[jampekka]

> Of course, there's no reason that capitalism must to work this way

There kinda is. Capital is allocated to where it makes most profits, and most profits go to companies maximizing shareholder value. In aggregate this makes the profit maximizing companies more likely to survive.

Sure this can be perhaps mitigated by e.g. legislating other duties to companies, but I'd say it's very hard even in theory, let alone in practice, to have capitalism without lopsided profit maximization.

[sgc]

> Capital is allocated to where it makes most profits

We have worked ourselves into this frenzy over the past several hundred years, but especially over the past 25. We even describe it like you did, as an axiom or a law. But human action is people doing things, and modern economics masks unbridled greed as rules of 'science'.

It is enough to make a good living doing something worthwhile. There is no need to constantly seek highest returns. Nobility in action is possible. Capital does nothing, people do things with capital. Better choices are possible. All is not lost.

And of course, roughly 30% of all modern work-related activity is government. That part of our societal activity should be focused on creating guide rails to make sure that people do not pursue modern economic theory in the real world, but actually work to do good things.

[realo]

So... Capitalism is bad for the people , communism is bad for the people.

What _is_ good for the people? Canada?

[deeThrow94]

Man, more people should read Schumpeter. Capitalism is really good for rapid growth. The second the profit motive negatively affects the quality of the product or efficiency of its production a company should be nationalized to prevent the profit motive from destroying part of our economy (the actually-useful part, that is, not investors or shareholders or dividends).

[Juliate]

But rapid growth is not necessarily _good_. Cancer is rapid growth.

[Rzor]

That's exactly the point of his follow-up.

[Juliate]

My point is that capitalism, as a system, has to adapt to survive, either its own demise through rapid/unlimited growth (like cancer), either through its replacement by something else (public service or some other structure).

[lud_lite]

Technology ironically. The stuff Peter talks about where Y=0. The covid vaccine inventors for example.

Other Y=0 things are people giving their lives for the greater good and basic rights. Geneva convention. Rights for black people, rights for women.

Infact the world runs on Y=0 stuff.