Hey friends, just trying to get an idea of how people think of capitalism in different communities. What first comes to mind when you think of that word? Is it your national or international retail giants, resource extraction, or logistics companies? Or perhaps your local diner, hardware or convenience store? The black market? Or something else?
Exploitation. Everything is built around exploitation. Of course capitalism is not the only exploitive system that exists, it’s just the one most visible to us.
Death cult. You can’t infinitely extract value from a finite system.
Mmm, the shrinking markets problem. Thanks!
I can’t decide between a cancerous growth or a ball of wriggling intestinal parasites - I guess it’ll have to be the former since this is insulting to intestinal parasites.
i think of it as the most basic and rudimentary economic system.
whenever a more advanced system fails or can’t apply, people fall back to capitalism and start trading/hoarding tokens etc.
it’s dangerous to let it run completely unchecked. usually societies will implement rules and taxes to make sure basic needs are met and there isn’t too much exploitation going on.
Basic and rudimentary is a unique take. What led you to this conclusion?
no, it’s not a unique take.
capitalism is the next step after an exchange economy, which is the most basic economy possible. just add some sort of token to the exchange economy and it becomes capitalism.
I feel like you are referencing some well known economic model progression or evolution that I’m unfamiliar with. Is there a name for this or someplace I can read more about it? What is the more advanced economic model after capitalism?
idk how it’s called. it’s something kids have early in school. it’s about the four types of economic systems. it’s not really about progression, but about how difficult they are to set up and how they start from the need to exchange goods and can transform from one type to another. for example bartering (traditional type) to capitalistic monetary systems (market type) and then maybe someone takes control and establishes socialism (command type) etc…
Interesting, thanks for the feedback and followup!
Agreed! Capitalism works great until the wealthy buy the politicians and the voters lose their moral compass. Then you have what we see today, late stage capitalism. No reason we can’t break the monopolies and tax the snot out of the rich, but your average Joe Blow either doesn’t realize what’s happening or care, doesn’t demand good governance.
In practice? Inequality. Increasing inequality until something cracks and there are riots, then laws change. Then increasing inequality, rinse and repeat.
In theory? Small entrepreneurial businesses generating value, the grassroots little shops everywhere. If it was working correctly, those would be very profitable and the money spread around better. Growth from the bottom not the discredited “trickle down” bullshit.
Hey congrats! I think you are the first person to give something close to the textbook definition of what capitalism says it is supposed to be! 🤸
Dumpster fire.
I always loved this illustration
We should update it. The wealthy are above soldiers and police with bail out money or just taking a private jet to a private island without laws.
Heck, some fucks are so rich they might actually stand above the ruling class. Which is logical considering the only thing that does matter in capitalism isn’t who you are but how much wealth you hoard.
I was just thinking I’d love to see this with a modern cast of characters.
There’s a looney toons episode t remember watching in the 80’s about a guy who makes a pair of boots and sells them for the material to make two, selling those to get more material, and keeps growing. Eventually he’s got a factory, a bunch of workers but he can never rest, never enjoy the fruits of his labor because capitalism demands perpetual growth. He dies wealthy but his soul died years before. I’m pretty sure my memory of this is somewhat twisted being that it was 40+ years ago, but that little guy repeatedly asking “now I get to relax?” And being told by the narrator “no” has always seemed so sad to me. Capitalism was painted as soul crushing even during the Cold War, and yet we still blindly go that route.
Thanks for to the response. I think I found it - https://youtu.be/89buUHeuT44
That looks more like a bunch of different episodes smashed together. The one I’m thinking of is in there, it was the parts where Elmer Fudd is an elf wearing a crown talking to the random old man.
Hierarchy and exploitation.
Greed without personal responsibility.
A positive feedback loop of wealth disparity.
Thugs explaining that you owe them for protection and a interest on that too.
Also ayn rand slutty face with a whip and a cocktail
Haha, you’ve placed an image of Ayn Rand in my mind that I wish I could erase. 😂
Easy target for life’s problems.
I think capitalism is an easy target because it’s often the root cause of life’s problems, or a contributing factor.
A very rare response to this question. Why do you feel that way?
Not target but root cause.
Exploitation of workers (and others) through means of private property rights that are enforced through state violence to the benefit of only a few.
A big ball that consumes all it touches, that will destroy the world if it can because that is part of its purpose.
It is disabling, and has conditioned people to accept it through its unlimited use of propaganda and wars in order to control the populace.
It takes and takes and gives little back.
It is against how things should be, and could be said to be unnatural.
It is about power and control over the populace, sadly few realise this because of said propaganda and because they believe nothing better could exist due to it limiting their imagination, time, energy and organising.
The ‘big ball that consumes all’ might be my favorite imagery used as a response to this question. Thank you 😊
