• Semjaza@lemmynsfw.com
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    1 day ago

    Why do you think Capitalism has meritocracy as a core component?

    Capitalism is a system where capital needs to be converted into more capital via economic action (reinvestment) rather than just sat upon.

    Capital will always find ways to grow, if there are laws - they will be lobbied against. Or those with main market share will work together to stabilise the market and squash competition.

      • Semjaza@lemmynsfw.com
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        4 hours ago

        Only in its adverts.

        What truly drives capitalism is the need to get more capital to reinvest to get more capital.

        The system doesn’t, can’t, intrinsically care about how it is done.

        It’s also telling that all your “merits” are of the commodity, not humans.

        • Clinicallydepressedpoochie@lemmy.worldOP
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          4 hours ago

          Tell me, how would you measure merit? Could it be linked to the quality of the product or service you produce? Just productivity alone? Is it time you spent working on something?

      • AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        The better product; the greater amount of production; the higher efficiency

        Every economic system claims to be able to deliver those goals.

        But what you’re describing is more a general free-market economy than capitalism proper. The former determines how companies interact with consumers and each other; the later determines how power and profits are distributed within a company.

          • AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world
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            12 hours ago

            I haven’t yet expressed an opinion on capitalism, except to say that the features you’ve mentioned have little to do with it.

            But to answer your original question: capitalism stricto sensu is when the profits and decision-making power in a firm are vested in those who put up the original financial capital. It incentivizes financial risk-taking, which (depending on economic conditions) can be useful or destructive. But the only merits it rewards are the possession of pre-existing wealth, the willingness to take risks with it, and luck. Nepotism and cronyism serve its ends by providing a source of wealth for new capitalists, and an outlet for successful capitalists to convert their gains into social rewards.