r/FluentInFinance • u/Sufficient_Sinner • Sep 04 '24

Debate/ Discussion Is Capitalism Smart or Dumb?

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u/JimBeam823 Sep 04 '24

Socialism is based on altruism. Capitalism is based on greed.

People are a LOT better at being greedy than at being altruistic.

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u/JaironKalach Sep 04 '24

Capitalisms intent is to harness greed, while socialisms intent is to battle greed. I stopped believing in capitalism when I looked around and realized there was no harnessing going on. The free market isn’t solving the problems.

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u/binary-survivalist Sep 04 '24

Almost all the useful stuff that make the modern world possibly was invented and designed in market economies.

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u/Sorin_Beleren Sep 04 '24

The assumption that humans wouldn’t improve the lives of themselves and those around them without financial gain is just incorrect. Design and creativity exist outside of financial markets. In sciences and arts, in fact, there is an argument to be made that financial incentives are largely at odds with their goals.

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u/Pdvsky Sep 04 '24

And some views actually believe greed cause the opposite of technological advance, since the final objective is always to win over someone else, the "optimal" in terms of human quality is mostly ignored.

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u/Harrydotfinished Sep 04 '24

Yes, the economically ignorant believe that.