I hate how dated this is now
Wherever there is a need there is potential for exploitation by greed. Of course capitalists without a leash are going to wreak havoc on everything.
Capitalism by definition is about exploiting labor and extracting wealth. Commerce is the ethical application of purchasing goods and services.
Why do you say commerce is specifically ethical? I’ve always considered it more neutral and up to implementation.
Ethical as in it’s goods and services for currency. Ethical in that no one is being exploited actively. Commerce requires legislation.
So the act of commerce is ethical but the source of the commerce might not be? I feel like I’m being really obtuse here and I apologize but goods and services could be stolen or forced and rarely is legislation enough. But I can totally see two unknowing people engaging in trade at their free will for items they don’t know are stolen.
I feel so pessimistic about the world at times that I find materialism and ethics just don’t mix.
Commerce deals with the distribution of value, production with the creation of it. So let’s say there is a widget factory. If one person “owns” it and thousands work to make widgets, their production is stolen through ownership, which causes deeper issues beyond the obvious as well.
Commerce doesn’t cause problems as it’s just resolving a situation of swapping the widgets you made for carrots. Barring some market-twisting forces like the stock market for example, a simple free market where you’re happy with the amount of carrots you get for the amount of widgets you get is fine.
The evil of capitalism is not that you can trade. The evil of capitalism is that you go to work, and receive a fraction of the product of your work while someone else who does not work at all receives a lot of it.
Technically the current capitalist western system would be socialist, if employment without ownership would be outlawed, and coops were the enforced norm.
Me when I see any problem anywhere:
Overpopulation
Overpopulation is also because of capitalism to a large degree
In the sense that it is fascist rhetoric sure.
Overpopulation is a myth.
unregulated anarcho-free market capitalism. THAT’S the problem.
In a real free market, the banks that committed so much fraud in 2008 that they crashed the economy wouldn’t have gotten bailouts.
GM and ford both went bankrupt multiple times from their own greed and stupidity. In a real free market, they wouldn’t have gotten bailouts. Or the airline companies, no bailouts for them in a free market either.
In a real free market companies will lobby the government to bail them out.
No, in a real free market the banks would lobby to be bailed out. Removing even more regulation from it would result in more lobbying. Even with anti-corruption measures, without worker ownership or massive Unionization, eventually these protections will slide back once someone more opportunistic takes office.
Worker Ownerhship and decentralization are the correct path, rather than antidemocratic Capitalist production.
I wouldn’t say all problems are because of capitalism. I do believe that most of the problems I face are exacerbated by capitalism.
Yep, it’s obvious that that’s how many people here see all their problems.
Many people have problems related to income inequality. We went to college, got good jobs, and we still don’t have enough money to maintain the lifestyle we were promised. We don’t live in a socialist country, we live in a capitalist country.
What were you promised? Like, owning a home? Home ownership rates in the US have been in the 63-70% range during all of 1966-2023, almost completely stable. Local purchasing power is #5 in the world for americans. What exactly is the problem over there?
We in Europe are having it much worse if you look at the data, especially now when Russia is being fucking Russia.
Now do the home ownership rate in socialist countries
(Hint, the “American dream” of owning a home is much easier under socialism)
And most of the time you’d be right.
I’d encourage you to expand your worldview - a lot of problems we attribute to capitalism are mostly because of hierarchy.
Nah, the problems are due to capitalist economic relations and systemic pressures these relations create in society.
And it’s the root cause vast majority of the time.
Not really
yes really
Really not really
whatever helps you sleep at night I suppose
Removed by mod
