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The myth of black capitalism
(lemmy.ml)
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this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2024
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Dunno poverty rates have dropped immensely since the introduction of capitalist systems.
No, most of the world is capitalist, and most of the world is poor. Only a minority of imperialist capitalist countries, primarily in europe and the US, have wealthier populations due to hundreds of years of colonial exploitation.
In fact world poverty is increasing, if we exclude China and it's poverty eradication efforts.
The world was significantly poorer and wealth was much more concentrated before
That's just not true. In the US for example we know wealth was less concentrated in the late 1700's, early 1800's, and then again with the New Deal after the Great Depression. In fact the wealth gap in the US alone is higher now than it's ever been, including during the Gilded Era.
When was pre-capitalism to you?
If you're comparing things to what existed before capitalism was coined, sure. Yeah, we're doing better than literal fudalism, which was still a capital and hierarchy based system. No one is asking for a return to fudalism though! It very easy to say "we're doing better than them so we need not try to improve." It's not helping anyone though, except those who benefit from maintaining the status quo.
Karl Marx praised capitalism as an upgrade from feudalism, and for it's effect on the advancement of technology. It's obvious that capitalism was a step up from feudalism, but that's not the point.
The point is that capitalism eventually evolves to a stage where it is worse for civilization as a whole, than it is beneficial, and we are at that stage now(have been for a long time). We are depleting all of the Earth's resources at a very unsustainable rate, and wealth inequality is back to the point where it was with feudalism, if not worse.
You brought up a good point that no one is asking for a return to past systems. We are looking to evolve to a system that will sustain us as a species, long term. Some people can't understand that Capitalism won't work forever, and it will eventually destroy us. We have had smart people telling us this for hundreds of years now, too.
Doesn't matter when the cost of living is outpacing wages, the poverty line is held artificially low and the wealth gap is growing absurdly fast. Material conditions are getting significantly worse, and telling people "uhm actually the poverty rate is lower" doesn't help people pay rent or put food on the table.
Feudalism is alive and well and it's name is capitalism, and I'm not alluding to some vague comparison I mean it literally. Farmers in the US specifically are increasingly working land they do not own because it's bought up by investors and private equity. Bill Gates owns a fuck ton of farmland but he sure as hell isn't working it.