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eric4smith

I don’t think anyone can “reform” capitalism.

Think about it, it’s at the root of how dominant humans behaved since the beginning of time.

It’s literally the 80/20 rule in practice.

20% of humans want to create things (generally). And capitalism is the most efficient way to do it at scale.

Look back in human history to see signs of this in every country, city, town and village.

There is always that “rich” person in your town that owns a lot of land and businesses. Always.

Why do we think we can stop or change this feature or humans?

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We regulate capitalism all the time. You just make something "cost" more by fining, taxing, or sending people to prison, and then people choose the now-cheaper Made-In-USA alternative.

Good. Wake me up when that happens.

I don’t get it either... capitalism isn’t some intentional decision that society somehow collectively makes, it is more like the natural order of economic transactions that arises in the presence of (1) property rights, and (2) freedom of association. Most of the things Ray talks about are not intrinsic features of capitalism, but simply institutions that seem to interact with a capitalist economic structure in notable ways e.g. central banking.

Property rights are the name of the game though right? The extent to which you are allowed to own property is the fundamental design mechanism for an economy system. Simple versions being taxation, more extensive being things like collectivist anarchism.

> capitalism isn’t some intentional decision that society somehow collectively makes,

Yes, it is. Historically, it is an intentional decision society collectively makes at the behest of and for the benefit of thr mercantile class.

> that arises in the presence of (1) property rights, and (2) freedom of association

Property rights are much older than capitalism, freedom of association as a widespread normn is newer and not super consistently found with capitalism. The particular structure of property rights that characterizes capitalism, which is very different from the system of property rights that characterized, say, feudalism, is not the same thing as “property rights” generally, though supporters of capitalism often confuse the two concepts.

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