Dover: the most dangerous man in Europe is about to arrive on Britain’s shores. His preachings are so incendiary he’s been forced out of his native country. Only liberal Britain will tolerate his presence on her soil. He heads to London to live in exile. The year is 1849. But today that man’s writings are still dangerous. They’re so radical, so revolutionary, they continue to divide the world. Masters of Money III: Marx, BBC 2012
Is Karl Marx turning out to be right? ibid.
For Marx, the best argument against capitalism is that it was inherently unfair ... Karl Marx had the most radical advice of all: get rid of it. ibid.
It’s what he said about capitalism that rings so true today. ibid.
For Marx, it all begins with private property. ibid.
They always need to make more profit. But in seeking out profit, they end up eroding the basis on which it’s made. ibid.
He saw capitalism as endlessly adaptable. ibid.
Credit provided an answer to all of capitalism’s woes. But only for a while. Remember, Marx thought the system was fundamentally flawed. ibid.
Capitalism’s only ever as strong as its latest temporary fix. ibid.
But the idea that low wages may have contributed to the crisis is gaining ground. ibid.
Marx would insist the trap is inescapable. ibid.
Nobody else has been able to describe a convincing alternative to capitalism either. ibid.
Could there ever be an alternative to capitalism? ibid.
Marx died in 1883 ... Did Marx change the world? Of course he did. ibid.
Well first of all, tell me: Is there some society you know that doesn’t run on greed? You think Russia doesn’t run on greed? You think China doesn’t run on greed? What is greed? Of course, none of us are greedy, it’s only the other fellow who’s greedy. The world runs on individuals pursuing their separate interests. The great achievements of civilization have not come from government bureau. Einstein didn’t construct his theory under order from a bureaucrat. Henry Ford didn’t revolutionize the automobile industry that way. In the only cases in which the masses have escaped from the kind of grinding poverty you’re talking about, the only cases in recorded history, are where they have had capitalism and largely free trade. If you want to know where the masses are worse off, worst off, it’s exactly in the kinds of societies that depart from that. So that the record of history is absolutely crystal clear, that there is no alternative way so far discovered of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by the free-enterprise system. Milton Friedman
Once you realize that trickle-down economics does not work, you will see the excessive tax cuts for the rich as what they are – a simple upward redistribution of income, rather than a way to make all of us richer, as we were told. Ha-Joon Chang, 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism
This is the permanent tension that lies at the heart of a capitalist democracy and is exacerbated in times of crisis. In order to ensure the survival of the richest, it is democracy that has to be heavily regulated rather than capitalism. Tariq Ali, The Obama Syndrome: Surrender at Home, War Abroad
Under capitalism the common man enjoys amenities which in ages gone by were unknown and therefore inaccessible even to the richest people. But, of course, these motorcars, television sets and refrigerators do not make a man happy. In the instant in which he acquires them, he may feel happier than he did before. But as soon as some of his wishes are satisfied, new wishes spring up. Such is human nature. Ludwig von Mises, The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality
They are cry-baby capitalists. Gerard Celente
People still don’t want to believe the worst is yet to come. Gerard Celente
You cannot under the capitalist structure avoid unemployment. Do not have alliances with the enemy. That is breaking a vital principle and is going to bind us with shackles to capitalism. A J Cook, address TUC September, 1928
We must fight capitalism with all the weapons at our disposal in an organised fashion. This needs power, which only trade unions can create by industrial and political argument. A J Cook
Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners. Vladimir Lenin
The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the currency. Vladimir Lenin
Fascism is capitalism under decay. Vladimir Lenin
Bourgeois democracy, although it is a historical advance in comparison with medievalism, always remains, and under capitalism is bound to remain, restricted, truncated, false and hypocritical. A paradise for the rich and a snare and a deception for the exploited, for the poor.
The whole point is that a bourgeois state which is exercising the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie through a democratic republic cannot confess to the people that it is serving the bourgeoisie. It cannot tell the truth and has to play the hypocrite. Vladimir Lenin
Imperialism is the monopoly stage of capitalism. Vladimir Lenin 1916
They [Capitalists] will furnish credits which will serve us for the support of the Communist Party in their countries and, by supplying us materials and technical equipment which we lack, will restore our military industry necessary for our future attacks against our suppliers. To put it in other words, they will work on the preparation of their own suicide. Vladimir Lenin
Why, after 60 years of freedom have you not progressed further? ... Why has so much of your fertile country been parcelled out between swindling bankers and grinding capitalists? ... Why have so many of your cities, towns, railways, canals and manufacturies become the monopolised property of those who ‘toil not neither do they spin’? London Working Men’s Association, 1837 letter to working class of America
In the coming years my purpose is to see that private enterprise can start to earn the returns it needs. Margaret Thatcher
For Marx was, before all else, a revolutionary. His real mission in life was to contribute in one way or another to the overthrow of capitalist society and of the forms of government which it had brought into being, to contribute to the liberation of the present day proletariat. Friedrich Engels
While free markets tend to democratize a society, unfettered capitalism leads invariably to corporate control of government. Robert Kennedy
Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: the fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate. Bertrand Russell
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries. Winston Churchill, House of Commons 22 October 1945
The illusion has become real – and the more real it becomes the more desperate they want it. Capitalism at its finest. Wall Street 1987 starring Michael Douglas & Charlie Sheen & Dary Hannah & Martin Sheen & John C McGinley & Terence Stamp & James Karen & Hal Holbrook & Sean Young & James Spader et al, director Oliver Stone
Capital must be propelled by self-interest; it cannot be enticed by benevolence. Walter Bagehot, Economic Studies, 1880
The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. Max Weber
It is the unpleasant and unacceptable face of capitalism, but one should not suggest that the whole of British industry consists of practices of this kind. Edward Heath, re Lonrho affair
We will benefit our fellow man most if we are guided solely by the striving for gain. For this purpose we have to return to an automatic system which brings this about – self-directing automatic system – which alone can restore liberty and prosperity. Friedrich von Hayek
Often when I am kneeling down in church I think to myself how much we should thank god, the holy ghost, for the gift of capitalism. Enoch Powell
The eccentric aspect of British capitalism is how poorly its business owners discharge their responsibilities. Will Hutton, The State to Come
No religions, conquerors or empires have spread themselves so completely across the planet as these two superpowers with their rallying slogans of, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Thirst, and We are The Essence of Capitalism, and We Must Save The World; I refer to the bitter-sweet war between those giants of carbonation and regurgitation Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola. John Pilger, Burp! Pepsi Versus Coke