Your Question: In the future, will we be living in "history"?
My Answer: In the future we will be living in the "History" of a time that is farther in the future than the "future". What does this have to do with capitalism? Or is this question completely irrelevant? I'm confused as to the necessity of this question to the meaning of capitalism and its viability with other economical and political systems.
Your Question: Or will we be living in the future, presumably a period of time our history classes do not describe in detail, a period of time which we ourselves create?
My Answer: Probably true. Relevance to the question?
Your assignment: Please describe in detail the most important social trends of the next fifty years or so, showing why there's no room for alternatives to capitalist social practice in any of them.
Metaphysical assumption - Time will continue as we know it. (See above two statements for relevance).
Back to what I am ASSUMING you want me respond to: Why is capitalism superior to other forms of economic and political systems, with reasons why I believe this to be true?
My Answer:
Creativity is an inherent in the human race. This is evidenced even by your previous questions. It shows up in all aspects of our lives. From the objects we see in the randomness of clouds to these discussions about what is the best way to do things. Each and every one of us has a slightly different perspective on what the world is and what we think it should be.
With several billion people occupying this planet there are probably several billion opinions as to how it should be run. No one of them is completely correct, any more than any one of them is completely wrong. This leaves us with a problem. Several billion ways to do something fitted into a system which is acceptable to the vast majority (You will never satisfy everyone).
If you believe that fundamentally human beings are good and will do the "right" thing, then you must believe that letting them do as they wish is the right thing to do. If you believe that people will NOT do the "right" thing then you have no faith in mankind and therefore believe that your ideas are superior to the billions that inhabit this planet. I would hope that the majority of these billions are good people that have the same basic goal as myself. To live my life the best I can and enjoy the fruits of my labors, both economically and in my personal life.
Not being a fool though, I believe that there are a few people who will not do the right thing and will actually do harm to others both physically and economically trough the use of force or fraud. These people are present in our world at all times in all walks of life. They occur in politics, police, businessmen, teachers, clergy, doctors, lawyers, laymen. The list goes on and on.
Based on my belief in the human race, it is possible that capitalism will begin to flourish in much more of the world in the next 50 years. The basic premises of capitalism that society will "reward" you for doing what it wants or needs. Farmers receive rewards because we need food; doctors get high rewards because we need medical attention, etc. etc.
Capitalism is also "self regulating". Once society no longer needs or wants something then the rewards go away and the effort goes away. In the 1800's we needed horse drawn carriages and we "rewarded" the manufacturers of these items. Now we no longer need them and therefore they are not a significant part of our society. (Some companies do still make carriages, but not very many).
Capitalism is also a reality check on ourselves. It rewards us for what society wants/desires and bases that reward on the need/desire of the society, not on how important any one individual thinks it is. An example of this would be cattle ranchers. Capitalism would result in a rancher selling his meat to societies that eat meat. Those that enjoy eating meat can get meat, and those that think it is wrong could live their lives without being forced to eat it. This applies to all products. If you make a product that people don't want you go out of business. On the surface this may not seem "fair" to you and your employees, but then, in reality, you have no right to force yourself or your product on others. Freedom of choice is the driving force behind capitalism.
History has shown all these to be true. The most glaring of these is the history of the U.S.A. Our capitalistic society has created and produced a society that is highly efficient, productive, and creative. A large number of the modern advances we enjoy are a product of this capitalism. The fundamental idea that the people individually know what they want and need has produced a society that is "free" in both its economic and personal choices. Freedom and capitalism go hand in hand. Neither can truely exist without the other.
These ideas have evolved from the Roman society through the European societies and culminating in the U.S., as we know it today. I believe that this idea of personal and economic freedom is founded in the belief of the people in themselves. As the world advances and people begin to believe in themselves and others the ideas of freedom and capitalism will continue its growth throughout the world.
