Quench Your Anti-Capitalism

# What is capitalism?

Capitalism might mean different things to different people. Words are like that. So let's get on the same page.

Imagine it's 1000 B.C. and there's a guy called Jack who grew up eating bugs. He didn't want his son to grow up eating bugs because they're gross. So, being a badass guy, he went into a forest, grabbed a few cows by their horns, and threw them into a pen that he had built with his bare hands. Years later he died peacefully, leaving the farm to his beloved son.

In those days, his son would've been considered a billionaire, and you, dear reader, would've been beyond belief. I wonder, how did we get to be so wealthy? If billionaires are "greedy" just for being wealthy, that would mean you are unbelievably greedy, because you are unbelievably wealthy. So clearly billionaires are not greedy just for being wealthy. There's something else which sets them apart. We'll return to that later.

So Jack's son, named Jackson, is very privileged. He didn't earn his wealth, but his father did, even before he was born. Anyway, despite his privilege, Jackson is tired of eating only steak for every meal every day. So he meets Bob. Bob's family is not as competent as Jackson's. They're just cabbage growers. Bob is unhappy eating only cabbages for every meal every day. Jackson would prefer cabbages instead of one of his cows, and Bob would prefer a cow instead of cabbages. So Jackson offers to give a cow in exchange for 10 cabbages, and Bob accepts gratefully.

That is capitalism: mutual agreement, leading to mutual benefit. Or at least, perceived mutual benefit. More on that later. Any other system, by definition, would either involve non-mutual agreement, or non-mutual benefit. This is known as theft or deception.

# Non-capitalism

Bob spreads the word about how good steak is, and now everyone wants Jackson's cows. Jackson can hardly raise them quickly enough, and furthermore, he would like to rest for a while instead of always selling cows. So he raises the price, because his free time is becoming more and more valuable, and he needs more and more incentive to be willing to trade. Bob becomes resentful, because now he needs a lot more cabbages to get his steak. Bob convinces the other villagers that they are becoming slaves to Jackson. They are constantly working, just so that they can pay Jackson to get cows. The villagers obviously forgot that they don't have to trade with Jackson if they don't want to - they could get their own cows - but for some reason they think they should get cows for free. So they get a big tough guy to force Jackson to give them every second cow that he raises. Jackson loses the will to work, and everyone dies of starvation. The end.

# The billionaires

If were were in a capitalist society, we wouldn't have to give our money to anyone. You're probably reading this on a computer. You didn't have to buy that computer. I know it sounds crazy, but you could literally make your own computer, or live without one. That's how humanity has operated since the beginning. And the fact that you chose to purchase a computer means that it's more valuable to you than, say, $1000. I'll say that again: the computer was more valuable to you than $1000. It was also more valuable to you than caring about the environmental impacts of manufacturing, or how evil the person who made it is, or any other concern.

A capitalist society would be similar to democracy in the sense that you "vote" with your time and money. If you don't like AI, then "vote against it" by not paying for it. If the majority of people stop using it, then it will become unprofitable, and there will be no more AI. If you don't like how something is manufactured, then "run for office" by starting your own ethical manufacturing plant.

But we don't live in a capitalist society, and many of the billionaires have not been "elected" by us.

# Taxation

I would argue that we live in a semi-capitalist society, because we are not entirely free to spend our money or time as we wish.

Through taxation, the government takes a part of your money, and spends it in ways which you have very little choice over. For example, they might spend your money to fund a war, or a data center, or a train station right next to your house, or they might give it to a billionaire who you hate. In fact, some sneaky people are very good at siphoning your money by inventing devious reasons to take it out of the government's wallet and give it to themselves. They are thieves, once-removed.

You are also not able to spend your time how you wish. For example, you may not be able to set up your own ethical manufacturing plant because it is highly regulated. Regulation is another tactic that sneaky people often use to make sure you can't compete against them. We see this battle going on in the AI space, where many of the top AI people are fearmongering, and sucking up to the government, just hoping that they will be the only chosen ones who can distribute AI.

# Morality

In my first story I hinted about something which sets most of us apart from the "greedy" billionaires. I said that capitalism is a system of mutual agreement leading to "perceived" mutual benefit. Well, bear with me, because I have another story for you.

Let's say Livy starts a company selling cooking oil. Her cooking oil is cheaper than everyone else's, especially Jims's beef tallow, because it's not actually cooking oil - it's engine lubricant. Engine lubricant is not very healthy because it's made from rapeseed, which is not a very oily seed, so it goes through intense chemical processing to get oil from it. Wouldn't this be more expensive to produce then? No, because rapeseed production is subsidised by the government. So Livy started advertising it as cooking oil. In fact, she says that it's healthy cooking oil. In fact, she even bribes some doctors to agree with her. This is very healthy cooking oil! Way healthier and cheaper than Jim's beef tallow!

I think we have misdiagnosed the problem. The half-commitment to capitalism is only part of the problem. Lack of morality is the bigger problem. Capitalism without strong morality will lead to an upper-class of Livys, and a lower-class of Bobs. Livy doesn't care about actually making people's lives better, she just wants money. She puts money above all else. In other words, she worships money, because it is her highest good. Likewise Bob doesn't want to work hard. He doesn't want to have to think. He is so accustomed to having cows, that he thinks he deserves them for free. His is the sin of pride and greed.

# Conclusion

I don't think we live an a capitalist society, but even proper capitalism without morality will lead to a society of Livys and Bobs. Politics without morality will lead to a society full of laws, but without justice. We need to strengthen the moral foundation of our society. How? Go to church :D