Capitalism Was Always Destined To Be A Stepping Stone.

Only the fools think progression can stop.

Economic systems define our cultures and we’re stuck on a stepping stone called capitalism. We could have it all, but we have to be open to change. How did we even get here?

Where it started

Eons ago, economic systems were characterized by primitive communism, where hunter-gatherer communities shared resources without private ownership or class distinctions.

As civilizations grew, societies moved to slave-based economies, notably in Ancient Greece and Rome, where production relied heavily on slave labor.

As these empires declined, feudalism emerged, particularly in Europe, with a focus on land ownership. Lords, vassals, and peasants (serfs) worked for protection and food. It was very hierarchical.

By the late medieval period, mercantilism began to dominate, especially from the 16th to the 18th centuries. European states controlled their economies tightly, accumulating wealth through the hoarding of gold and silver and establishing colonies for trade advantages.

The transition to capitalism was spurred by a series of transformative events. England’s Enclosure Movement privatized common lands, paving the way for agricultural advancements and the displacement of many peasants. This was further compounded by the Industrial Revolution, which introduced machinery and shifted economies from agrarian to industrial. The resultant urbanization saw former peasants flocking to cities for work, leading to the rise of a wage-labor class. With the simultaneous emergence of modern banking and financial systems, capitalism, characterized by private ownership, profit motives, and market-based economies, became the predominant economic system by the 19th century.

Interestingly, this established historical path showed itself again in America, albeit passing through each stage more quickly until much of the world settled on capitalism as the defining economic system after WW2.

How It’s Helped

Capitalism allowed for a freedom never experienced before. Individuals could take an idea and create companies, products, and wealth from practically nothing.

This desire for freedom and control led to remarkable innovation and the marketed belief that good came from economic progress.

Even my writing of this article to “convince” you the reader is arguably a byproduct of my upbringing in America.

We’ve been trained to sell and while there’s nothing inherently wrong with this, it creates an assumption that everyone needs something.

Who can argue with benefits like electricity and the internet, but this pervasive idea that these technologies would have never existed without competition and the drive to make money seems misguided at best.

Capitalism’s best argument is that it creates motivation and purpose. Working toward something bigger and better must be the point.

But, there’s a dark side to capitalism and it comes in the form of planned obsolescence. If the measuring stick of capitalism is income, then solving a problem… permanently, is by design, a bad thing.

One the best, modern, examples of this is the The Great Lightbulb Conspiracy. It was 1924 and a lightbulb cartel formulated a plan to make a lightbulb last 1000 hours and no more. Historically they could last much longer — ever heard of the Centennial light that’s been burning for 120 years (still going). If so, you start to realize products aren’t meant to last. This same design (flaw/feature) exists in many facets of life.

Examples include iPhone being programmed to fail, or pharmaceutical companies reporting in their quarterly meetings that it’s not wise to search for cures such as for cancer.

I have even experienced very personal examples where I go searching for a physical therapist and a dozen want me to visit weekly for months. In this case, the only reason I’d even know this wasn’t necessary was because I found a good PT who helped me in a single session and allows me to visit once or twice a year when needed — imagine that.

Somehow, in our current world, the PT, or therapist, or company that creates an actual solution does not make money. They have no ability to thrive (actually), and their measuring stick of success falls short.

It’s weird and short sighted.

Which leaves us stuck, perpetually on the cusp of the next economic system but unclear on what that might be.

Some seem determined to start the cycle over again with talk of communism or socialism, but that does seem to have flaws, or at least based on human history and the inclination for people to turn corrupt.

Others, generally those who have benefitted from the current system, seem loathe to consider an alternative. You can’t really blame them, but their resistance to think forward or of the larger population leaves something to be desired.

Enter AI.

It’s all the rage. Seen through the lens of a company, it’s like Superman. Turn mediocre developers into savants. Digitize support tasks without having to pay people. No complaints, 24/7 hours, what else could one want?

Except that the vast majority of companies will become obsolete. AI is too big and the wheel is already turning. The senile politicians don’t realize it yet because the corporate executives don’t yet. They’re still thinking in Middle Ages speed. They’re installing chat bots and focusing on business as usual. They don’t realize what’s coming.

I’ve been building a new startup recently. It has to do with running. AI has allowed me to build it in weeks rather than years, or more likely not at all. And, this is round 1 public AI. ChatGPT was only released in Jan.

The public likely won’t get much deeper of an option before the attempts to control it arrives. But all the while enterprise AI or black market AI will just keep chugging along taking over more and more.

And really this would be awesome but we’ve stupidly put everyone’s hopes and dreams and self-confidence and self-worth into this basket of money = value.

AI is going to destroy that way of thinking. We’re about to become gods of creation and everyone will be too busy freaking out about money to notice. Just consider a graphic designer right now. With generative art AI they have likely seen their income plummet or it will soon. They’re artists and they should be amazed by the tools available now. The ideas that could come to be. But, I know they’re really just freaking out and trying to cling to this rocketship with some inkling of a hope that they’ll find a revenue source somewhere. Maybe in prompting, geez.

AI will have to be awesome. Because if it isn’t awesome, then everything will be gone.

The next economic system is the one where we either figure it out, we figure it all out, or we implode ourselves.

Knowing how stubborn the average human can be, I imagine this process will take some time. Who knows, maybe the nukes will launch, and we’ll try another cycle of small communities, then slavery, then… you get the idea. At some point though, we’re going to have to come up with the next level of economic system. And while I really question it, I assume it will lack competition, involve technology, and make people realize that what they call boredom, is actually peace.

Just do me a favor and be open to change.

— Benedict

. — The need for a system that aligns financial incentives with genuine, lasting solutions.

. — The promise of AI as a tool to push society towards this new paradigm.

This outline provides a structure to delve into the complexities of capitalism’s role in societal progress, its inherent challenges, and the transformative potential of AI.