“I grudgingly forgive capitalism the misery it causes, because it’s the engine that lifts countries out of poverty.
It’s a precondition for a free and prosperous society; attempts to overthrow it have so consistently led to poverty, tyranny,
or genocide that we no longer believe its proponents’ earnest oaths that this time they’ve got it right.
For right now, there’s no good alternative.”
— Scott Alexander
“I'm waiting for someone to, first, describe a better system than capitalism, and second,
set out a realistic path for getting from here to there.
When that happens, it will be worth thinking harder about the ethical flaws in capitalism.
Until then, […] there is a huge amount we can all do, within the current economic system, to make the world a much better place.”
— Peter Singer
I noticed that I stumble upon “anti-capitalism” surprisingly often in day-to-day life.
I hear or read ideas against capitalism on mass media, on podcasts and on blog posts; by politicians, artists and punters.
Not just criticism of, or suggestions to improve, capitalism — but outright calls to end capitalism.
Sometimes it's implicit in the message, or thinly veiled in some other way.
Think all those platitudes about “creating a new system”, “putting people before profits”, “getting rid of money”, and so on.
But more often than not, it's an explicit, frontal attack on capitalism.
Until 2020, one of the main organisations conforming the political party Podemos in Spain was
Anticapitalistas.
Also in Spain, the manifestos proclaimed by mainstream feminist organisations for the occasion of International Women's Day, year after year,
paint a huge bullseye on the back of the capitalist system
(“…the macabre bond between patriarchy and capitalism that wants us to be obedient, submissive and silent…”).
I have acquaintances who claim to be against capitalism, puzzling as I always found that aspiration.
