Ethics

Capitalism can be defined philosophically as a social system whereby individuals have their rights and they are entitled to these rights. The economic aspect of capitalism can be defined as a state of a free-market. Many economic systems such as that of the United States and most European countries have adopted a capitalist system guided by both the philosophical and the economic views of capitalism. With major economic crises (the Major Depression of the 1930s and the 2007-2009 financial crises) having occurred in an era of capitalism, it becomes worthwhile to think of the future of capitalism thus providing the way forward as entails social and economic systems. Capitalism will have to be redefined to be more socially sensitive in the future but this will not be obvious since capitalism has in the past proved to be worthwhile.

    It is notable that the financial system in America is mainly guided by need to fulfill self interests while ignoring the larger society and this is characteristic of capitalism. This is not only in the United States but rather a philosophy held by the West more so the G-20 economies. Such a capitalistic outlook has been cited by Coicaud and Jin (2010) as one of the main reasons that led to the recent world financial crisis. Whereas capitalism has led to major economic development more so in the West, the same aspects of capitalism have the potential to bring down the established development if it is left to be a dominant system.

When one considers the great economic and developmental lead achieved due to capitalism not only in the West but also globally, it may become hard to comprehend the ills that have come with people wanting have their own rights and operating in a free market. A critical look however highlights that capitalism has encouraged selfishness as people pursue happiness. In other words, the trend has been more of selfish capitalism as mentioned by Corkindale (2009). This selfishness has led to calls for the society to be more humane and shift from the pursuit of individual values seeing that the selfish form of capitalism has been a highway to financial and economic crises. Corkindale (2009) cites of Bill Gates call for economies to rethink of adopting creative capitalism which is supposed to lead to more economic stability. Going with the calls for change of capitalistic views and practices, one can predict that capitalism will have to take another dimension that considers the whole society more than it does today.

Currently and in the past, capitalism has promoted unfairness in terms of wealth distribution and as such it has been more of an alienating system than a system of ensuring common good. The divisive nature of this economic system is also viewed as an unkind and democracy is about to lose its meaning (Corkindale, 2009). A free market economy has been rewarding a few while ignoring or acting unkind to a greater majority in the society. This result of this has been serious financial crises which unfortunately have not spared the few well-to-do individuals. If capitalism is to thrive as a rewarding social and economic system in the future, it has to be redefined to become such that it will not alienate or propagate unfairness. Failure to reform the existent form of capitalism and continued greed that has been enhanced by pursuit of happiness under the disguise of individual rights will lead to chaos in all capitalistic economies. The current chaos brought about by the capitalistic nature of most of the worlds economies is an eye opener to the need for a redefined capitalism that will shield economies from collapse.

In view that capitalism has brought tremendous development to individuals and governments it may seem inappropriate and unreasonable to argue for a redefinition of capitalism now and in the future. However, it is important to understand that as the world is experiencing change in all dimensions, so has been capitalism. Currently, capitalism is not a Western practice only but it has become a global issue making it be termed as global capitalism. Developing economies have taken a capitalism approach and this is spreading at a very fast rate. Capitalism in the developing world is acting as a major tool towards achieving economic development as these economies are aping the developed economies which have been built on mainly on capitalism (Bernstein, 2005). Being a global issue, the negative effects of seeking individualistic values and operation in a free market are also experienced on a global scale. Nevertheless, it cannot be ignored that capitalism is likely to remain as it is in the developing countries since it still appears to be rewarding. On another aspect, the developing economies will also have to redefine capitalism practice since the economies are not immune to global forces and trends in capitalism.

Much as it may said that capitalism needs to be redefined in the future, this is not an easily accepted concept. It is true that serious economic crisis like the financial crisis at the end of the last decade were mainly due to capitalism. It is even notable that capitalism has propagated social injustice in terms of wealth and income distribution. However as much as these sentiments may be true thus justifying a redefinition in capitalism practice, the benefits resulting from capitalism seem to blind many. To someone like Stoll (2010), the Americas economic DNA has been the free enterprise model. Stoll (2010, para 1) argues that a free enterprise model has created more wealth and lifted more people out of poverty than any other system ever devised by human beings. In fact it is the free market form of capitalism that has continually attracted people to the U.S. since it is a land of opportunity and full of potential in attaining personal goals. If most people are going to be guided by these kind of views (which are true to a greater extent), this it is hard to say that capitalism will change in the near future. In fact it is possible to find governments encouraging capitalism since it looks promising in lifting citizens out of poverty.

In conclusion, there is no doubt that there is need to redefine capitalism in the future if the economic crises brought about by capitalistic economies are to go by. The future form of capitalism is one where pursuit for individual values and benefits will diminish and focus will shift towards minding the larger society. The current call for a new form of capitalism points towards a future where capitalism will reduce alienation and promote fairness if it is to be accepted by the larger society and in order to be shielded from all forms of chaos. A new form of capitalism is however not an obvious trend noting that capitalism has proved to be a major player in individual and economic empowerment in the past. It will therefore not be a wonder if capitalism remains as it is in the future.