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Wilde is interesting because he was a socialist before anyone had tried communism. Years ago, I read an essay is his, "The Heart of Man After Socialism" where h

by nbanks 9y ago

Wilde is interesting because he was a socialist before anyone had tried communism. Years ago, I read an essay is his, "The Heart of Man After Socialism" where he argued that people are inherently benevolent, but the capitalist system made them greedy. Unfortunately, communism showed that greed is a much better motivator which is probably the primary reason capitalism has flourished. (I say unfortunately, because it would be wonderful if there were a better society than capitalism, though one could argue that a most European nations are some sort of hybrid which is better.) In short, Wilde may have understood the problem, but history has disproved his solution. That said, he also advocated that menial tasks such as sweeping the floor should be done by machines instead of people, and in this respect I wholeheartedly agree. Washing machines, vacuums and dishwashers have improved everyone's lives in the past century...at least everyone in the richer parts of the world.

ue_ 9y ago
> Unfortunately, communism showed that greed is a much better motivator which is probably the primary reason capitalism has flourished. I don't think we've given Communism a good go, especially as those societies in the modern world (i.e after the advent of capitalism) have been capitalist states, either internally or externally to other nations. The fact is that in the absence of a motivator for money, people will do things for a variety of reasons, including wanting to make the world a better place, out of a desire for mastery, desire for recognition, out of wanting to improve the lives of those who will come after you, to live in a society you want to live in (everyone wants to live in a society with clean toilets) etc. It is also a fact that these motivators only appear in two cases, (i) when people have enough money to not have to worry about survival and being satisfied (ii) when people have no need for money, as they are already satisfied. Neither of these cases has happened yet.

by nbanks 9y ago

ue_ 9y ago

> Unfortunately, communism showed that greed is a much better motivator which is probably the primary reason capitalism has flourished. I don't think we've given Communism a good go, especially as those societies in the modern world (i.e after the advent of capitalism) have been capitalist states, either internally or externally to other nations. The fact is that in the absence of a motivator for money, people will do things for a variety of reasons, including wanting to make the world a better place, out of a desire for mastery, desire for recognition, out of wanting to improve the lives of those who will come after you, to live in a society you want to live in (everyone wants to live in a society with clean toilets) etc. It is also a fact that these motivators only appear in two cases, (i) when people have enough money to not have to worry about survival and being satisfied (ii) when people have no need for money, as they are already satisfied. Neither of these cases has happened yet.