Capitalism: A Debate
Eugene V. Debs, of the Socialist Party of America, during one of his several presidential campaigns.
On November 3, 2017, we debated some libertarians — people who celebrate capitalism for a living. (We won.)
C-SPAN was there to film the debate, broadcasting our message to thousands of viewers who couldn’t fit in the sold-out theater. You can watch the full debate and access a transcript at their website.
The question at hand was simple: Is capitalism the best way to improve standards of living, ensure political and economic freedom, and provide opportunity? Or could socialism do better?
Jacobin founder Bhaskar Sunkara and Vivek Chibber of Catalyst squared off against Nick Gillespie and Katherine Mangu-Ward from Reason. New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg moderated.
The Talk Around Town
One of the hottest tickets in New York City this weekend was a discussion on whether to overthrow capitalism.
— Bloomberg.com, “Get Rid of Capitalism Millennials Are Ready to Talk About It”
On a Friday night last month, I moderated a debate in Manhattan about whether we should scrap capitalism. It was organized by the socialist magazine Jacobin; defending capitalism were editors from the libertarian publication Reason. Tickets for all available 450 seats sold out in a day. So Jacobin moved it to a venue that holds around twice as many. The extra tickets sold out in eight hours.
When I arrived, people were lined up for blocks; walking to the door, I felt like I was on the guest list at an underground nightclub. Most attendees appeared to be in their 20s and 30s, part of a generation that is uniquely suspicious of capitalism, a system most of their elders take for granted.
— The New York Times, “No Wonder Millennials Hate Capitalism”
