I dislike a Marxian analysis that pits "haves" against "have nots" -- entrenched elites with every incentive to maintain the status quo (because it made them rich in the first place) against the crowds, masses (traditionally "labor") who've been exploited. How exploited? lack of information? laziness? poverty? mesmerization by algorithms? lack of political proletarian power? I almost don't care. It's not that I fail to see the dynamics afoot. It's more my Arendtian hope. Every human can begin something new.
This new tension between socialism and capitalism I find very interesting in the context of the New Leviathans. To me, this flirtation with socialism has arisen due to a lack of faith in the power of individuals - and in aggregate, the power of demand - to alter markets under "free market" capitalism.
Not wholly without justification on two levels: 1) the willingness and ability of individuals to alter their behavior in order to shift demand patterns (due to lack of information, laziness, poverty), and 2) the entrenched politicians, political financiers and lobbyists who have well established interests in maintaining the status quo (looking at you, fossil fuel companies and industrial agriculture lobbies). It's important to recognize the difference because the former represents a lack of faith in capitalism itself. It abandons the idea that individuals are capable of seeking or perhaps even understanding their own utility. The latter merely objects to the fact that capitalism is no longer a 'free market' and instead is hemmed in by subsidies and regulation that prevents significant shifts in the market. In essence, one is a fundamental rejection of capitalism and the other is a complaint that we are not capitalistic enough.
I dislike a Marxian analysis that pits "haves" against "have nots" -- entrenched elites with every incentive to maintain the status quo (because it made them rich in the first place) against the crowds, masses (traditionally "labor") who've been exploited. How exploited? lack of information? laziness? poverty? mesmerization by algorithms? lack of political proletarian power? I almost don't care. It's not that I fail to see the dynamics afoot. It's more my Arendtian hope. Every human can begin something new.
This new tension between socialism and capitalism I find very interesting in the context of the New Leviathans. To me, this flirtation with socialism has arisen due to a lack of faith in the power of individuals - and in aggregate, the power of demand - to alter markets under "free market" capitalism.
Not wholly without justification on two levels: 1) the willingness and ability of individuals to alter their behavior in order to shift demand patterns (due to lack of information, laziness, poverty), and 2) the entrenched politicians, political financiers and lobbyists who have well established interests in maintaining the status quo (looking at you, fossil fuel companies and industrial agriculture lobbies). It's important to recognize the difference because the former represents a lack of faith in capitalism itself. It abandons the idea that individuals are capable of seeking or perhaps even understanding their own utility. The latter merely objects to the fact that capitalism is no longer a 'free market' and instead is hemmed in by subsidies and regulation that prevents significant shifts in the market. In essence, one is a fundamental rejection of capitalism and the other is a complaint that we are not capitalistic enough.