Promoting World Peace ⊣ "Capitalism 2.0" | I’m No Expert Isn't it time we all got along? Promoting World Peace, Capitalism 2.0, Social Enterprise, co-operation, optimism, forgiveness and an eye to our collective future
Introducing Capitalism 2.0 – the next evolution of the capitalist economic model.
Capitalism 1.0 describes our current economic model. The first version of Capitalism which focuses on a profit-above-all mindset. The people, the planet, the eco-system, friends, family, plants and animals are all less important than maximizing profits. It’s a narrow-minded idea that, as we are seeing, is eating its on tail.
Introducing Capitalism 2.0
Put simply, Capitalism 2.0 recognizes that profit-above-all, unlimited growth, and interest-bearing debt are creating a toxic situation in which nothing can survive – not even the wealthy. We are already witnessing the inevitable breakdown of the Capitalist 1.0 model which has no choice but to consume itself or evolve.
Globalization, mechanization and a shift to virtual markets have radically altered the very foundations of the existing economic model. We have lowered the costs of production to levels that have thinned margins to the point of preventing profitability. Increasing profit now means cutting costs like employee benefits, safety standards, training or quality assurance. Short term gains for long term risks and corporate-destruction.
While we’re introducing Capitalism 2.0 here, the shift has already begun. The Social Enterprise movement, the adoption of co-operatives and blended corporate models, and a merger of capitalist efficiencies with socialist values are all on the rise.
In this section we will highlight existing examples of this new model, discuss how this new model will repair many of the problems we face today, and explore some views in to our shared future and what it might hold.
This seems more like a transition to socialism than updated capitalism because please correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the whole point of capitalism to focus primary on profits?
Hi Daniel. Thanks for visiting and commenting.
I’m not a fan of “-isms”. Who says Socialism, Capitalism and Communism are all so mutually exclusive? Each have merits – socialism’s being that it treats people fairly and with higher regard than our created entities like corporations. Don’t you think we could do with a dash of that in our western world? You /could/ say Capitalism 2.0 is “Capitalism 1.0 with a sprinkling of Socialist thinking” if you want, but, again, I avoid the ‘-isms because they have been warped and manipulated to divide us into over-simplified ideologies. We need to unite, not further divide.
Nowhere in the definition of Capitalism does it say Profit has to be the /primary/ focus. Profit IS a focus and, right or wrong, profit (personal reward) have proven to be a very effective motivator – so I’m not saying we get rid of it. This IS still Capitalism. Profit MUST remain a motivator and therefore a priority – I’m simply saying we drop it down a few pegs.
Non-profits (traditionally) don’t consider profit a priority at all, and as a consequence many suffer from being non-sustainable and always requiring (and expecting) donations and hand-outs. The Social Enterprise movement is works to merge non-profit mission with for-profit efficiencies – I’m a big fan.
We need /sustainable/, scalable corporations who see that profit-focused methodologies are short-sighted (at best). Our society is coming apart because we we make products from finite resources, but make rewards (profit) from infinite resources (our /made-up/ economy, now that the gold-standard is gone). This can’t continue. If you are in the top 0.1% today’s model works great, but for 99.9% of people on our planet, we’re seeing the weaknesses.
I’ll be writing more on this topic, so please feel free to ask more questions, or give me feedback. It’s going to take all of us to bring about any kind of long-term change, especially from the younger generations who have the energy and new ideas we need to move forward.
Thanks Daniel!