Archytas, you are quite right that the history of human trade and power are rife with examples of abuses, excesses and every dastardly deed known to and by our species. In fact the history of humanity in all it's splendor is rife with those sames abuses and excesses. It is also true that when it comes to abuses, excesses and downright nastiness, there is no species in existence (that we know of) which outdoes the human species.
It is an age old truth and therefore trite that when it comes to nasty behavior, there is nothing new under the sun. Or any other star for that matter. However, I'd be willing to bet a solar unit or two that if there are other intelligent and sentient species in existence, that they've been through the same horrific growth process to becoming civilized. I become lost by your statement that you don't believe in capitalism. I'm not sure what you mean by that -- what it is that you don't believe in. It sounds to me much like saying you don't believe in trade or commerce. It's not a matter of belief. It just is. We've brought capitalism into existence by virtue of our penchant for trade, business and living better than the Joneses. We created profit in the same manner and for the same reasons. When we began to lay off those profits by investing in other money making schemes, we created capitalism. The way transactions work is really very simple. They work according to the principles and parameters of supply and demand. An area I think that needs working on is rather than going after the highest profit or making the most money, we concentrate on a fair profit and making a fair amount of money. Win-win transactions that benefit all parties are the stuff of moral economics. Looking at what unions have created in western society, I'm not so sure that the preying isn't on both sides of the fence. There is something somewhat out of kilter when an assembly line worker in Detroit makes more in wages and benefits than a nurse or skilled technician. On Jun 19, 2:44 pm, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: > Even Marx and Lenin thought there was some good in capitalism, at > least in markets. The problem was always to do with competition > producing monopoly once one lot got really efficient. Capitalism at > least freed us up from feudalism. My own suspicion is that even > these arguments failed to take into account what the historic > conditions and mechanisms of trade and power had really been about. I > don't believe in capitalism because I'm sure it's as mythical and > religious stories and both communism and democracy have roots in > societies in which the rich came up with the ideas on the backs of > work done by slaves. We are overdue for our own ideas and something > that allows for very different people in it. I think we had some > brief eddies some years back when jobs were not scarce of what it > might feel like not to be beholden to the boss class. I would guess > we have missed the chance for a sane (ish) society since WW2 by > encouraging huge population expansion and failing to be sensible about > religion. Capitalism is probably just b-play to this wider lunacy. > What we need in systems of transaction is to understand how they self- > regulate so that we can trust to do work and feel it won't be stolen > in one way or another. Capitalism always preys on some labour that > cannot protect itself. This shouldn't blind us to its good bits. >
