[ExI] Capitalism, anti capitalism, emotional arousal

James Clement clementlawyer at gmail.com
Sat Nov 12 17:56:07 UTC 2011


Stefano Vaj posts:

IMHO, there are a number of question here, which might be open even
for the most fervent Randian amongst us:
...
- The *political* issues with capitalism, as opposed to *ethical*
issues ("greed and oppression", etc.), are IMHO:
i) Should really power and status in all societies be determined only
by one's money?
ii) Should one's money itself be determined on the exclusive basis of
features which often have little "natural" or social utility and
mostly perpetuate themselves through vicious circles and probably
outdated civilisational paradigms?
iii) Should self-referential interests of a globalist financial system
be allowed to expropriate popular sovereignties and induce stagnation
and loss of cultural/political pluralism and diversity à la Brave New
World?

My responses:

i) Capitalism does not set moral/ethical standards in a society.  It's an
economic system that lets competition determine factors such as what gets
produced, who owns the means of production, and what price is set for
goods, services, labor, and resources. It's perfectly acceptable that
society determines (even in a Capitalist system) that something other than
wealth is esteemed.

ii) Capitalism rewards producers with resources for supplying products or
services that are demanded by consumers. If you think the consumers are
wrong in their choices, then you can try to persuade them to spend their
capital in other ways, short of coercing them.

iii) Why do we let politicians sell their votes and provide some groups
with benefits at the expense of others? We could easily throw them out of
power, but the fact is that most people are too lazy or insecure to really
change the status quo. What I find admirable about #OWS is their contempt
for corrupt politicians and the lobbyists/Corporatocracy that pays them off
for such benefits. If we limited the power of politicians (went to a
government either controlled directly by the Citizens through referendums,
or simply limited the scope of what government could do to defense, police
and courts, then the politicians would have no ability to hand out favors,
and corruption would virtually cease.

James Clement
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