoly, rules are in place to keep an open market.  To make sure the foods are safe for consumers to consume, rules are in place.  A challenge that capitalism in democracy faces is that the American people hold the government accountable for a poor economy and high unemployment,  but retaliate when government gets too involved in business.  Another big challenge is that corporations spend a lot of money in donations to campaigns and through lobbying influencing the government to act with their best interests in mind and not always the interest of the general population.  So a balancing act is created to find the right amount of government involvment to keep the capital model true and for the well being of the society.

I am not sure if my views are right, but that is the greatest thing about this country, I have the opportunity to voice my opinion and learn more through the opinions of others!!

"I like the noise of democracy."
     James Buchanan~15th President (1857-1861)