Catanduanes Forum

As long as we continue to see the alternatives for future prosperity in terms of past defunct ideas, we shall make no progress whatsoever. The reasons for this groundbreaking statement are as follows:
1) Socialism is associated with unworkable leftist ideology which rewards the idle and allows unfair privileges to a central power, while taking away the motivation for original and profit making ideas.
2) Capitalism is associated with unworkable free markets which care nothing for people's lives, aspirations or security.
3) Modern western society is no longer divided into classes. There is no longer a mass of working class folk ready to take to the streets, and there are probably as many underfunded members of the upper class as there are wealthy barrow boys.
4) The old hierarchical divisions between management and staff have broken down. Managers are no longer establishment clones, and staff are no longer illiterate workhorses.
5) There is an effective MERITOCRACY at work where it is possible for anybody to become rich on the strength of a good idea. This meritocracy is guided by public opinion and consumer demand, a highly effective form of democracy.
6) Finally, there are inherent weaknesses in the system today that have nothing to do with either left or right wing politics but cut right across the board. These are:
a) A lack of accountability - the higher you climb the less accountable you become. The reverse ought to be true.
b) Those who work the hardest and bear the heaviest burdens should be paid better eg nurses, social workers, members of emergency services
c) Professional bodies are over-respected and correspondingly overpaid for what they do eg solicitors, accountants, bankers
d) Society's priority is still profit and not welfare. This needs to be reversed.
e) The most vulnerable in society are the least well served, eg elderly, sick, mentally disadvantaged.
f) The pressure on companies to have to constantly grow has a negative impact on the environment, on health, and on the general well being of society. It encourages ludicrous business strategies such as "obsolete-ism" and "short termism".