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Better and more qualified folk than I have talked about capitalism. But I've been reading a lot of good fantasy lately, with working economies in, and reading some about medieval and early modern economies, and I've been down home and seen again the economy that actually runs there, among family and old-fashioned people.
What I want to talk about - and this is more thinking out loud than any kind of finished writing, comments and contradictions appreciated - is Quality and Quantity, two places where I feel capitalism falls down, albeit in opposite directions.
First, Quality. There isn't enough of it, and it's down to the bottom line. If your aim is to make money - and that's the aim that capitalism fosters - then you will not succeed by producing quality products. You may get there by providing a quality service, but I doubt that; look at budget airlines for a strong counterexample.
My father is a craftsman. He's a Master Craftsman, in a sense that few enough people reading this will understand, but let me just say that he's really really really good at what he does. I'm good at what I do, and by contrast with my father, I'm a hack. He produces quality products. In school, I was once asked "Your father manufactures furniture, doesn't he?", and even then, I could say, no, he makes furniture.
By the reasoning of capitalism as it's taught to us - hard work makes you rich, good work makes you richer - my father should be very very rich. He's not. He's not, because he cares much more about his work than he does about the money, much more about the quality than the number at the end.
There's Quality there, and success a-plenty, but there's not much money. By all standards of capitalism, my father is a failure. By any other standard - respect, reputation, skill, experience - he is a very definite success. There's something wrong with a system that says he's a failure.
Second, Quantity. Rich people become richer, under capitalism, such that it's very hard not to become richer once you're rich. There are people in this world who have, in their own personal fortunes, more than a billion euros. Bill Gates has approximately $48 billion dollars. To bring that into focus, if he were to divide his personal fortune among the population of Ireland, everyone would get $12,000. He can't use all that money. He can't ever use all that money. But because he has it, more keeps accumulating. That, too makes no sense - it's a waste, under any sane way of thinking.
But under capitalism, Gates is a winner, and not just A Winner, he's THE winner.
I think if you check, you'll find my father does better work, though.
What I want to talk about - and this is more thinking out loud than any kind of finished writing, comments and contradictions appreciated - is Quality and Quantity, two places where I feel capitalism falls down, albeit in opposite directions.
First, Quality. There isn't enough of it, and it's down to the bottom line. If your aim is to make money - and that's the aim that capitalism fosters - then you will not succeed by producing quality products. You may get there by providing a quality service, but I doubt that; look at budget airlines for a strong counterexample.
My father is a craftsman. He's a Master Craftsman, in a sense that few enough people reading this will understand, but let me just say that he's really really really good at what he does. I'm good at what I do, and by contrast with my father, I'm a hack. He produces quality products. In school, I was once asked "Your father manufactures furniture, doesn't he?", and even then, I could say, no, he makes furniture.
By the reasoning of capitalism as it's taught to us - hard work makes you rich, good work makes you richer - my father should be very very rich. He's not. He's not, because he cares much more about his work than he does about the money, much more about the quality than the number at the end.
There's Quality there, and success a-plenty, but there's not much money. By all standards of capitalism, my father is a failure. By any other standard - respect, reputation, skill, experience - he is a very definite success. There's something wrong with a system that says he's a failure.
Second, Quantity. Rich people become richer, under capitalism, such that it's very hard not to become richer once you're rich. There are people in this world who have, in their own personal fortunes, more than a billion euros. Bill Gates has approximately $48 billion dollars. To bring that into focus, if he were to divide his personal fortune among the population of Ireland, everyone would get $12,000. He can't use all that money. He can't ever use all that money. But because he has it, more keeps accumulating. That, too makes no sense - it's a waste, under any sane way of thinking.
But under capitalism, Gates is a winner, and not just A Winner, he's THE winner.
I think if you check, you'll find my father does better work, though.
From: (Anonymous)
no subject
But only in my darker moments.
Capitalism doesn’t have anything to say about hard work. You’re mixing it up with a protestant work ethic. It’s about private ownership, free association and reinvestment of profits. It underpins modern democracies. It is the engine that keeps us free.
It has wrought many changes on quality and quantity. The quality of life has improved unrecognisably in the last 100 years. This has been down to private enterprise. Ever do a family tree? Check how many children were dead before 3 80 or 90 years ago. It doesn’t happen on that scale anymore. Drugs, hospitals, electricity, communications, all have played a part in that.
In products and services capitalism delivers an almost bewildering array to us on a scale unthinkable even 30 years ago. Much of it maybe useless or unnecessary or destroy the quiet contemplation of life, but its our choice.
I was brought up in the village of Rathgar. I still remember the deserted house no one could sell. And the expectation that I would have to move abroad to earn a living. I didn't understand why things were like that. Joe Lee's book Ireland 1922-85 helped me. The world around me was run by a select few who gouged every one around them for as much as they could. It was a private club that only professionals could join.
Now, Rathgar is now one of the richest areas of the city, like Ranelagh. And I get to see the corrupt few named in Stubs gazette every quarter (Tax defaulters register).
As for Bill Gates, he has figured out a way to spend all of it. Bring universal health care to those earning under a dollar a day. He won’t be able to afford that, but it’s a start.
Please also note that in the 1930's the Rockfellers could pay for all the American Governments spent for 4 to 6 months. At his best Bill Gates could pay for 2 weeks of the American current account (Day to Day spending, no assets). The super rich are getting poorer.
Capitalism is the best system because we a re all involved in it. It is has been around since the Romans and evolving since them. It communicates what is needed, where and when and then does its best to get it there. I prefer this world to the previous generations.
JOG