this post was submitted on 30 Mar 2024
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Yeah, while I hate to say I rather support capitalism – living in a milder capitalism country in which the bigger problem is commercialism – I admit capitalism is broken fundamentally. Any bad actor can push their conspiracy just by putting money.
Capitalism is primarily defined by the need to push for constant growth. There's nothing wrong with buying and selling things, but making growth a matter of primacy automatically means the quality of the product and user experience isn't. Neither is the well-being and livelihood of the workers.
In a system where companies are incentivized to compete on that level, we can't have nice things. Not for long anyway.
It's definitely capitalism, rather than just commerce, that's the problem. It's a social cancer.
That's an American definition, though. Oxford Languages says "an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit" and that's how it's defined elsewhere, as far as I can tell.
There's the dictionary definition and the "how it plays out in the real world" definition. It isn't defined as a system pushing for constant growth, but due to its competitive winner-take-all nature it becomes a matter of grow or die.
I'd be happy if you can cite the source of your "how it plays out in the real world" definition, if you want to argue that it's a commonly agreed definition.
Source: *gestures broadly at everything*
What other explanation would you have for the endless pursuit of growth if not capitalism? What other explanation would you have for larger companies pushing smaller ones out if not capitalism. I'm talking both the "why" but also the "how"? Consider the mechanisms of how a company such as Wal-mart can go into a small town and drive everyone else out of business. And then consider why they do it.
Please check what a definition means.
You seem to think if it's not explicitly in a dictionary, then it doesn't define a word. That's not how the real world works.
Yes, this is what I was trying to explain. It isn't printed right there in the dictionary because it isn't the formal definition. It's just how it ends up actually working.
There's countless other examples too, where the formal definition and what it means in the real world don't fully line up.
Run your own business. It'll change your view. You seem to be narrowly talking about public companies in the stock market who have pressure to increase their stock price. That's not your local restaurant or auto repair shop.
I'm sure the people running businesses when Wal-mart came into their town and pushed them out have a better understanding than I do.
Those small local businesses may not be growth-driven, but they still have to compete against companies that are. And the odds are very often stacked against those small businesses, though some of them are able to successfully carve out a niche.