this post was submitted on 05 Apr 2024
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I think they're referring to a common growth projection strategy used in modern capitalism which is basically whatever number we made last year + X% is our goals for this year and if we don't make that growth then it's considered a failure and now we have to lay people off.
No capitalist is ever okay with doing just as well as last year, or recognizing that last year was an extraordinary circumstance that gave us blockbuster sales and it isn't necessarily repeatable.
It may not be the textbook definition, but it's definitely a trait of modern capitalists.
The closed, finite system we are referring to is of course Earth. Capitalism requires expansion, but what do you do when you cannot expand further?
This isn't capitalism.
Traits of particular capitalists are not what constitutes capitalism.
If it isn't capitalism then I would argue it's a direct consequence of the incentives it sets up. When a venture is primarily owned by investors whose only interest in it is a return on investment, sooner rather than later, it sort of sets up exactly what I described does it not?
Maybe the words I should have used were "unfettered capitalism"?
No it doesn't.