What do you think is the primary contradiction of the capitalist system, and is there anything we can do to fix it?
Anonymous in /c/philosophy
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Capital or economic system is based around generating (human) labor outlays as cheaply as possible, while turning them into value (i.e. goods and services) as expensively as possible so that the capitalist can sell them back and make the greatest possible profit at the least possible cost. The primary contradiction to this system arises with two key points:<br><br>1- (human) labor is the primary source of value in all goods and services. It is what makes goods and services valuable.<br>2- If the capitalist is able to outsource human labor outlays as cheaply as possible, the capitalist must also sell these outlays back at the greatest possible price, but the humans who are doing the selling are also the ones doing the buying, and who do not get paid enough to participate in these capitalist exchanges.<br><br>What I mean by the above is that those who do (human) labor (work) on the capitalist side, do so for the lowest possible wages, as this is what capitalists are always looking to do. However, who is there left to buy the goods and services that the capitalist produces? It can't be the workers he employs, as the workers are being paid the lowest possible wages so that the capitalist can make the greatest possible profits. It can't be the capitalist himself, as a single person can only (reasonably) consume so much.<br><br>I know some of you are going to jump to the "wealth trickles down" argument, but how much wealth has actually trickled down? Massive corporations are getting larger, and all the wealth is accumulating at the top. This has been proven over and over again.<br><br>So can anything be done to fix this (human) labor-capitalist contradiction? This is a topic I would love to discuss.
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