BBC: 27-Country Survey Finds Almost 1 in 4 Earth Residents Agree Capitalism Is Doomed

[JackRiddler]

Majorities (even in the US) are for more government regulation of business, and for more equitable distribution of income.

About 11 percent like the status quo just fine. (How many do you figure are actually benefiting from it, and how many are teabag suckers?)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/8347409.stm

SNIP

More than 29,000 people in 27 countries were questioned. In only two countries, the United States and Pakistan, did more than one in five people feel that capitalism works well as it stands.

Almost a quarter - 23% of those who responded - feel it is fatally flawed. That is the view of 43% in France, 38% in Mexico and 35% in Brazil.

And there is very strong support around the world for governments to distribute wealth more evenly. That is backed by majorities in 22 of the 27 countries.

If there is one issue where a global consensus seems to emerge from the survey it is this: there are majorities almost everywhere wanting government to be more active in regulating business.

SNIP

[MrScorpio]

1. Whoopee! Bring on the post-capitalistic Star Trekism! nt

[fascisthunter]

2. I Hope What Ravi Batra stated on Thom Hartmann's Show Comes True

the current system needs to go, and the people need to reject it.... it looks like it is slowly happening on a global scale.

[clear eye]

3. Regulated captitalism is still capitalism.

Your graph shows at least a plurality in all countries in favor of more tightly regulated capitalism. In all but 4 countries that's what the majority said. In no country did either of the other two options get a majority.

After almost the whole world's biggest banks needed help to keep from going belly-up, big whoop. Even many bankers are calling for more regs.

Overly dramatic title, IMO.

[JackRiddler]

4. Thanks!

"Overly dramatic title, IMO."

That's the idea. It's not inaccurate, however. And I'd be one of the 23 percent. As far as I'm concerned, we outnumber the system's supporters by 2 to 1. The majority are chasing after the false hope that it can be reformed (at any rate, in a fashion that solves any of the problems it causes, or helps them). Sooner or later, they'll pick sides too.

[virgogal]

5. Uuum,that means 3 out of 4 think it isn't.

[JackRiddler]

6. How do you figure it's trending?

They didn't do this poll 20 years ago for a comparison.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Two thirds think their government should have a more active role in distributing wealth more evenly

More from the survey here: http://www.globescan.com/news_archives/bbc2009_berlin_wall/



Of course, that's really about their own government, but it shows a pretty widespread sentiment.

[JackRiddler]

8. 2/3 in Russia & Ukraine, majorities in India & Pakistan regret fall of Soviet Union

How disastrous did 20 years of neoliberal shock treatments have to be, to get a result like that? Sachs and Chicago and the IMF and the whole Washington Consensus lot: ideologues, pirates and morons.

[Blue_Tires]

9. i'm a little surprised to see France that high

either way, we are headed for a catastrophe unless there are some corrections made in the current system...

i wonder if the story about this poll sees the light of day in any u.s. media??

[JackRiddler]

10. Amy Goodman.

And that will be about the whole of it.

Oh, and there is always the free Internet!

[jdp349]

11. Yea, but I'd be willing to wager

75% of the population couldn't even begin to intelligently describe what Capitalism supposedly is or the basic theoretical justification in regards to social efficiency.

[JackRiddler]

12. Probably a good bet...

but I bet the proportion of those who can define capitalism in specific and empirically defensible terms is much higher among the 23 percent who reject it outright and the 11 percent who support maintaining the status-quo economic order, than among the majorities who support reforms. That would be an interesting research question, no? I think we're seeing the diabolical/golden mean, i.e. false moderation in which the mid-point between two extremes must be right, even if I couldn't say why.