3 ms·
> really-existing capitalism involves co-opting local power structures (parliaments, legislatures, dictatorships, puppets, etc.) to protect your cartel. I grew
by dmichulke 9y ago
> really-existing capitalism involves co-opting local power structures (parliaments, legislatures, dictatorships, puppets, etc.) to protect your cartel.
I grew up in a communist country and guess what: politicians co-opted local power structures for their personal benefit. They drove the good cars, had the nice houses at the lakes and hard (= Western) currency. This is the case for (AFAIK) every single "socialist" state.
The only difference was that in socialism, corruption was not done for the benefit of a company but for an individual.
Do you really think that once the economic system changes, they (= we) are all suddenly better people?
It's the power itself that is corrupted and it doesn't matter how or by whom or in what system, the end result is the same.
- mjburgess 9y agoReally-existing communism is bad too. I think worse than really-existing capitalism as it had to pass through a dictatorship stage to be realised, and dictatorships are extremely hard to renounce when formed. What I was saying was a defence of the fundamental economic model of capitalism, not a criticism of it. > we are all suddenly better people? Yes. People are largely ethical products of situations they find themselves in. Reduce the number of opportunities for bad behaviour and you get Good People. unaccountable systems of power are the recurring situations causing bad-behaviour here. A healthy democratic capitalism aligns the interests of those power with the people. So that capital owners do not seize control. "Capital" is not capitalist. It is anti-capitalist, wanting to monopolize and dictate.