Are Democracy and economic equality fundamentally incompatible?

[Michael-5]

sc94597 said:

Michael-5 said:

I already said what I had to say. The economic system in Russia mirrors the ideals of Capitalism much more then the high corporate tax and left wing agenda of USA, Canada, and EU.

My point was technology was the main reason for the improvements in life quality in USA, not the economic structure, and that's largely true. While more people are unemployed now then before, the average lifestyle is better. People don't really starve to death anymore unless they have a serious mental illness and live on the street.

So economic equality and democracy do go hand and hand.

You mean the economic system in which the means of production is mostly owned by the state versus the economic systems found in Canada, U.S, and the EU in which there is a higher degree of private ownership, in most of these countries surpassing that of the state?  My argument was that without free-markets and the concept of private property we wouldn't have the technologies that have benefitted the lives of the poor. 

You originally claimed it was because of capitalism that technology has boomed. You specifically stated that the accumulation of wealth was a good thing, and you attributed this accumulation of wealth via a Capitalistic economic system as the reason why people are more affluent now then they were in the past.

However now that I read your post, I think we're arguing about nothing. Even in a socialistic society, people of higher worth (say a manager) get "paid" more. There is no currency, but people of higher demand/need would be more rewarded in a socialistic society as well as a capitalistic one. This however is what I consider to be economic equality, if you work harder, you deserve more.

The big difference is that in a socialistic society, you can't pass on your "value" to your next of kin, when you die it does with you. Capitalism lets you accumulate wealth over centuries, and this is why you see families who were rich hundreds of years ago, are now super mega duper rich, far wealthier then most people can become in a lifetime. This is why complaint about capitalism because most of the wealthy are literally born into wealth, and don't deserve the wealth anymore then anyone else.

I was confused at your arguement because socialism is a free-market economic system, so I didn't catch your arguement. As for your arguement about private property, I don't have a response. I don't know how a society without private property would work, but I do have a funny little comparision in my head while makes me feel that without private property, we might be less technologically developed, but we might be happier. If you want to hear it PM me, it's about the difference between sex habits of Bonobo's (Group Sex, shared parenting) vs. Chimpanzee's (and Humans, individual sex, private parenting).

Anyway the OP asked if Democracy and economic equality are incompatible, and my arguement is how aren't they? IMO they go hand in hand