Hi all,
I’m seeing a lot of hate for capitalism here, and I’m wondering why that is and what the rationale behind it is. I’m pretty pro-capitalism myself, so I want to see the logic on the other side of the fence.
If this isn’t the right forum for a political/economic discussion-- I’m happy to take this somewhere else.
Cheers!
Sure, there’s no argument about the benefits for many (me and you included, as demonstrated by the fact we can have the resources and time to post this here) of that system. And it’s true that it works better than many other systems we’ve tried. Absolutely! That does not change the fact that it is by its nature combined with human nature, demonstrably inevitably self-destructive for all. Ignoring that (which, of course, so many folks are very motivated to do) is at our peril. We literally won’t have to worry about what system is better or worse for much longer if this continues.
So, it seems quite clear that arguing that it’s better than the others, for many, for now, is not a useful, rational, or coherent approach, since it is inevitably fatal for all. That is a bit like arguing that it’s ‘better’ to wear small amounts of lead (and other poisonous substances) in cosmetics to attract folks we want to have around us socially (as the elite did, of course, in our history) resulting in the inevitable mid and long term sickness and death of those people instead of finding other solutions.
Instead, it seems far more rational to work really hard to figure out what can work better!
I think if, culturally, we have a value shift (it’s already happening imo) then we can properly commodify important aspects nature. e.g., how much value is there in reducing in our CO2 output? How much value is there in preserving these species? Right now, we don’t place enough value on it, and that’s why I think regulations are incredibly important in a capitalist system. We certainly need more of it, but we also need it globally so companies can’t just jump ship to other places where those values aren’t in place.