Message from @Undead Mockingbird
Discord ID: 542792138388275200
Human nature i know
Yes.
And itll keep repeating itself
The market is people
Believe me i get all that
And if we all decided to live an ascetic life style, the market would reflect that, too.
The only things in demand would be simple robes and prayer books.
The economy doesn't "need" either thing.
The economy simply "economizes" (i.e. rations things of limited supply).
But thats not capiltilism
Of course it is.
Capitlism does not equal economy
Capitalism is one form of managing the economy.
It does equal our economy
It is one way to ration things of limited supply.
And its the way its been managed that lead us to where we are
Where every single country is.
Just because you buy and sell prayer books doesn't make it less of a market or less capitalistic.
It means you engage in trades of your own free will.
Yes were better off this way i agree with that
I think there is a fundamental misunderstanding about capitalism.
Why did you think one scenario constituted capitalism but not the other? Because of the type of things being traded?
Global trading
Id like to see that slowed down
The alterantive to trade is war
We never mentioned global trading, but there was hesitation from your side to call what I described in that latter scenario as capitalism. Why?
Cause its ingrained
I think trading goods between countries is good but not currency
But i want the value of human life to go up
You seemed to be quick to call an economy with a big entertainment system capitalism, but you seemed hesitant to call a country of ascetics, trading by the same principles, capitalistic.
I find that important.
It had appeared as if you had agreed with me on the neutral mechanics by which markets work and capitalism, but then you seemed to make a distinction as soon as only certain TYPES of goods were traded.
Why?
By trade I mean with the intermediary of currency, in all instances.
Well when a king rules over 100 people, each matter more to him
Yes, because there is a short supply of people.
When a king rules over 1 million, each matters less
Depends on what it is about them.
If the worth of their labor is to be priced, it's whatever the king is willing to exchange for it.
Well the king wants more people most of the time
And its wrong to try to stop that expansion
If one day of labor is worth as much as a keg of beer, then the price, whatever it is, will be about the same for the two.