
The Problem Is Capitalism - socialist_coder
https://www.monbiot.com/2019/04/30/the-problem-is-capitalism/
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Gatsky
Ok, so this makes a lot of sense, but let's get real - the chance of a
wholesale change to economic fundamentals is very close to zero. Look at who
is getting elected lately.

Mitigating Capitalism's greater evils seems like the only feasible option. The
two things that stand out are stopping the incredible concentration of wealth
in single entities (eg Saudi Arabia), and preventing perverse economic
incentives (see American Health system).

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senectus1
Saudi Arabia isn't a single entity.

Just like "America" isn't.

But yes... we do need to deal with the 1% issue that is overbalancing the
system

~~~
Gatsky
"Saudi Arabia is an autocratic absolute monarchy."

\-
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia#Politics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia#Politics)

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aeternus
There are plenty of towns and villages where people can live in the economic
conditions of the 1800s or 1900s. Almost no one chooses to do so.

Economic growth is overall strongly correlated with human prosperity, higher
life-expectancies, and higher standard of living. If we ever do run low on a
natural resource, capitalism softens the blow by gradually increasing prices,
thereby increasing incentives for finding an alternative.

~~~
paulryanrogers
... Until there are no more alternatives

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senectus1
While I tentatively agree that its a problem, viewing Earth as our only finite
resource is not entirely correct either.

Capitalism will be what pushes us to the infinite resources of space.... then
I imagine it'll run into new problems that no one has yet realized they need
to solve problems for. I'd rather have a reliable, tried and tested capitalism
(devil we know) to deal with the the new issues Space will present than some
fledgling new system.

~~~
paulryanrogers
Space is almost certainly permanently inhospitable to what we call life. Apart
from far flung oasises like Earth. Which would likely require entire star
systems worth of resources and eons of time to send anything tangible between
them.

~~~
mreome
I would generally agree with your second point; without a fundamental change
in our understanding of physics, interstellar travel is unlikely. But I don’t
really follow the logic of your first point, earth is just one of many bodies
_in space_. What exactly would make orbital habitats, Lunar or Martian
colonies, Martian terraforming, etc, fundamentally impossible?

Also, in regards to "what we call life", I would note we are already familiar
with organisms that can survive in space (tardigrades), and our rapidly
growing knowledge of biology and genetics opens a future in which we may be
able to apply biological changes that would allow us to thrive in a wider
range of environments.

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ghevshoo
> Capitalism’s failures arise from two of its defining elements. The first is
> perpetual growth.

It's not just perpetual, but exponential. However it has nothing to do with
capitalism. How do free markets and private ownership over the means of
production demand perpetual growth?

It's our monetary system which demands this growth. Bitcoiners have been
harping about this for years, but that message tends to get lost in zealotry.

As long as you have a debt-based monetary system and a central bank that
targets 2% inflation per year, you can happily have a communist economy that
requires the same exponential growth. And similarly that would not be the
fault of communism.

~~~
_nalply
The perpetual growth per se is not a defining element of capitalism but a
consequence of something else:

The ongoing struggle to compete for profit.

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StreamBright
Well there is a simple counter for this issue with the continuous growth
requirement. Expand to space.

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majewsky
A constant growth rate requires exponential growth. Expansion into space is
O(t^3) because you're limited by the speed of light in each of 3 spatial
dimensions. Therefore, while expansion into space could buy us some more time,
it's not a sustainable solution either.

~~~
StreamBright
I am not sure how this is relevant. Operate a large interstellar empire with
slower than light space travel. The limits that article is alking about are
there because Earth has its limits. Most of those limits are related to
production of products and energy. If you could solve these outside of Earth
(not even outside of the solar system) you are already in a much better
position.

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ultrablack
This man, is a complete nutcase. Japan and China didnt build their wealth on
slavery. Neither did the arabic countries. Even though they got as many slaves
as the americas (look it up). They still have modern slavery btw. The author
belong to a group og greedy envious people. We should tax the 1%... Are you in
IT? then chances are high that you yourself belong to the top 1% richest
persons in the world. Now, consider how much you think rich people should pat
more, then donate a proportional amount from your own income...

