History of Capitalism

It seems that in the United States of America Capitalism streams with grace. For me capitalism seems to be the best way for an economy to grow. Some may say, capitalism is unfair in terms of competition and giving the best possible price to the consumer. Or that capitalism creates classes where “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer”. I”m no doctor of the economy, or a spokesperson for all of America, but I feel that company”s can be more profitable both in an economic and a personal standpoint by running a business based on capitalism.
Looking at the predicament with competition, from most of my experiences at this stage of life for me, competition has done great things in terms of making products cheaper for me. For example, the computer hardware business, I built a computer one year ago using an Intel Pentium II 300mhz processor. I paid $520 for the motherboard and processor. Since AMD (a competitor of Intel) came out with the AMD K-6-2 processor, Intel”s prices have dropped considerably.
As a matter of fact, I was on the Internet just yesterday and saw that I could by an Intel Pentium II 333mhz processor and a motherboard for just $335. It”s just too bad that I couldn”t say the same for Microsoft”s prices. But that topic alone could spawn a novel. I think that of late, many Americans have less faith in their government than they did 50 years ago. And having the government control the country”s industry would create all kinds of dilemmas. I was thinking about the statement “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” and also about capitalism creating economic classes among society.

Again, I”m not a economics major, so the next few statements are going to be based on my assumption that – the difference between say, a doctors salary and a janitors salary in a capitalist economy would be much more significant than in a socialist economy. With that being said, I think that a capitalist economy can promote much more motivation for self improvement and fulfillment than a socialist economy can provide. Lets say you went to college for four, six, or even eight years to be a business executive.
And the guy pushing the mail cart who, perhaps, dropped out of school in the 11th grade, was pulling in about the same amount as you are, now what”s that going to do for your motivation or dignity for that matter? Why bother going through all that work and mental stress when we can be lackadaisical and unproductive but still receive the same opportunities and benefits as the executives (kind of like Union workers – Just Kidding)? The point I”m trying to make is, most people like rewards, and most people like accomplishment.
It just seems that capitalism can offer more to the society and its individuals by allowing them to set and work towards goals. Plus by providing a good standard of living for workers I think capitalism helps to allow people to gain confidence in their government. Getting away form capitalism, there are a lot of stupid and foolish laws that exist today but most are ethical. It appears that what is an ethical guideline for most of us today, often will be translated to law or regulation some time in the future. I find it strange how ethics and morals are learned.
I mean, I feel that I am a fairly ethical person, especially in public places like, work or school. A little common sense can get you the basics of morals and ethics. In the work place, attention to the ethics beyond the basics looks to be deteriorated for many companies and employees for that matter. Consequently, it looks like there is no clear moral conductor to guide upper management about what is right or wrong. But, for me its confusing to learn because there are so many different ways to look at ethics, similar to religion, how do you know really what style is best for you and your surroundings, or maybe, the best is a little of each?