• Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Capitalism is a belief system where greed is encouraged as a central virtue.

    If it doesn’t include copious amounts of profiteering, it’s just sparkling market economies.

    • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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      4 months ago

      No, capitalism is not a belief system. That’s just marxists’ image of capitalism.

      Capitalism is when a free market results in some people deciding to get wage jobs instead of being entrepreneurs. When you get a worker class, who accepts the trade of more income security for less potential profit, ie when there are “jobs” in the private sector, then you’ve got capitalism.

      Because capitalism is based on free markets, ie markets where people have choice of how they engage, a successful capitalist is one who resists short term greed in favor of long term profits.

      • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        No, capitalism is not a belief system. That’s just marxists’ image of capitalism

        False. Not that it matters since you’re wrong, but I’m no Marxist. Not a fan of authoritarianism.

        Capitalism is when a free market results in some people deciding to get wage jobs instead of being entrepreneurs

        Nope. People being employed by other people is MUCH older than capitalism and present in most economic systems.

        When you get a worker class, who accepts the trade of more income security for less potential profit, ie when there are “jobs” in the private sector, then you’ve got capitalism.

        Wrong again. Do you eb know what the word “capital” means? 🙄

        Because capitalism is based on free markets, ie markets where people have choice of how they engage, a successful capitalist is one who resists short term greed in favor of long term profits.

        You almost couldn’t be more wrong.

        Under-regulated capitalism, which is the purest form and the kind dominant in for example the US, inevitably leads to the already powerful consolidating and abusing their power, taking away the choices of workers.

        It also leads to exactly what you say it doesn’t: chasing short term gains at the expense of everything else, including the long term survival of humanity.

      • masquenox@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Capitalism is when a free market results in some the majority of people deciding to get wage jobs instead of being entrepreneurs being forced into wage labor because they weren’t born as nepobabies to the rich.

        FTFY.