Hitchen's Razor On Capitalism
"What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence". This is Christopher Hitchen's answer to religious claims that are usually based on faith. In his book "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything", he uses this dictum to make a case against organized religion.
source: YouTube
Hitchen's Razor is a variation on Occam's razor, a principle tha says that, when confronted with different possible solutions to a problem, the one that has the fewest assumptions is usually correct; simpler solutions are more likely to be correct than complex ones. The general understanding of capitalism breaks down when held to these standards, as it makes claims that simply don't conform to evidence or common sense even. For that matter, we could hold capitalism against the light of the Sagan standard: "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." Hitchen's Razor however has the added advantage that it applies to non-extraordinary claims as well.
If we apply Hitchen's razor to capitalism, the whole ideology might as well be cast aside without a second thought; almost all of it's most popular claims are simply asserted without evidence, often with overwhelming evidence of the contrary even. What most people believe to be true about capitalism often isn't true at all and often the opposite is true. Let's for example take the notion that competition is the default mode of the free market. Apple, Samsung, Nokia and Huawei are competing against each other, which drives them to produce better smartphones, all the while competing for market-share which compels them to keep prices as low as possible; the consumer, we all win. This is one of those famous "win-win scenarios" we like to rave about.
Only problem is, that it's all based on the assertions that capitalism runs on competition and furthermore, that competition brings progress in quality and value. What is the goal of competition? Is it to leave us with an X number of producers with equal shares of the market, so we have the much revered (overvalued) freedom of choice? Or is it simply to win? We all know it's the latter and one of them will eventually win, just like Jeff Bezos is now winning on so many levels, just like Steam is winning exclusivity among the "PC gamer Master Race", and online social media platforms are pulling every algorithmic trick from the book to herd us into their stables. This "mechanism of maximizing value and choice" has reduced the number of owners of America's mainstream media platforms to six:
"In modern America, it feels like you have an unlimited variety of entertainment and media options right at your fingertips.
Television, film, and video game companies seem to come out of the woodwork in today's startup-centric economy. Who knows what they'll do next?
But while it may seem like you have limitless options, most of the media you consume is owned by one of six companies."
source: WebFX
Image by Dion Hinchcliffe - source: Flickr
We so often hear the simple claim that "capitalism works"... Does it? It works splendidly for 0.1 percent of the world's population, sure. It might work reasonably well for another 20 to 25 percent down the ladder also, but for the rest of us it's not doing so great. Most of us work hard all our lifes with nothing to show for at the end of it. This claim can be cast aside rather easily, yet it's what most of us accept to be the truth. Or what about "the customer is king"? Do you really believe that to be the case when talking to Apple's customer service desk? I work at a service desk, and for me, yes, for me my customers are king, for my boss however, they're cattle to be herded and milked to the last drop; the sales-target has invaded my space at the technical help-desk too...
The basic image of capitalism is that of the little startup entrepreneur, who comes up with a great idea that benefits the society at large, and his profits are the rightful reward for that added value; it's the baker that feeds the community by serving his selfish need for profits. And by competing with other bakers we get the best value for our money. This is only the first half of capitalism's story though. If that baker's content to earn enough money to feed his family, he'll soon be an ex-baker. If he doesn't enter the arena of baker-competition with an absolute winner-mentality, he'll soon be out of business, as he'll be out-competed by his adversaries; the goal here is to win. If we let this process play out, eventually we'll be left with one baker for the entire city. And if we give it some more time, we get McDonald's, with a restaurant in every city on the planet.
The middle class is NOT a product of capitalism but a product of the fight against capitalism's biggest flaw; it's tendency to develop into a plutocracy. In fact, the decline of the middle class is a sign that we're losing this fight. If you're a lowly employee like me, remember that your boss is not your friend (generally speaking); you both have opposing interests. If you swear by some brand, remember, that brand is not your friend and its only goal is to manipulate you into further loyalty; in this relationship you are the product instead of the brand.
If someone makes a claim about our worldwide economic infrastructure, please apply Hitchen's razor to it: if it's asserted without evidence, than dismiss it without evidence, and don't just accept it without evidence because then it's nothing more than faith.
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