In defence of Capitalism

Let me attempt to come back to first principles. An argument of late is the question of ‘Who should rule over my family and me’. Should it be someone else, and if so, what are the constraints around this? Is it someone whose very might makes them virtually invulnerable? Or is it someone who is held accountable, and can be kicked out of their job? If it is someone who can be kicked out of their job, what are the circumstances behind which they are kicked?

Democracy is a relatively new concept, and yet it has already delivered an entirely radical philosophy - capitalism. Under the rules of capitalism, individuals may control every part of their own lives. Eventually, however, the appendage (with these exceptions) is inevitably added in. Infuriatingly, these exceptions are provided by the very people chosen by the population to preserve their freedom. This, predictably, leads to backlash. Eventually, the structure might just prove unstable. The collapse of Capitalism can potentially lead to the collapse of Democracy.

It is in the nature of things that complex structural creations eventually collapse. The questions are, (i) how long does capitalism have? (ii) How long should it have?

It is undeniable that it has led to unprecedented levels of human progress. We are currently at a place in time where no humans have ever been further from their birth home (except for the time we went to the moon around 50 years ago). Capitalism has unlocked technology to the point where we live lives of unprecedented luxury.

Capitalism has changed the climate - this is a fermi filter level output. This might lead to cataclysmic diversity loss, which will lead to catastrophic biosphere loss, which could cause mass starvation and famine. Billions might die.

Capitalism has delivered us an artificially intelligent being that promises to save us from potential extinction. This too, is a fermi filter level output. Are we architecting our own doom?

Capitalism has delivered us space travel, and the ability to colonize other asteroids and planets, in our relentless quest for more and more wealth. This, apparently by design, is a convenient way out of the fermi filter level messes we find ourselves in. We harness the power of AI to colonize the stars, rather than to turn on each other. As we ease the burden on our homeworld, we heal it to the point where it is a beautiful monument to our rather humble beginnings. Our heart. Our memory.

In my opinion, the answers to the question I began with are (i) not that long, and (ii) that it should have all the time in the universe.