From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Thu Aug 26 1999 - 18:43:03 MDT
From: Lee Daniel Crocker <lcrocker@mercury.colossus.net>
>> This is only true if you're talking about capitalism in a very abstract
>> sense. Keep in mind that capitalism as we know it could not exist
without
>> inventions like intellectual property, contract law, the limited
liability
>> corporation, etc. I don't see any of these things as more self-evident
>> than some socialistic notions - for instance the right of workers to form
>> unions and bargain collectively.
>
>Bizarre list. "Contract law" probably belongs there, but I'm inclined
>to see that as nothing more than a natural mechanism of making and
>maintaining commitments. Intellectual property and limited liability
>corporations have nothing at all to do with capitalism--many (including
>me) consider them both perversions of that ideal, and would love to
>dispense with them both. Finally, collective bargaining is not a
>socialist concept at all, but a fine capitalist one, also being nothing
>but a natural consequence of the right to make and enforce commitments.
>Sounds like your idea of what capitalism is has been instilled in your
>brain by a socialist education system :)
-------------------------------------------------
Knowing we probably don't want to get into a semantic or political
discussion, the following definitions of | capitalism | may nonetheless suit
some extropians:
Capitalism (Principle in politics) — The reputation of capitalism, which was
quite bad for a while, has recently been on the rise. This is no doubt due
mainly to the universal failure of socialism and communism, but credit must
also be given to those scholars who have emphasized that what has been
traditionally lampooned as evil "capitalism" is in fact the idea of minimal
government, which is better described as classical liberalism or
libertarianism — which is much more humanistic than the twentieth-century
authoritarianism and totalitarianism that supplanted capitalism
historically. However, some economists insist that capitalism is not a
doctrine or theory in political philosophy in the way that Marxism is,
because the free market is not an ideology but simply the economic
phenomenon that occurs naturally in the absence of political control. One
prominent advocate of this view is Michael Rothschild of the Bionomics
Institute. [References from dialectical materialism and Social Darwinism.]
http://www.monadnock.net/ismbook/C.html
1. What is capitalism?
Laissez faire capitalism means the complete separation of economy and state,
just like the separation of church and state. Capitalism is the social
system based upon private ownership of the means of production which entails
a completely uncontrolled and unregulated economy where all land is
privately owned. But the separation of the state and the economy is not a
primary, it is only an aspect of the premise that capitalism is based upon:
individual rights. Capitalism is the only politico-economic system based on
the doctrine of individual rights. This means that capitalism recognizes
that each and every person is the owner of his own life, and has the right
to live his life in any manner he chooses as long as he does not violate the
rights of others.
2. What is capitalism's essential nature?
The essential nature of capitalism is social harmony through the pursuit of
self-interest. Under capitalism, the individual's pursuit of his own
economic self-interest simultaneously benefits the economic self-interests
of all others. In allowing each individual to act unhampered by government
regulations, capitalism causes wealth to be created in the most efficient
manner possible which ultimately raises the standard of living, increases
the economic opportunities, and makes available an ever growing supply of
products for everyone. The free-market operates in such a way so that as one
man creates more wealth for himself, he simultaneously creates more wealth
and opportunities for everyone else, which means that as the rich become
richer, the poor become richer. It must be understood that capitalism serves
the economic self-interests of all, including the non-capitalists.
Contrary to widely held beliefs, capitalism is not a system which exploits a
large portion of society for the sake of a small minority of wealthy
capitalists. Ironically, it is actually socialism that causes the systematic
exploitation of labor. Since the socialist state holds a universal monopoly
on labor and production, no economic incentive exists for the socialist
state to provide anything more than minimum physical subsistence for the
workers except to perhaps prevent riots or revolutions. Exploitation is
inherent to the nature of socialism because individuals cannot live for
their own sake, rather, they exist merely as means to whatever ends the
socialist rulers -- the self-proclaimed spokesman of "society," may have in
mind.1
http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~shadab/capit-2.html#2 (Wow! From Berzerkeley no
less!)
What is capitalism? Capitalism is a social system based on the principle of
(individual) rights. An advocate of such a social system is known as a
capitalist.
http://www.capitalism.org/home.htm
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