Capitalism Can't Be "Less Greedy" - the Greed Is Baked In
More people lately are identifying capitalism as the underlying cause
of our current global troubles and crises. That’s certainly positive:
the first step toward cure is a proper diagnosis. But most of the
approaches being offered to treat the problem are placebos, an endless
supply of ineffective remedies to “fix” or reform it, to make it “less
greedy.”
Getting the greed out of capitalism is impossible, and we’ll just
waste precious time by trying. All capitalism’s problems are baked in,
integral to the way it works. Capital must expand, buy up or destroy
competitors, reach into every corner of society to try to squeeze money
out of it. It naturally accumulates, concentrating wealth in the hands
of the few at the expense of the many. That’s not a mistake. That’s what
it does. There’s no other way it works. The problem isn’t extreme
capitalism, corporate capitalism, or greedy capitalism. It’s just
capitalism.
Let’s try a thought experiment to make this more concrete. Let’s take
you through the process of becoming a capitalist. But because you’re a
nice person and not a greedy motherfucker like other capitalists, you’re
going to be different.
Ok. Imagine you manage to scrape together $50,000 by scrimping and
saving and borrowing money from your parents. (Inheritance is actually
how most capitalists get their start – it’s not because they’re so smart
or hardworking, as they’d like to have us believe). Now, what are you
going to do with it? You could piss it away on drugs and fancy shoes. Or
you could do what most people would consider the intelligent thing to
do in a capitalist economy: make the money “work for you,” so you and
your family could live on the income it generates instead of being
ground down all your lives by shitty jobs. This is a very reasonable
goal, which no one would argue with. Now, while you are not yet a
capitalist, that money has become capital. If your plan is successful,
it may make you become a capitalist.
