this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2023
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I think one of the main problems with Smith's conception of capitalism is that he didn't account for how huge and pervasive and intrusive advertising would become. He naively assumed that the best product would dominate the market when actually people will buy whatever is thrust in front of the their eyes a thousand times a day.
And of course corporate lobbying wasn't such an issue in his time.
We have term limits for governments but not for corporations
Their ability to last indefinitely allows them more control than anyone thought possible
And no matter what system you choose; they will act in self interest that will allow them to expand/erode the system to benefit themselves
No, the problem with Smith's capitalism is that he's constantly misrepresented
He was descriptive, not prescriptive. He was not an advocate of capitalism, he was explaining it - and if you read the wealth of nations and your takeaway was "Lassie Faire capitalism is a good idea", reread it
I appreciate your critique but I've got to be honest and say that I'm not going to spend any more time in my life trying to justify late stage capitalism. It will eventually be replaced and pass into history like every other economic system, if it doesn't kill us first. 💣
My point is that Adam Smith wasn't really an advocate of capitalism, he explained it and made a strong case for the necessity of regulation