Isn’t huge profits the definition of success in capitalism? As a capitalist society shouldn’t there be cheers instead of complaining? This part I don’t understand about American culture.
I think Americans were always happy with profit because they got a share, they had jobs, etc. it was good for everyone.
Now they’re learning first hand what happens when it escalates to outright greed and hoarding, and that life gets pretty shitty for the very vast majority when this happens to the basic needs of a decent life (groceries, education, healthcare, safety, roads, transit)
Huge profits mean a lot of value is being captured. That can be because of a large amount of value being created, which is successful capitalism, but it can also mean a lot of rent is being extracted from an existing value stream.
Not saying this is the later case, but when people are critical of large profits they usually are critical of the later, where they believe that the value being created has not really gone up, it’s just being funneled away to rent seekers now.
This is especially true for things that are seen as “essentials” where buying is fairly mandatory and so prices are inelastic, like housing, food and medical care. If these markets become uncompetitive consumers can’t just walk away from rising prices.
So rising profits + the same value being generated point to the market being uncompetitive and are not celebrated in the way rising profits + new value are.
The success of capitalism is to allow basic trade in smaller communities. Once it scales to the anonymity of the large corporation and the specialist of wealth extraction, it becomes malignant.
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other" said John Adams. In other words, the government is not going to impose religion, morals, or values it expects the people to have those on their own.
People who run businesses that extract wealth from the sick, the old, the dying, or people in other situations where they are not really able to make free choices, are vile and a cancer on our society.
grecy|1 year ago
Now they’re learning first hand what happens when it escalates to outright greed and hoarding, and that life gets pretty shitty for the very vast majority when this happens to the basic needs of a decent life (groceries, education, healthcare, safety, roads, transit)
mattnewton|1 year ago
Not saying this is the later case, but when people are critical of large profits they usually are critical of the later, where they believe that the value being created has not really gone up, it’s just being funneled away to rent seekers now.
This is especially true for things that are seen as “essentials” where buying is fairly mandatory and so prices are inelastic, like housing, food and medical care. If these markets become uncompetitive consumers can’t just walk away from rising prices.
So rising profits + the same value being generated point to the market being uncompetitive and are not celebrated in the way rising profits + new value are.
unknown|1 year ago
[deleted]
alan-hn|1 year ago
Its a disconnect powered by propaganda of the definition of "success"
vouaobrasil|1 year ago
SoftTalker|1 year ago
People who run businesses that extract wealth from the sick, the old, the dying, or people in other situations where they are not really able to make free choices, are vile and a cancer on our society.