Randy_H

A Capitalist Reformation

Seems it's very hard for some people to think in dynamic terms. Capitalism isn't some cookbook of a few commandments chiseled into stone. Apparently a lot of commenters learned their concepts of Capitalism from neolibertarians. Capitalism is "changing" like the Earth's biosphere is "changing". Change is the only constant. Sometimes that change is slow, other times it is fast. But it is ever present. It is essential. It is pragmatic.

I'm appalled at the lack of historical perspective as well. Never once do we read in the knee jerk attacks on FDR anything that leads us to believe the authors have an appreciation for the historical context in which those events took place nearly a century ago. Viewing history through the lens of current society is less than wrong, it's foolish.

Were we to take a poll requiring every person who utters "Socialism" to define that term, in specific terms, I'm certain we'd find that merely 1-in-10 are even using it correctly. And I'm as far from a Socialist as you'll find. But hear this, true Capitalists in the tradition of Rand are disgusted even more so by neolibertarian cranks than by democratic socialists. One group professes to pursue the greater good. It's just that people like me disagree about how to define "greater good". The other side, due to some serious impairment of sensibility, relishes in deluding themselves into thinking they are more clever than they are -- in reality not much more than cynical, self contradicting hypocrites. (paraphrased from Rand, whom I'm sure at least one neolibertarian whack-a-mole will call a "socialist" just to put a cherry on top of the irony).

A Capitalist Reformation

What I missed in this articles is the contribution of innovation and non-linear growth. That Capitalism is changing is a truism. Capitalism is always changing. It is, at the core, Darwinistic. Species within the Capitalist system universe that fail to adapt, die. Eventually. Some are kept on preserves for a while. Some are kept in zoos for study and for spectacle. But only adaptive, progressive species survive and thrive.

The government has a role in the Capitalist universe also. That's the failure of the free market fundamentalists and neolibertarians. Without the government as an arbitrator and referee, the Capitalist game of life degrades rapidly into a kleptocratic thugism.

But the magic is that Capitalism is an emergent system. It is not a deterministic system, nor is it served well by negative utilitarianism (doing the least harm equals doing the greatest good). Capitalism instead is positively utilitarian. The least harm is not always the best outcome. At times, the greater good is indeed served by taking the path of the greater harm for a period. If that is the point of the author, then I agree wholly.

But what's unstated in this article is that the fruits of a positively utilitarian, emergent Capitalist universe is explosive, revolutionary growth. One could have said the same things stated in this article during the periods prior to every "revolution". The Industrial, the Information, the Communication... Odds are, using historical time series, we're approaching another seismic revolution. But, like a big earthquake, exactly when cannot be predicted.

We know the odds are rising. Capitalism ensures that the ground will shake. And when it does, all the linear extrapolations about which services cost what and what opportunity lies where, give way to a new reality for which new equations must be formulated and old ones recalibrated.