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Literally Cancer
(lemmy.ml)
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this post was submitted on 05 Apr 2024
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I think they're referring to a common growth projection strategy used in modern capitalism which is basically whatever number we made last year + X% is our goals for this year and if we don't make that growth then it's considered a failure and now we have to lay people off.
No capitalist is ever okay with doing just as well as last year, or recognizing that last year was an extraordinary circumstance that gave us blockbuster sales and it isn't necessarily repeatable.
It may not be the textbook definition, but it's definitely a trait of modern capitalists.
The closed, finite system we are referring to is of course Earth. Capitalism requires expansion, but what do you do when you cannot expand further?
It actually doesn't, Capitalism works just fine in a closed system with finite resources. In fact it may be the best system in those circumstances. What doesn't work is whatever in the fuck you just described is called. It's absolutely happening and it absolutely doesn't work.
As an economic system I've long maintained that Communism is a fantastic idea but the "Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism" that many people envision simply won't be possible until we actually reach the state of post scarcity, until then we're left assigning limited resources in our closed system.
In the meantime our Governments need to get the Capitalists of the type you described, let's call them Greedsters, back in line and I'm actually not against them using "Capital" (lol) punishment to make that happen.
As long as there is a system where money is literally power, corruption will always take hold.
As long as there is a system where anything is power corruption will take hold. Want food and only that group over there has any? Well, now they've got the power. Do you make clothes and that guy over there wants some? You have the power. Resource scarcity leads to power, power leads to abuse, abuse leads to corruption.
The only way the cycle is broken is for nearly everything to be accessible to nearly everyone nearly all the time. That, in a nutshell, is “Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism” and the only way it can be achieved is by reaching a true post scarcity society.
Huh, i just realized where I'm commenting. Hi Socialists!
Corruption doesn't come from money, it comes from biological life's need to survive and reproduce. Corruption will take hold, not in systems where money is power, but in any system comprised of human beings.
How?
I don't understand what you're asking.
How will corruption take hold, regardless of system?
People will prioritise their own benefit at the expense of others'. They will enrich themselves.
No, people prioritize thier own benefit. People work to improve their material conditions, doing so at the expense of others is unnatural, because humans are a social, cooperative species.
Your assertion that exploiting others is unnatural is patently absurd. To repeat myself from elsewhere:
Co-operation doesn't conflict with greed. Humans can and must co-operate within society to survive but humans are also motivated to do everything they can to screw over others to ensure their genes have the greatest chance of propagating, as long as screwing over others doesn't threaten survival.
You can claim bullshit, but it doesn't make it true. It's a naturalistic fallacy.
Think about what you just said, logically: you think people have an intrinsic motivation to screw over others to get ahead, but also that humans are communal? You believe being selfish and greedy is positively related to reproduction, despite being massive red flags and hindering the group's survival?
Nonsense.
ROFL. Adultery. Theft. Fraud. Murder. I don't understand how you can be blind to human behaviour.
More from another post:
"Human beings must necessarily cooperate and aid each other in order to survive. It's how our species evolved. However, that doesn't mean humans only ever aid each other, or even that they care about others except as a means to survive. Humans will cooperate when it's beneficial and also stab their fellow humans in the back, step on them and exploit them when it's beneficial. That's why all we have are systems of elites and peasants, filled with squalor and death. But the species continues because of those systems."
Edit: have a watch of this video:
Power Games
I never once said humans cannot act outside of collaborative measures, but you on the other hand claimed this is a natural and present desire, regardless of system. This is false.
It is not false, it's evolutionary psychology. Have a look at this video:
Power Games
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
Power Games
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
It is false. You believe there is an intrinsic desire to sabatage, innate to humans, which is false. This behavior is only present in stressed conditions, what comes first is desire for cooperation.
I have not used the word "desire".
It is not false. Again, it is evolutionary psychology.
The need to increase one's chances of survival and of passing on one's genes is always present and is not limited to stressed conditions.
It is false. Evolutionary psychology pushes against sabotage, because it risks the group.
It is not false.
I haven't used the word "sabotage" and I'm not sure what you're referring to when you use it. I don't understand why you've introduced the word.
Exploitation per se doesn't necessarily threaten a group's survival. Exploitation is harm to one and benefit to another. Evolution only cares about which benefits the species more.
It is false. I used the word sabotage because it's accurate, humans go for cooperation before all else.
We're not communicating. You're deluded. Best of luck.
This isn't capitalism.
Traits of particular capitalists are not what constitutes capitalism.
If it isn't capitalism then I would argue it's a direct consequence of the incentives it sets up. When a venture is primarily owned by investors whose only interest in it is a return on investment, sooner rather than later, it sort of sets up exactly what I described does it not?
Maybe the words I should have used were "unfettered capitalism"?
No it doesn't.