Technocrat
4th October 2011, 22:53
Just looking for some feedback on the following argument, thanks:
Capitalism is unsustainable
Capitalism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism)is defined as the operation of the means of production for private profit.
Profit is defined as money returned to the owner in excess of what is required to maintain business operations.
Capitalism requires growth because profit requires growth. Nothing grows forever, therefore capitalism is unsustainable.
Consider a society with a fixed amount of wealth that never increases over time. The nature of profit in such a society is that of a zero-sum game (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero%E2%80%93sum_game): someone can only make money if someone else loses money. If we introduce profit into our static society, what happens is that over time the wealth of society becomes concentrated into the hands of a few while everyone else's share of wealth decreases. Everyone else's share of wealth cannot be decreased indefinitely, however. An individual's share of wealth cannot be decreased below 0 for obvious reasons, but there is another limit that is reached before one ever gets to 0. The workers' share of wealth cannot be reduced below the minimum that is required for a subsistence standard of living. If it is reduced below this level, the workers either revolt or die of starvation. Without the workers, the capitalists cannot operate the means of production, and so profit ceases.
All of this is just to say that there is a limit as to how much wealth can be taken from the workers by the capitalist class in a static society. Since there is a limit, and since taking wealth from others is the only way to make a profit in a static society, then profit in a static society is unsustainable. The only way profit can be sustainable is if the amount of wealth in society is not static but instead grows over time. Growth, however, is an unsustainable process; that nothing can grow forever is a scientific fact (ask a scientist or mathematician if you are having trouble grasping this point). Economic growth entails the use of resources which are finite. For those resources which are not renewable, growth ceases when the resource is exhausted. For those resources which are renewable, growth ceases whenever the rate at which the resource is replenished matches the rate at which it is depleted (or else the resource is eventually exhausted).
Capitalism requires profit as part of its definition. Profit is only sustainable in a society with growth, as explained above. Growth is unsustainable (by definition), therefore profit is unsustainable. Profit is unsustainable, therefore capitalism is unsustainable. A functioning steady-state economy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steady_state_economy)is by definition non-capitalist. As the resources needed to maintain growth are exhausted, capitalism will increasingly look to lowering the workers' wages as a means to maintain profits.
Capitalism is unsustainable
Capitalism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism)is defined as the operation of the means of production for private profit.
Profit is defined as money returned to the owner in excess of what is required to maintain business operations.
Capitalism requires growth because profit requires growth. Nothing grows forever, therefore capitalism is unsustainable.
Consider a society with a fixed amount of wealth that never increases over time. The nature of profit in such a society is that of a zero-sum game (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero%E2%80%93sum_game): someone can only make money if someone else loses money. If we introduce profit into our static society, what happens is that over time the wealth of society becomes concentrated into the hands of a few while everyone else's share of wealth decreases. Everyone else's share of wealth cannot be decreased indefinitely, however. An individual's share of wealth cannot be decreased below 0 for obvious reasons, but there is another limit that is reached before one ever gets to 0. The workers' share of wealth cannot be reduced below the minimum that is required for a subsistence standard of living. If it is reduced below this level, the workers either revolt or die of starvation. Without the workers, the capitalists cannot operate the means of production, and so profit ceases.
All of this is just to say that there is a limit as to how much wealth can be taken from the workers by the capitalist class in a static society. Since there is a limit, and since taking wealth from others is the only way to make a profit in a static society, then profit in a static society is unsustainable. The only way profit can be sustainable is if the amount of wealth in society is not static but instead grows over time. Growth, however, is an unsustainable process; that nothing can grow forever is a scientific fact (ask a scientist or mathematician if you are having trouble grasping this point). Economic growth entails the use of resources which are finite. For those resources which are not renewable, growth ceases when the resource is exhausted. For those resources which are renewable, growth ceases whenever the rate at which the resource is replenished matches the rate at which it is depleted (or else the resource is eventually exhausted).
Capitalism requires profit as part of its definition. Profit is only sustainable in a society with growth, as explained above. Growth is unsustainable (by definition), therefore profit is unsustainable. Profit is unsustainable, therefore capitalism is unsustainable. A functioning steady-state economy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steady_state_economy)is by definition non-capitalist. As the resources needed to maintain growth are exhausted, capitalism will increasingly look to lowering the workers' wages as a means to maintain profits.