Capitalism is Not Life

I completed reading Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari and what a read it has been. It was long but the wisdom I gathered is baffling. I am very sceptical when famous people like Elon Musk and Bill Gates recommend a book but I did read this one and it has been an eye-opener. There is one topic which Harari talks about a lot and that is Capitalism. And in this article, we’ll see how too much of it is ruining our life.

Let’s start with the Merriam-Webster definition of capitalism.

An economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market.

Adam Smith in his 1776 publication of the Wealth of Nations that identified reinvestment as an additional condition of capitalism. He made the following argument:

When a landlord, a weaver or a shoemaker has greater profits than he needs to maintain his own family, he uses the surplus to employ more assistants in order to further increase his profits. The more profits he has, the more assistants he can employ. It follows that an increase in the profits of private entrepreneurs is the basis for the increase in collective wealth and prosperity… Smith’s claim that the selfish urge to increase private profits is the basis for collective wealth is one of the most revolutionary ideas in human history – revolutionary not just from an economic perspective, but even more so from a moral and political perspective. What Smith says is, in fact the greed is good, and that by becoming richer I benefit everybody, not just myself.

A crucial part of the modern capitalist economy was the emergence of a new ethic, according to which profits ought to be reinvested in production. This brings about more profits, which are again reinvested in production, which brings more profits, et cetera ad infinitum.

Let me define it once again based on what I understand.

Capitalism is a promise. A promise of a better future where everyone will have enough. It is this promise that we all invest our surplus today for better return in future.

This is all well and good for the economy(hopefully) but I see people(read myself) around using the same mantra in life. Life is limited, the time we have on this planet is limited and I’m not letting anyone tell me otherwise.

So why would I prioritise something that is not best for me in this brief life but somewhere in a non-deterministic future? I see people slave away their time working, trying to create enough wealth for retirement. I am very confused at this proposition that what kind of wealth is this which is more important than our youth? And what gives us so much confidence about the future we don’t know a thing about? A microns big virus can change the course of our life in a few moments so how can we be so sure about decades down from here.

We are so caught up in capitalism’s hamster wheel that we view everything in the same light. Let our money(or maybe not) be benefitted from the neverending growth but life is too short to gamble away. That’s why prioritise memories, people, family, friends and learning. It is so much important to do things that make us feel alive today, rather then beliving in a promise that we can do it better tomorrow. :)