Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism.

submitted by Drewski from doctorow.medium.com

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[–]TitsAndWhiskey 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

The premise is a bit of a reach. The mere fact that Karl Marx’s definition of Capitalism is so widely accepted is sad.

When you have to continually redefine and rename the economic system that always evolves to be dominant in every human civilization of any significant size, you might consider that maybe your taxonomy isn’t really an accurate representation of reality.

[–]jet199 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

It was socialists who came up with the idea of capitalism to push their views.

Trade has always existed since the beginning of time. The trading class just had less power before when most wealth was made off the land.

[–]TitsAndWhiskey 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Not necessarily. The concept of capital and those who possess it is as old as human civilization. Linguistically, it comes from the same Latin root as “chattel” or “cattle.” Capitalism cannot be separated from the core concept of trade.

All Marx & co. did was tell us that “capitalists,” i.e. those who possess capital were bad, on the basis that it’s “not fair.”

When you talk about the “trading class,” keep in mind that those with power were in a position of power due to their control of capital. Taking and keeping new land is expensive.

Capitalism is just a machine that turns war into politics through trade.