3 ms·

>There might be some activities of a CEO that a customer buying a product of the company led by said CEO might benefit from, but a CEOs activities are exclusive

>There might be some activities of a CEO that a customer buying a product of the company led by said CEO might benefit from, but a CEOs activities are exclusively to the benefit of said CEO. Not to the benefit of the company, not to the benefit of the shareholders and for sure not for the benefit of the customers. The whole point of capitalism is to align the self-interest of people with benefiting society. The CEO might not set out to help people, but if people voluntarily buy those products then the CEO is helping society.

esarbe 7y ago
There's nothing with regards the good of society in or about capitalism. > Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. I don't know why you get downvoted. You made a silly argument but it's not as if that's a reason to downvote anybody.
- Mirioron 7y ago
  I'm obviously implying that the reason capitalism is used is because it aligns people's self-interest with society's interests. You're encouraged to make something better in capitalism and that pushes innovation. Best of all is that people do it voluntarily. That private ownership of the means of production means that it is yours. People generally want to have better stuff. When you improve that means of production due to your self-interest then everybody else also benefits from it, because now you can produce something better or for a lower cost. It also tells others that it's possible to improve those means of production.
  - esarbe 7y ago
    I see where you're coming from, but I dare say that you might be conflating capitalism with a market economy. There are many kinds of market economies, not all of them are capitalistic in nature. I also don't agree with your premise that capitalism aligns people's self-interest with society's interests. Let's take a monopoly for example; getting into a monopoly position might be in the interest of an individual actor in a capitalistic market, but that's not in society's interests, not at at all. Furthermore capitalism tends to favor enterprises that manage to externalize as many costs as possible, primarily to the detriment of society which the has to socialize these costs, whereas the profit is privatized.

esarbe 7y ago

There's nothing with regards the good of society in or about capitalism. > Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. I don't know why you get downvoted. You made a silly argument but it's not as if that's a reason to downvote anybody.

Mirioron 7y ago
I'm obviously implying that the reason capitalism is used is because it aligns people's self-interest with society's interests. You're encouraged to make something better in capitalism and that pushes innovation. Best of all is that people do it voluntarily. That private ownership of the means of production means that it is yours. People generally want to have better stuff. When you improve that means of production due to your self-interest then everybody else also benefits from it, because now you can produce something better or for a lower cost. It also tells others that it's possible to improve those means of production.
- esarbe 7y ago
  I see where you're coming from, but I dare say that you might be conflating capitalism with a market economy. There are many kinds of market economies, not all of them are capitalistic in nature. I also don't agree with your premise that capitalism aligns people's self-interest with society's interests. Let's take a monopoly for example; getting into a monopoly position might be in the interest of an individual actor in a capitalistic market, but that's not in society's interests, not at at all. Furthermore capitalism tends to favor enterprises that manage to externalize as many costs as possible, primarily to the detriment of society which the has to socialize these costs, whereas the profit is privatized.