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Politics

Anti-Capitalism... what does it mean?

101 replies

CogitoErgoSometimes · 27/10/2011 12:51

It can't be just me that keeps seeing 'anti-capitalism' referenced but doesn't understand what it means in practice. To me, any system that involves individuals buying and selling goods is capitalism so, short of going back to a system of barter and exchange, I'm not sure that's what's being proposed. Is it the socialist model of placing all businesses and utilities in public ownership perhaps ... a sort of Chinese style state-sponsored capitalism rather than no capitalism? If it's the kind of capitalism of international financiers buying and selling money that's the bete noire is the proposal that, to prevent speculation, we deposit our money (assuming we still have money, that is) in a bank and they keep it in a nice box, never touch it and give it back when we ask? The end of loans? Interest? Investments?

So that's the discussion point. Please... no links to great long internet passages by way of explanation. Laymans terms thanks. :)

OP posts:
MrPants · 27/10/2011 15:29

I think you're right first time Cogito. Capitalism is merely the exchanging of goods and services for money.

Money, in turn, is just deferred labour. In other words, if my labour is valued at £10 per hour and I buy something worth £5, I am exchanging half an hour of my labour for whatever it is that I'm buying.

In a capitalist world everything has value. The value is the highest price that anyone is prepared to pay for it. If the cost of producing the item is higher than the value that someone will pay for it, you will go bust.

Any attempt to buck these rules requires various stages of madness, delusion and, in extremis, an uncomfortably large pile of dead bodies - see Communism, Maoism, Fascism etc...

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