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They accepted that regular pay from an owner and investors who are risking money which is... mostly the fruit of earlier workers' labor, rather than a direct re

They accepted that regular pay from an owner and investors who are risking money which is... mostly the fruit of earlier workers' labor, rather than a direct result of their own. There's always a degree of exploitation behind profit, and while profitability is improved through more synergistic organizations, it can also be improved by stifling competition, buying favorable policy from corrupt officials, etc. Our economic environment rewards malicious economic conquest just as much or more than the pursuit of efficient value creation. That it's so easy for concentrated capital to squeeze more capital from the masses is the key to crazy wealth inequality, not anyone's lack of industry or entrepreneurship.

simonh 5y ago
And yet whenever alternate economic systems fail, and they have always failed, they turn to capitalist economics to bail them out. Capitalism has raised billions of people out of poverty. In China alone Capitalism has raised hundreds of millions of people from subsistence conditions into middle class lifestyle. Chinese factory worker wages rose on average by 64% between 2011 and 2017. That’s market forces in action. I’ve been going to China since 2001 and watched it happen with my own eyes.
- smolder 5y ago
  I wasn't criticizing capitalism in relation to communism, and I didn't claim to prefer it. It's possible to regulate an economy to keep competition healthy and minimize the destructive aspects. I think the way our system gets better is through good-faith efforts of smart and ethical policy makers, curated and elected by an efficient democracy. There's plenty of work to be done to get closer to that ideal.
  - simonh 5y ago
    Sure, I agree with that completely. I’m no free market purist, more an old school liberal. I just don’t think most of the criticisms of capitalism are in any way specific to it. In fact non capitalist societies seem to suffer far more from these flaws than free market economies. Rent seeking, labour abuses, corruption. These are human flaws and therefore seen in any economic system and must be constantly rooted out.

simonh 5y ago

And yet whenever alternate economic systems fail, and they have always failed, they turn to capitalist economics to bail them out. Capitalism has raised billions of people out of poverty. In China alone Capitalism has raised hundreds of millions of people from subsistence conditions into middle class lifestyle. Chinese factory worker wages rose on average by 64% between 2011 and 2017. That’s market forces in action. I’ve been going to China since 2001 and watched it happen with my own eyes.

smolder 5y ago
I wasn't criticizing capitalism in relation to communism, and I didn't claim to prefer it. It's possible to regulate an economy to keep competition healthy and minimize the destructive aspects. I think the way our system gets better is through good-faith efforts of smart and ethical policy makers, curated and elected by an efficient democracy. There's plenty of work to be done to get closer to that ideal.
- simonh 5y ago
  Sure, I agree with that completely. I’m no free market purist, more an old school liberal. I just don’t think most of the criticisms of capitalism are in any way specific to it. In fact non capitalist societies seem to suffer far more from these flaws than free market economies. Rent seeking, labour abuses, corruption. These are human flaws and therefore seen in any economic system and must be constantly rooted out.