If We Had Real Capitalism, Would It Be Good?

in LeoFinance3 months ago

toaster.png

There are so many bad things about capitalism, its only advantage is that it is better than all the other systems. (that we currently know of)

And we don't even have real capitalism. We don't have real free markets.

If we had these, would real capitalism with real free markets be good? Can those stand on their own, or do we need to constantly protect from bad-actors?

This gets really tricky. And even more complicated as we move into a future where things are so much different than we have today. What we consider important changes drastically. What we accept as necessary evils becomes, well we don't accept them. Minimizing pollution becomes essential in most people's minds.

If we had omniscient central planners (and assuming they were good, and wanted what is best for humanity) would communism work? This is the scope of the question i wish to ask about capitalism.

Can we minimize or eliminate the downsides of capitalism, and still keep the upsides?
In the future, will we even want the upsides?

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The Pareto Principal

The number one thing that capitalism does is that it allows the best to perform to the extent of their abilities. This is the thing that communism (as a govern-cement) completely fails at.
BreakdownPareto.png

You see, the lions share of what gets produced (food, shelter, clothing…) is because the best 20% are allowed to use their ability to improve their lives. And so, are self motivated to achieve.

Allowing this means the people do not starve, even if the bottom 80% just stops working (goes on the dole).

However, crony capitalism puts a damper on people introducing disruptive technologies. The oligarchs try to buy it all up before it gets out, or try to control it, and make sure they come out on top after the change.

And, when you have enough money to decide who are the winners and who are the losers, T.H.E.Y. can limit a lot of the top 20% from ever getting anywhere. Such as, the best artists are not the ones having their art sell for millions of dollars. Those artists are decided by the oligarchy, and are usually payouts (a way to launder money) to certain people.

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Banksters, the reason we don't have anything real

We do not have free markets because, at minimum, half of every transaction is in a fiat that we are forced to use.

And that fiat has no tie to reality. It is not priced by the market, it is priced by market manipulation.

Also, capitalism doesn't really exist when there is a group that can buy up everything, by simply printing money. This doesn't even include those that are more powerful than they should be because of being closer to the money printer.

Crony capitalism treats capital that was earned through hard work, and actually creating more in the world, and capital made out of thing air / money printing. And this is really, really bad. Inequalities arise that should have taken care of themselves. Things like monopolies usually fall apart quite quickly under capitalism, but under crony-capitalism they are protected, and allowed to flourish.

Does Georgie Zeros have lots and lots of capital? Or is it all imaginary as he has added nothing real to the world for many, many years. Can Musk borrow against his "stock" at current market prices? He can only do this because of money printing. There are multiple reasons, like, if he sold all that "stock" he would get no where near current market price. The buy wall would be decimated, and the last "stocks" would be some at less than ⅒th of the value. (or less) There is only so much money in existence ready to buy stocks. So, that is the maximum you could get, even if you sold ALL the stock.

So, these people are the "richest" people on the planet, only by money printing shenanigans. The rich borrow against their stock, not sell it. It is not a thing that the rich choose to do, it is something the rich HAVE TO do. They have to stay inside the game, they have to play by the bankster rules. If the "rich" actually started selling anything, they would have to price it so low that the avarage person could buy it.

Like, if all the baby boomers put their houses on the market, without there being any banks offering mortgages, then the average house would be only worth what the average person had in savings. So, less than $500.

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When We Stop Selling Life Necessary Items For Money

If you were able to tie up all the water sources, you could sell water for any price people could pay. And they would pay because they needed it to live.

People have paid in gold coins for a meal during times of famine of food or money.

In the desert, it is common to not deny anyone water. It is good to be generous, but when you start denying a life need, you will find yourself on the pointy end of retaliation.

So, in the near future, we will not sell land for money. How could we even think of selling the place that brings us food? Our "place" (the property, and the improvements that allow us to live) is not for sale. And if it was, it would only be traded for another "place" where we could life.

Commodities can be exchanged for commodities. And so a commodity money could be exchanged for other commodities. But, trading mere commodities for things that are essential to life is a no-no. That we have allowed banks to create mortgages is a huge sin.

In this kind of way, we have allowed crony-capitalism to destroy people. When capitalism is supposed to serve people.

In the future, we will value things differently, and there will be different levels of "money" to buy them. And it may be such that there will be a necessary level of trust before "money" will even be accepted. The manufacturer of the commodity may be as picky as the buyer of that commodity.

