• MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    I agree. People who say, “nuhuh, capitalism works!” are 99% of the time thinking of the basic concept of markets or money. Which … Very specifically, are NOT capitalism.

    They are used (and abused) by capitalists, but they are not inventions of capitalists.

    • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Reason 1 that I’m happy to ditch reddit for Lemmy completely is watching these ideas explained by other people, every day.

      Not having to explain the difference between capitalism and commerce feels 😩🔥

    • SuckMyWang@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      So what’s the difference between capitalism and markets? I would have thought the freer the market the more capitalistic it was, not so much that there’s a separation of the two.

      • Cowbee@lemm.ee
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        11 months ago

        Ownership of Capital. Capitalism has markets, but not all market systems are Capitalist.

        Market Socialism, for example, has competing worker-owned entities like Co-operatives in a market system, with no Capitalists.

        Capitalism is a relatively new phenomena in the grand scheme of things.

        • SuckMyWang@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Can a cooperative compete in a capitalist market? As in shouldn’t the better system win out in a free market?

          • Cowbee@lemm.ee
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            11 months ago
            1. Kind of. The market can have Capitalist entities and Socialist entities, but the market itself isn’t Capitalist.

            2. Not necessarily. Co-operatives are more difficult to start in a predominantly Capitalist system, and Capitalist entities usually can exploit their workers more in order to gain temporary competitive advantage. I don’t believe this is sufficient reasoning to value Capitalism over Socialist entities.

            I’m not a Market Socialist, for clarification, as I do think there are issues. However, Capitalism isn’t markets.