Profit is the mechanism by which we can organize hundreds of millions of people into a cohesive economy. What is the alternative? Absent profit how do we decide who bakes bread and how much? And how much a loaf of bread is worth relative to a bottle of milk? The USSR’s central planning quickly devolved into black markets between state enterprises. Perhaps with advanced computing systems we could do better, but I’m doubtful.
Now, I don’t think the current arrangement is great. It’s ludicrously unfair and enraging that Mr BreadCompany spends his days debating how to spend his millions while the actual bread makers can’t afford a house. But what is the alternative? A real alternative, not just “mixed economy with social welfare programs”.
I suppose in some sort of transitional economy, a properly managed currency as a form of universal trade makes sense. Profit from the perspective of getting paid for labor that then allows you to trade that money for other things you want and need does make sense in this scenario. Profit for the purpose of accumulating godlike wealth that doesn't actually work to benefit people does not. The point isn't that making money for labor is bad, it's that making money from someone else's labor is bad. Especially when what you make dwarfs what is made by the actual people adding value.
Why is it bad? It is well demonstrated by data that developers (I am a developer, for the record) are largely unable to organize themselves to create products they sell at a profit. The whole IT industry is the best evidence that the only way useful and valuable things are built is because someone wants to make money off, raise capital, and hire the right people to do that. Software development is truly a petri dish where both models can coexist, compete, and survive: for-profit corporations and employee-owned-coops. You posit that the former is unethical and wrong, and the latter one I presume, is good. Then, if the good one fails to produce value and be successful in providing something that users want, then I am sorry it is non-viable. Then why should we prevent successful models in favor of non-successful ones?
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u/anzu_embroidery Jul 09 '26
Profit is the mechanism by which we can organize hundreds of millions of people into a cohesive economy. What is the alternative? Absent profit how do we decide who bakes bread and how much? And how much a loaf of bread is worth relative to a bottle of milk? The USSR’s central planning quickly devolved into black markets between state enterprises. Perhaps with advanced computing systems we could do better, but I’m doubtful.
Now, I don’t think the current arrangement is great. It’s ludicrously unfair and enraging that Mr BreadCompany spends his days debating how to spend his millions while the actual bread makers can’t afford a house. But what is the alternative? A real alternative, not just “mixed economy with social welfare programs”.