[ExI] Capitalism, anti capitalism, emotional arousal

Stefano Vaj stefano.vaj at gmail.com
Sun Nov 13 16:20:14 UTC 2011


2011/11/12 James Clement <clementlawyer at gmail.com>

> What's wrong with wanting to create a hugely successful company? Are the
> values of some (for time to read, hang out with friends, be entertained,
> etc.) override the values of others to be successful in the business world?
> Do you really think that wanting to have money to keep your business on
> top, start new businesses, invest in other companies that interest you,
> donate to charities/causes you support, etc. are any less desirable than
> the quality of the steaks you eat? If one is "power" then the other is
> "power" too, in which case your analysis is meaningless.
>

I have nothing against power, nor against entrepreneurship. What is in
discussion here is whether the money you have - and which you may well have
simply inherited, especially in societies where social mobility is at an
overall minimum - should be the exclusive measure of what your are worth.

Celebrities, teachers, authors, journalists, clergy, politicians, and many
> others have "power," having nothing to do with money, over people. Why
> would you single out the wealthy as the only group whom you'd be
> uncomfortable with having power over people?
>

Because of course I am not indifferent to the allocation of power, and to
the composition and selection of ruling classes in a given society, and I
have serious doubts on the efficiency of those increasingly dominant in
mine. Why are "capitalists" or libertarians uncomfortable  with a system
where the power is the exclusive prerogative of Communist Party bureaucrats?

In this respect, I suspect that a society where economy dominates over
politics, and where at an economic level vested interests dominate over
collective ones, and where amongst vested interests international
speculators and bankers dominate over industrialists and real
entrepreneurs, and where short-term, myopic mechanisms dominate over
speculators and bankers, may not be really bound to an everlasting success.
I may be wrong, but...

-- 
Stefano Vaj
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