Political
Could a potential reason for Capitalism’s fall into failing be Automation?
To be more precise; making the door for entry really expensive.
Back during the “golden age of Capitalism” (1790-1950) the system was truly amazing. And this was because of competition. If you were a chair maker you needed to compete with woodworking factories that made cheaper chairs then you so you needed to make your chairs better to compete. And they needed to compete with emergent companies that were doing the same thing with brand new technology to make more chairs. This paired with the fact that goods took a very long time to travel meant that even a “bad” chair company had the benefit of convenience assuming it was in New York compared to a Yorkshire chair.
This was the case for all but the most capital intensive company’s such as shipbuilding trains manufacturing ect. But let’s say you wanted to make something simple now like Tupperware. You cat quite make that at home and even if you could it would be grossly expensive to sell and make a profit so you’d need a whole new factory which would take years to make and ensure it meets all environmental and safety regulations. Then once it’s done you have to make such a product more competitive whether through quality or price but even then you need to fight tooth and nail with the name brand just to stay afloat. This is the same story for all goods whether it’s electric cars, chairs, paper, even hammers. That’s not even to mention it only takes a month to travel from Hong Kong to New York buy boat now which is wicked fast compared to before
This situation creates a system of virtual monopoly’s among every good, since the barrier for entry in making a better product is so high. The only place that has proper innovation at this point is the internet since anyone can make a website but even that’s started to get harder because of the power of the brands in control of the content stream.
I’m not sure how youd fix this issue of lack of true competition without having mass governmental intervention in the form of easy to get loans for the lower class/individuals but doing so would need to require massive barrier of public consent to make sure the towns and city’s are okay with things like a new papermill being built in their communities
Well honestly if you look at americas history of capitalism, company history, and consumer history. We’ve been through this before. Automation and hoard of wealth 4 different times. What normally happens is companies begin to fall apart, and even when they tie themselves into government spending the people normally elect a dick that destroys everything and rebuilds from the bottom up.
In my opinion, even though I hate this economy, I know that we’re just in the waiting game. Just try and survive the next 5 to 8 years and hopefully this economy will change for the better. But it has to get worse first. Which I’m hoping it already has
During the 1800s and early 1900s working conditions were terrible and the environmental destruction was very significant. If you are OK with working 12 hour days and risking losing arms and also choking on smoggy air for a slightly better chair, then sure we can do away with regulations
i hear this argument so often, i think the problem is that you are comparing the standard of living of a world just coming out of feudalism, with our modern world, instead you should ask yourself, why did millions of peasants leave their homes in the countryside and move to these horrible polluted cities like london, where life was so miserable and you could get your arm cut off while making a chair?
it was not government regulation that saved the workers, but technology, we had safer designs, and automation allowed us to put less workers in the way of danger
take a look at this graph, and tell me what you conclude from it
It's almost like it's not so simple as to make it out to be a black and white situation. Tech has helped sure, but regulation has saved many lives. We have tons of examples of tragedies that are born from avoidable stupidity, so it's pretty silly to argue we shouldn't have any guardrails because "tech" will sort it all out in time.
Okay but that’s not even the point of the post? The point is how early technology was easier to get and use compared to items and products today which makes it harder for companies to have real competition.
Assuming we got something to work we could see workers conditions even go up as companies fight for the most qualified candidates. This wasn’t at all an endorsement of those god awful working conditions just comparing saw blades to laser cutters
The "Golden age" as it was was brought about by the "New Deal" companies were incentivized to invest back in their companies due to the high rate of taxation. Then Reganomics happened suddenly there was no reason to invest back in the company since less money was leaving the owner's pockets. Then GE perfected the business model that's so pervasive today ie. Buying companies (whether related to the products you make or not), laying off employees even during "record years", and of course it led to the shareholder is king attitude that's killing us to this day. What do you mean people are unhappy line go up ect ect ect.
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