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by tsimionescu
2098 days ago
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Well, socialism (in its original form, not USSR-style "socialism") for example is an economic system that, by its definition, cares about people and their wellness. Capitalism, in contrast, is an economic system that, by its definition, doesn't care about people or their wellness. Just like democracy is a political system that cares about the people, whereas monarchy is a political system that doesn't. If you want to be pedantic, you can say that the proper phrasing would be something like "socialism is an economic system whose defined goals are people's wellness", "capitalism is an economic system whose defined goals have nothing to do with people's wellness (they are profit for the owners of capital, and perhaps innovation)". But "caring for" is obvious shorthand for this. You can, of course, say that individual actors living under any of these systems may or may not care about the people, and that's true. But the system itself may be designed with or without the people in mind, and different systems fall on different sides of this idea - for better or for worse. |
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It is like saying, railroads don't care about people, railroads are only interested in trains moving fast and reliably.
Or it is like saying, doctors (even under socialism) don't care about people, they only care about getting their salaries.
Smarter people make one step further concluding that fast and reliable trains are beneficial to people, doctors heal sick people, and capitalism generally make people wealthier.
> capitalism is an economic system whose defined goals have nothing to do with people's wellness (they are profit for the owners of capital, and perhaps innovation)"
Adam Smith' first book called "The Wealth of the Nations" not "The Wealth of the Richest People in Power").
I would not go that far to define a "goal" of capitalism. It is just a system of rules and principles, there's no goal in it.
And these rules and principles are profitable for both capital owners (they can grow their capital), and for regular dudes (who can be paid better because market provides them with more opportunities to pick different jobs and higher quality jobs and who can use cheaper good and services).