• SuckMyWang@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    So what’s the difference between capitalism and markets? I would have thought the freer the market the more capitalistic it was, not so much that there’s a separation of the two.

    • Cowbee
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      11 months ago

      Ownership of Capital. Capitalism has markets, but not all market systems are Capitalist.

      Market Socialism, for example, has competing worker-owned entities like Co-operatives in a market system, with no Capitalists.

      Capitalism is a relatively new phenomena in the grand scheme of things.

      • SuckMyWang@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Can a cooperative compete in a capitalist market? As in shouldn’t the better system win out in a free market?

        • Cowbee
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          11 months ago
          1. Kind of. The market can have Capitalist entities and Socialist entities, but the market itself isn’t Capitalist.

          2. Not necessarily. Co-operatives are more difficult to start in a predominantly Capitalist system, and Capitalist entities usually can exploit their workers more in order to gain temporary competitive advantage. I don’t believe this is sufficient reasoning to value Capitalism over Socialist entities.

          I’m not a Market Socialist, for clarification, as I do think there are issues. However, Capitalism isn’t markets.