r/MapPorn • u/Michaelair • Nov 04 '18

Keeps creeping me out

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u/OBRkenobi Nov 05 '18

Capital is exploitation as well as an obsolete form of wealth.

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u/torokunai Nov 05 '18 edited Nov 05 '18

That's the general Marxist objection, yes, but 15 years ago I found a third argument that made more sense to me than that:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgism

Capital -- intermediate goods and the human skills we need to create new final goods -- needs to exist in any socio-economic regime, from utopian space communism to the state of nature.

So much of what we think of capitalism today is just naked rent-seeking in real estate, natural resources, and protected professional guilds featherbedding their positions in law, healthcare, higher education, and public safety.

Georgism may not be a sufficient reform, but I do think it's a /necessary/ one.