And yes, this may extend to food. Whereas, people, in the future, may not exchange food for gold. What is the use of gold? You cannot eat it. However, those who grow food will gladly exchange for other food. And will probably also gladly help those who tried to grow food and failed. But, if you think you can just buy food, like we do today at a grocery store, you will be mistaken.

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If we move into a world where all of your needs are provided by the community you are a part of (everyone is a part time farmer), and so everyone is mostly self sufficient, then how does that change the entire structure of the economy? Does capitalism even exist? Crony-capitalism will be gone completely. But, maybe capitalism, the root meaning, being how you use the "capital" that you have to get what you want/get a better life.

Another thing that destroys our current view of capitalism is things like 3D printing. (using the word as many futurists like to use it) Where you have a fairly inexpensive piece of machinery that allows you to produce almost anything you want. There isn't the need to gather enough capital to build a factory, and get all the machinery, and train all those people (after you got them to work for you) to build the thing you want. It makes having a huge amount of money kinda meaningless.

On that subject, we won't see anyone with a huge amount of "money". Getting such would mean helping out many, many people. (no longer can money just be printed) We would have the many self-made millionaires, but we would have almost none of the billionaires. Further, a person getting rich would mean a lot of people who helped, would get rich also. And if that wasn't the case, if he screwed his workers like many Corp CEOs seem to do now, no one would buy from them.

Basically the idea of monopolies and monoposonies become almost impossible (just like how capitalism is taught in schools these days). They will fall apart so fast based on ease of entry that 3D printers allow, and public opinion is extremely important for selling anything. And lastly, that the pile of money won't buy you anything that would allow you to have control over others.

I really do not know if we will call the "thing", in the future, capitalism. But, it won't matter, we will have left behind the idea of letting people starve by controlling their money.

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All images in this post are my own original creations.

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I suggest that any system based on accounting for the energy We're adding into it (the foundational function of "money" in any form) will prove detrimental.  Why?  Because when there is "profit" in tangible things, power over Others is attainable.  When One needs the token of the day to survive, One can be bought.

This power draws psychopaths like feces draw flies.  They will do literally anything to get and keep that power.  Ethical, unEthical, does not matter.  And in the end, They will be promoted to the top.

A far better system is in using social currency for motive to do work and do it well (as opposed to doing the cheapest for profit and shoddiest to sell more - "planned obsolescence"), with free energy flowing, obsoleting the point of "money."

I offer more on this here:

Social Currency  (article):  https://peakd.com/informationwar/@amaterasusolar/social-currency

And here:

Is Gold the Next Fiat?  (article):  https://peakd.com/informationwar/@amaterasusolar/is-gold-the-next-fiat

Until everyone manages their own personal energy, and all (at least most) will give more than what they receive, then we will have to continue accounting for our personal energy.

The goal you propose is not something to really strive for, it is inevitable. It is the conclusion of building a high trust society that is anti-fragile.

Until then, there are many steps.
At least we will probably see bitcoin adoptance in our lifetimes.

I dispute that until everyone manages Their own personal energy, and all (at least most) will give more than what They receive, then We will have to continue accounting for Our personal energy.

I go into it here:

On the Same Page (article): https://peakd.com/informationwar/@amaterasusolar/on-the-same-page

What we call capitalism today is just crony capitalism with government picking winners and losers. True free markets would actually regulate themselves better than bureaucrats ever could. The pollution point is spot on too.

Sorta, and i hope so. We just have never rally had a free market.

A free market needs lots of providers, and lots of consumers. If there is any monopoly or regulation, it warps the whole thing. We will see. Or maybe we will come up with something even better before we get there.

All i can see is that the freer the market, the better pricing seems to function.

monopoly is the wicked wealthy man's safety net so I'm guessing they'll always try to find a way to monopolize. I hope we create a better system

Great use of the toaster. An icon of capitalism :)

People point to inflation being "bad". They look at it wrong, in my view. It isn't inflation, it is just money being worth less. Or "worthless", if you will :)

And when We look at the foundational function of "money" We see that it accounts for the energy We add into a system, ensuring We added Our "fair share."  But We do not need to do that anymore.  I go into it here:

80% of Us Merely Move Money  (article):  https://peakd.com/informationwar/@amaterasusolar/80percent-of-us-merely-move-money

Shuffling paper :)

It is ironic (that i used a toaster instead of an iron) 😝

The toaster in this image came about because i truly tried to make a toaster. In America. To compete with China.

