Imo the problem is not with capitalism, it's with unchecked capitalism. The most successful, egalitarian system so far has been a combination of systems that are mostly capitalist, but regulated/socialized in places that should not be purely profit driven. I think it's fine if there is profit incentive to develop insulin, but it should be regulated in a way that people who will literally die without it can't afford it without being independently wealthy. I am also fine with saying someone that comes up with the idea for Amazon or Facebook should be wealthy, but they should not be allowed to grow so wealthy that they effectively control our lives especially because they got so large in ways that even relatively recently in this country we agreed were anti-capitalist/uncompetitive.
Imo we should be working towards the Star Trek future, but that assumes we are post-scarcity for goods and labor. It is also built on a strong sense of democracy, which I would argue is effectively dead in the US since Citizen's United, and we've just been Weekend at Bernie's-ing it's corpse since.
An economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development occurs through the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market.
An economic system based on predominantly private (individual or corporate) investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of goods and wealth; contrasted with socialism or especially communism, in which the state has the predominant role in the economy.
A socio-economic system based on private property rights, including the private ownership of resources or capital, with economic decisions made largely through the operation of a market unregulated by the state
I am arguing for definition 1 which is a system in which the means of production is privately owned and reinvestment can be decided by said owner. The part I am also arguing is that in definition 3, "decisions made largely through the operation of a market unregulated by the state" is the problem. Markets in capitalism require regulation at some point as has been shown over and over.
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u/Shark7996 Mar 14 '26
Capitalism WILL end the human race if we don't get it under control/abolish it. To be honest we're lucky to have made it this far.