Is Capitalism Contrary to Human Nature?
Huge prison populations, social dysfunctions, sitting at a desk or cash register for 8 hours a day, and labling anyone who can’t meet the needs of rent and full time work as “lazy” “crazy” or somehow otherwise at personal fault. Capitalism is contrary to the ways people lived (in small cooperative bands) for a hundred thousand years.
Quite the contrary. Basic aspects of ‘Capitalism’ are an expression of human nature. Remember trading and markets are universal aspects Human societies that were able to grow beyond tribes of a few dozen. It’s been suggested we could’ve been named Homo economica
Source?
Trade is not the same as capitalism. Classical and Feudal societies had trade - band societies traded goods. Trade was more or less just logistical: I have grain but no seafood, give me your extra fish for my extra grain. The difference in capitalism is that trade becomes an economic engine in of itself; trade becomes driven by speculation. It becomes, instead of harvesting grain to feed myself and trade the rest for other needs: I’ll grow tobacco or cotton depending on what I think will bring me the most buck for my effort and then buy what I want. This is why capitalism is so much more amazingly growth-driven than previous economic systems. Of course it also concentrated that wealth so instead of 100 peasants self-sufficiently farming common lands or 100 family farmers self-sufficiently feeding their families on individual farms, there’s one very successful farmer and 99 tenant farmers or low-paid farm laborers.
What do you think happened to those who couldn't or wouldn't contribute, back in the good old days of "small cooperative bands"?
I think it would be a vanishingly small number of people who didn’t have something to contribute. Certainly the elders and physically disabled would help raise children etc. I think people were productive their entire lives But also had a lot of downtime You can always try out for the shaman gig as well LOL
We’re here, so baby and toddlers were obviously taken care of. In studies of more modern band societies, people who could not gather or prepare food had other roles from shaman to craftspeople to daycare. People make a big deal about Inuit euthanasia, for example, but that only happened in extreme situations of famine. But then again famine in capitalist countries resulted in cannibalism, so it’s not exactly a normal feature of society.
What’s your alternative to 8 hour work days? Gulags and concentration camps seem to be commonplace in socialist and communist regimes
The Soviet Union was more of a state-capitalist country rather than a socialist or Communist one. It (or regimes modeled on it) is hardly a fair reference point for either socialism or communism.
Hey Scotsman!
OP, please stop embarrassing Credit Karma.
It simply works against democracy. It’s the two policies with opposing goals. Capitalism want to give power to the top. Democracy want to give power to the bottom.
Fair counterargument.
Do we really want to give more power to the top? Where’s the benefit to most people in that? I think an economic system is best if it provides the most benefit to the largest number of people over the greatest period of time. A system for explicitly transferring resources from the many to the few doesn’t quite meet the goal — and I think that’s a pretty fair goal. So why keep going with capitalism? Especially considering the potential of automation to basically... automate the existing workforce out of a job?
"Huge prison populations" Communism and facism would like a word with you.
The US has the highest prison population per capita of any country on Earth. Seems like a fair point to me.
Capitalism is simply “you own stuff”. That is human nature exactly.
Too bad no one told Native Americans about human nature.
OP can you please tell us how the Sioux tribe gained a bunch of land from the Cheyenne? Or do you think only whites are evil?
Your face is contrary to human nature