Originally Posted by
Grumplestillskin
Economics is about supply and demand. Let's say every person in a capitalist soceity is rich. There are no poor. You know what inflation is, right? You figure it out. The poor keep inflation down because they cant' afford the big items. If they could, prices would go through the roof. If everybody could afford to pay $6 a pound for peaches the prices would go up until the guy doing the selling reached a threshold that would lead to hyperinflation. Capitalism thrives on scarcity. If everybody is rich there is no scarcity because everybody can afford everything - unless there is not enough to go around - and with certain commodities there isn't.
You have said one thing correct that capitalism thrives at ALL levels of society. It needs those levels to survive. WIthout it you would have hyperinflation.
But, not ALL items in an economy are "big items." Demand is not driven simply by what people can afford, but also by what they DESIRE. I may have a hankering for peaches. At a dollar a pound, I'd grab some up. But, even though I could afford it, at $10/pound? I'd look for some less expensive alternative.
For the availability of commodities, we also have to take into consideration the marketing strategy of the co that sells the commodity. Some commodities are marketed as luxury items... they purposely hike the price, while other commodities are marketed at a lower price, trying to make revenue by selling more quantity.
There will always be a range of wealth, because there is always a range of inherent ability in people. Some people have skills that are more valuable than others'. But, looking at the "poor" in capitalistic societies v/s the poor in totalitarian/oligarchic societies, the poor in capitalistic societies are better-off.
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Blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering, though there's pain in the offering, blessed be Your name!
Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise. When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say...
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Blessed be Your name!