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How would one support innovation in socialism? (lemmy.blahaj.zone)

submitted 7 months ago by Smorty@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/socialism@lemmy.ml

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I am genuinely interested how such a thing would be done. I understand that it wouldn't be as hard as with communism, but I can't think of any way to encourage companies to make better (genuinely better) products. I remember how my mother told me how in her days (she lived in the DDR) there wasn't really any reason to be better than another company, as they would all be payed equally.

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[–] freagle@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

What are you on about? Do you have any idea how much innovation there is under socialism? Just look at the USSR space program and the USSR medical program. The USSR innovated new medical techniques we still use today.

Cuba produced multiple COVID vaccines in the same timeline the USA did and they're under a 60-year international embargo and sanctions regime! China dominates nearly every single hi tech domain in the world, many domains it has all top 10 universities.

Capitalism innovations are new ways of rent seeking. Most of the innovations people actually want and need don't turn a profit. Think about how many billions of dollars are spent on anti-piracy research and development. Think about how many patents are bought in order to stop them from coming to market. Think about how many small startups are bought and killed to prevent competition.

Innovation thrives under the conditions of liberation. The incentives for innovating are inherent in the problem the innovation solves. There is literally no need for profit systems to incentivize innovation.