Even with free labor, and free metal recycled from tin cans, i couldn't compete with Wallymart prices.

Then i found out how rigged this game was. It was not just scale, but there was subsidies in many levels of this market. China has to make AND SHIP the toaster for $1 for it to end up in Wallymart for $10. You and i can't even get the electrical parts for that price. And we can't ship it to someone else in America for that price.

The solution is to just leave the bread in the oven longer. That's the same result as toast.

hahahhhaaaa!
To someone who makes bread, kneads dough by hand, and knows how to turn bread into toast over an open fire, this is hilarious!

I'm no baker! I have toyed with getting a bread maker, but I don't need more carbs in my life. Bread is dangerous in my diet.

Yes, i understand.

If you eat bread, making it yourself is FAR better.
If you feel you should avoid bread, then avoid it, cause fresh baked bread is dangerous.

I actually believe we have real capitalism - on the way. Evolution is easily understood. It's completely logical, and we see it in operation in our own lives, as our understanding and skills evolve over time. I have become a great carpenter after extensive experience, and do things differently today than I did 20 years ago. Society is just the same, and our industry and economic systems are skills and reflections of the physical universe and our improving understanding of it. Today we have a situation in which imperial polities have arisen and senesced serially for thousands of years. We see the same pattern has repeated, as young polities have strong societies struggling against fearsome enemies, and those that survive the competition have managed to make wise decisions and take forceful actions to prosper more than their enemies. Then they get soft, careless, corrupt, and terrible policies are promulgated by corrupt oligarchs, leading to their eventual collapse in hyperinflation and riots by deranged populations demanding every more gibs.

But something has changed in recent decades, and table top means of production have advented across all fields of industry that are potential to be automated, enabling people with merit to produce themselves that prosperity they intend to enjoy independently of what anyone else does, insulating them from corruption and gibs.

Where this is going we will not need any isms. It will be true capitalism, just like trees investing in leaves to harvest the summer sun is true capitalism. People accuse me of touting paradise, utopian fantasy, but those are people that have no merit, that do not understand how to make what they need, how to build anything, and doing that work is anything but utopian. It's hard work, and folks with merit understand that. I understand that, because I like hard work. I enjoy pushing my mind and body to exceed my limitations, to do things I don't think I can do, and I do that every day of the week. I sleep like a baby (when I quit reading obsessively and typing compulsively LOL), and wake eager to tackle the tasks of the day.

I yearn passionately to be able to have these abilities that our ancestors have sought fruitlessly for untold millennia, and considered the supernatural powers of the gods. I am building an aquaponics greenhouse in my spare time (LOL, so it's taking a while). I have a manufacturing workshop coming together, neighbors that believe in me, even though they are dubious about technology, about the memes that they have been confronted with by media, propagandists, and indoctrinations from birth to make them useful to overlords. They believe in me because I have done what they have not seen anyone else do, because I have seen what comes after this decentralization development and dispersal across the population becomes, and, like our forebears, I consider it godlike power and yearn for it to be at my fingertips so that my fate and that of my neighbors is in our hands, not imposed on them by masters, by gangs of armed thugs following orders to subdue and persuade them to obey and pay.

That is true capitalism, and it changes everything. It's not magic at all, or rather, the universe is a miracle that the consecutive products of development lead to such incredible independence. Independence is freedom, and free people can ascertain what price they will accept for what they produce themselves. That is true capitalism, and that is the real future that confronts humanity. That is why we are indoctrinated from birth, because sybaritic wealth and power are only parasitized from collectives, political power is only possible when individuals are helpless to defend themselves, and that is all obsolete when we apply ourselves to the production of our personal security, prosperity, and posterity.

Take your fate into your own hands and build what you want to have.

Thanks!

Yes, but will it be called capitalism? 😝

When the terms started, we needed to get millions (this was back in the day when that was a lot) of dollars together to get a factory, and machines and…

Even colleges taught how to get capital together. How to raise capital.

The banks came along and eliminated that. And now capital means something else.
And benchtop manufacturing has almost eliminated barrier to entry (meaning so little capital is needed to start)

And so, yes, we will have something that seems like capitalism perfected, but will anyone call it that?

I do not care what people call it, as long as independence is freedom.

Happy Freedom Day!