• Platomus@lemm.ee
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    11 months ago

    Capitalism is an economic system with as little government intervention possible.

    Doesn’t the bolded part make it a political system then?

    • EhList@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      No it does not because it does not dictate what kind of government should regulate or to what degree.

      • Platomus@lemm.ee
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        11 months ago

        Lobbiest that work for companies do that constantly because of Capitalism. It’s an entire field of work.

        • EhList@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Lobbyists exist because of freedom of assembly and freedom of speech laws. The strongest lobby in the USA without question is the AARP because their voter list is the most likely group of voters and they are nowhere near the largest donors. Anyone talking about lobbying in the context of capitalism is unfamiliar with either concept in any level.

          For pete’s sake most capitalist nations do not have lobbying.

          Capitalism is not a political system. You can have monarchal capitalist systems, fascist capitalist systems, oligarchic authoritarian capitalist systems, heck plutocratic democratic republics like the USA can be capitalist. Socialism is both political and economic but not all ideologies are both.

          • markr@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            most socialist systems participated in the capitalist economic system. The USSR, for example, attempted to create the capitalist mode of production that was almost entirely lacking when the revolution overthrew the czarist regime. They had to, according to their marxist theories, in order to develop a proletariat with a revolutionary consciousness. Similarly China was faced with an economic system that was the shambles left over from the long degeneration and colonial exploitation of the ancient regime, and proceeded to attempt to build a modern capitalist economy under the control of the party, as the USSR was doing. In both the USSR (except for the brief period of the NEP) and the initial attempt during Mao’s lifetime, the market exchange was not used to set prices or drive production and planning, but instead top down ‘5 year plans’ were used. They didn’t work well, why is a complicated discussion, they actually might work a lot better now using the vast compute, information and communication tech available. The USSR under Gorbachev attempted to reform both their political and economic systems and collapsed. China looked at that and reformed their economic system, allowing much of the economy to be market based rather than planned, while keeping political control under the party. Their reform has been spectacularly successful in modernizing their economy, so successful that the USA at this point is determined to sabotage their system and, if necessary, destroy them militarily rather than allow them to dominate the global system.

            • EhList@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              There’s no reason to suspect we have become good enough at prestidigitation to make a strictly controlled and planned economy a logical choice. It might be less of a mistake than in the past but that dies not mean it is a good idea.

              • markr@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                Information about economic activity and external events are routinely input into sophisticated economic modeling systems and analyzed accurately for their effects within seconds. To a certain extent, more and more so as this monopolistic era unfolds, we have top down central planning, just the kind neoliberals like.

          • Platomus@lemm.ee
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            11 months ago

            None of that changes that the capitalist system and capitalism have a direct impact on other areas of government.

            • EhList@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              Yes but that us still different than being a political system or philosophy as there are no specific recommendations or directives that stem from capitalism.

              • Platomus@lemm.ee
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                11 months ago

                But there are.

                That’s what I listed in my comment above. That was the point I was trying to make.

    • uberkalden@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I’d say no. It doesn’t really describe how a political system works other than commenting on the regulation part.

      • Platomus@lemm.ee
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        11 months ago

        Same as any other economic political system.

        You’re just describing a political system.

          • Platomus@lemm.ee
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            11 months ago

            What do you mean by one policy?

            Capitalism influences many areas of government directly.

            It’s not just economics. It’s foreign policy, company regulations, individual protections, land ownership rights, etc. It’s an ongoing list. Even cultural rights are directly impacted by Capitalism.

            It is one policy of a larger system.

            Right, it’s an economic system that directly influences many parts of government.