tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post5536007746549031145..comments2024-03-28T18:32:05.933-04:00Comments on bensozia: Democratic Politics and the Culture of MoneyJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-5104335929928945942015-04-17T00:26:01.517-04:002015-04-17T00:26:01.517-04:00Capitalism has its share of fundamental problems. ...Capitalism has its share of fundamental problems. In a world of competition, there must be losers in order for others to be winners.<br /><br />Pure capitalism is absolutely monstrous - prone to devastating market failures on a systemic level, and ruthless exploitation on an individual one. To make it workable we have to impose artificial limits - but this is an uphill battle, for all the reasons mentioned in the above commentary.<br /><br />Yet even with ideal conditions, capitalism is still ultimately reliant on 1) constant net growth or expansion, which is completely impossible in a world of finite resources; and 2) the basic expectation of universal competition, which is completely incompatible with the realities of human life. Not everyone in the world is willing or capable of competing successfully. Even among those who are both willing and able to compete, some are simply more suited to competition than others - either through intrinsic qualities, or through sheer luck and circumstance.<br /><br />Yet capitalism makes absolutely no distinction between the needs and means of individuals, and it expects those who succeed to do so at the expense of those who fail - literally to the point of death. The system is brutally Darwinian, just instead of reproduction of a species, the emphasis is on reproduction of wealth. Capitalism is a system of predation, parasitism, and exclusion - ultimately favoring the most virulent and cancerous elements best able to self-propagate at the expense of all others.<br /><br />Hence why market imbalances occur. Just as uncontrolled populations of deer and wolves will cycle through massive breeding explosions and subsequent catastrophic die offs, so too do uncontrolled markets boom and bust. And just as such cycles of instability ultimately endanger the very existence of entire species, so too do such cyles in capitalism endanger humanity.G. Verlorennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-57490049968282980562015-04-16T14:17:24.891-04:002015-04-16T14:17:24.891-04:00Outstanding commentary, sir.
I posted a link to m...Outstanding commentary, sir.<br /><br />I posted a link to my FB feed. (I do that not infrequently with your more thoughtful essays.)pootrsoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05975929246429466067noreply@blogger.com