tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7069473.post111871725224174297..comments2023-11-03T05:25:26.381-04:00Comments on Water Dissolves Water: Stuffed, Part 3.Shokaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648991160664931861noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7069473.post-21272385513440801032016-01-14T12:07:12.936-05:002016-01-14T12:07:12.936-05:00Shokai, why the cartoon on capitalism? This post i...<br />Shokai, why the cartoon on capitalism? This post is not about capitalism, it is about materialism in both senses, i.e. In the sense that physical comfort is more important than spiritual values, and in the philosophical sense that nothing exists except matter and its movements and modifications (the "self" doesn't exist because it isn't matter) <br /><br />But Shokai, capitalism has nothing to do with any of this or with any position in your essay. Capitalism is an outcome. It is not a system. It is not a social arrangement. It is not a belief. If you own capital, in any of its forms, you are a capitalist. You are a capitalist in the sense that it is the consequence of owning capital. If the marketplace is open and free, if the sole purpose of government is to protect and maintain that openness and freedom, and if the agents and agencies who make up the open marketplace are allowed by the powers that be to keep what they have earned through open and mutual agreement among themselves, then the greatest possible number of the people can 1) engage in those transactions, and 2) become capitalist. <br /><br />In other words, capitalism is the outcome or the consequence of an open, unrestricted marketplace. That the greatest number of people end up becoming capitalist is the outcome. Capitalism is what we call that outcome. It is the word we use to describe the outcome of a free and open marketplace. Contrariwise, serfdom is the consequence of the opposite.<br />Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04089827383965116654noreply@blogger.com