What are the pros and cons of capitalism?

Encyclopedia of Opinion

Question: What are the pros and cons of capitalism?
Position1 of 2›: Capitalism is good
Argument‹3 of 5›: Capitalism helps societies as a whole

Capitalism helps societies as a whole through the invisible hand and a higher GDP which leads to a higher standard of living for people. Capitalism in one nation also helps other nations through globalization.

The argument

Capitalism helps countries with effective wealth creation. People face incentives to innovate and work hard. When one person starts a business, they give people jobs that give people money that they then invest in the economy and the cycle continues. This creates a higher GDP which leads to a higher standard of living for everyone. Capitalism in one nation also helps other nations as well. Globalization, free markets, and free trade can allow countries to access goods and services from all over the world. Countries can use their competitive advantage and people from everywhere are encouraged to be innovative. Capitalism inevitably benefits society as a whole. This can best be characterized by the idea of the invisible hand. The concept of the invisible hand was first introduced by Adam Smith. It is a metaphor that describes how the self-interested actions of individuals lead to unintended beneficial social and economic outcomes. In other words, when people act in their own self-interest, the economic outcomes benefit everyone. This can be seen by the fact that in a capitalist society, production and consumption is a symbiotic relationship. A tourist wouldn’t be able to travel without an airline, and the airline wouldn’t stay open without tourists.

Premises

[P1]Capitalism creates wealth effectively by giving people incentives to innovate and work hard. [P2] A new business creates jobs and income that get reinvested, raising GDP and the standard of living for everyone. [P3] As Adam Smith's "invisible hand" describes, self-interested actions produce unintended benefits for all, as the symbiosis of producers and consumers shows. [C] Therefore, because capitalism helps societies as a whole, capitalism is good.

Counter-arguments

Capitalism does not help societies as a whole. There is vast wealth inequality within capitalist societies. Also, capitalism has harmed societies by focusing on exploitation and imperialism. Developing nations have their labor exploited for extremely low prices and their land depleted of its natural resources. This is not helping them.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] Capitalism has harmed developing nations by exploiting their labor and land. [Rejecting P3] Vast wealth inequality shows that capitalism does not help society as a whole.