It’s a subject worth examining. Something I myself have been reading a bit on. There has been a market for perhaps 100 thousand years. Archaeologists are studying that. So can have a market without capitalism
I read Ayn Rands books made a serious effort at understanding her ideas. There was no place for children in her system they were sort of like zoo animals. Because increasing wealth was the only thing that mattered. So is money the goal or human existence and actualization. Are many different philosophies. Positivism and or progress is actually a philosophy. Pragmatism another one.Stoicism another. Individualism. Nietzsche to paraphrase said there is a personal philosophy for anyone who takes it seriously. Otherwise it’s unconscious
Words are not enough that’s the struggle
Capitalism in simplest form is use money to make more money. No morality there beyond don’t lose money. Capitalism was fine with slavery etc.
Max Stirner has an interesting book on individualism the Ego and its Own that pushes you to think about your values and assumptions
You have some good observations here. As an individualist I support everyone developing their own views and pursuing their own interests. The catch is, we all must respect everyone ELSE'S right to do the same. It need only be a problem when people's values get in each other's way. Then, hopefully, adult reasonable rational minds sort it out.
All of the above negates any rationalization of a justification of slavery. Plantation slavery (neither the first nor the only slavery) happened as the Age of Reason developed. The Age of Reason established the right of each individual to self-determination. We take that for granted today BECAUSE of the efforts of the philosophers of the eighteenth century. Before that, all people were the subjects of the aristocracy, with limited individual rights. With that mindset, slavery didn't seem so unusual. The US civil war, in simple terms, represents a violent clash between the aristocratic mindset and the Age of Reason mindset.
As for capitalism, it is not a moral principle, it is an economic device designed to make production as efficient as possible. Ironically, and for reasons I still don't entirely comprehend, plantation slavery was very inefficient, non-capitalistic, while the northern manufacturing systems embraced capitalism but rejected slave labor. There's no reason that the slave south couldn't have been more capitalistic, and no reason the northern manufacturers couldn't have used slave labor. It came down to philosophical differences more than economic differences.
The book A Mercy although fictional describes plantation slavery well. The author won a Nobel prize
The slaves grew their own food. I view it as a form of capitalism as the plantation owner put up the capital slaves and indentured servants did the work
Machines did not exist in 1600s and 1700s to do the work
As Aristotle wrote Civilization requires either machines or slaves
By civilization he meant time to read philosophy books and not do any work
As a descendant of slaves told me slaves became very expensive in America once the shipments of new slaves from aftrica stopped due to restrictions
It’s a subject worth examining. Something I myself have been reading a bit on. There has been a market for perhaps 100 thousand years. Archaeologists are studying that. So can have a market without capitalism
I read Ayn Rands books made a serious effort at understanding her ideas. There was no place for children in her system they were sort of like zoo animals. Because increasing wealth was the only thing that mattered. So is money the goal or human existence and actualization. Are many different philosophies. Positivism and or progress is actually a philosophy. Pragmatism another one.Stoicism another. Individualism. Nietzsche to paraphrase said there is a personal philosophy for anyone who takes it seriously. Otherwise it’s unconscious
Words are not enough that’s the struggle
Capitalism in simplest form is use money to make more money. No morality there beyond don’t lose money. Capitalism was fine with slavery etc.
Max Stirner has an interesting book on individualism the Ego and its Own that pushes you to think about your values and assumptions
You have some good observations here. As an individualist I support everyone developing their own views and pursuing their own interests. The catch is, we all must respect everyone ELSE'S right to do the same. It need only be a problem when people's values get in each other's way. Then, hopefully, adult reasonable rational minds sort it out.
All of the above negates any rationalization of a justification of slavery. Plantation slavery (neither the first nor the only slavery) happened as the Age of Reason developed. The Age of Reason established the right of each individual to self-determination. We take that for granted today BECAUSE of the efforts of the philosophers of the eighteenth century. Before that, all people were the subjects of the aristocracy, with limited individual rights. With that mindset, slavery didn't seem so unusual. The US civil war, in simple terms, represents a violent clash between the aristocratic mindset and the Age of Reason mindset.
As for capitalism, it is not a moral principle, it is an economic device designed to make production as efficient as possible. Ironically, and for reasons I still don't entirely comprehend, plantation slavery was very inefficient, non-capitalistic, while the northern manufacturing systems embraced capitalism but rejected slave labor. There's no reason that the slave south couldn't have been more capitalistic, and no reason the northern manufacturers couldn't have used slave labor. It came down to philosophical differences more than economic differences.
The book A Mercy although fictional describes plantation slavery well. The author won a Nobel prize
The slaves grew their own food. I view it as a form of capitalism as the plantation owner put up the capital slaves and indentured servants did the work
Machines did not exist in 1600s and 1700s to do the work
As Aristotle wrote Civilization requires either machines or slaves
By civilization he meant time to read philosophy books and not do any work
As a descendant of slaves told me slaves became very expensive in America once the shipments of new slaves from aftrica stopped due to restrictions
The most radical individualist I have come across was Max Stirner
He founded individual anarchism
His book the Ego and its Own was published in 1840
Am reading it now about 78 percent of way through lol
Also Max Stirner lived it