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The entirety of human history until the late medieval/early medieval period, all those hundreds of thousands of years existed without capitalism despite resourc

The entirety of human history until the late medieval/early medieval period, all those hundreds of thousands of years existed without capitalism despite resource inequality. It can be hard to see beyond the dominant social structures we see around us every day, but don't confuse them for inevitabilities. Things will eventually change and whatever replaces the current structures will seem just as obviously inevitable to our descendents.

goatlover 4y ago
But the thousands of years of civilization prior to capitalism were quite unequal with a wealthy ruling class and slavery.
- wvenable 4y ago
  A 2021 Oxfam report found that collectively, the 10 richest men in the world owned more than the combined wealth of the bottom 3.1 billion people, almost half of the entire world population.
  - goatlover 4y ago
    Which doesn't invalidate the fact that there was a lot of inequality prior to capitalism. Kings, emperors, different classes and what not.
    - wvenable 4y ago
      Arguably, the sheer scale of inequality now is much higher than back then. The players are different but the game is the same.
hsn915 4y ago
In all these thousands of years, capitalism existed. People traded with other countries. Those who got into trade got rich. People who were allied with the ruling class were rich. The people who were rich used their wealth to accumulate more wealth. It was pretty much the same as today in terms of the pareto distribution of power and wealth.