No. That’s why the caption says “… capitalism must manufacture [scarcity] in order to justify its existence”
If there are enough resources for everyone, then it is difficult to make a profit. So capitalism creates artificial barriers and waste to artificially create scarcity and demand in order to maximise profits. Its most obvious with products that are deliberately designed to wear-out, or break, or degrade over time.
Making long-lasting durable, repairable, and upgradable products is not beyond us - but is harder to make a profit that way. So instead we get stuff that degrades over time.
With food it is more subtle, but what is crystal clear is maximizing profits is the top priority for the invisible hand of capitalism. Keeping everyone well fed may be a desirable side effort, but is not what capitalism is trying to achieve. And that’s why we end up throwing away huge amount of vegetables that aren’t quite the right shape for supermarkets, but at the same time as having people starving.
Yes, and when the cost of a product becomes too high for it’s true value, alternatives are created, which is why you’re probably on lemmy right now.
Right now, made to break profits are marketed to be cheaper, and while they are not, people believe it which is why they are still in high demand.
There is an abundance of supply with many options, this is very different from low supply.
Capitalism is not inherently the problem. It’s the corruption of governments that allow artificial scarcity to exist.
Aren’t you forgetting the whole supply and demand thing…
No. That’s why the caption says “… capitalism must manufacture [scarcity] in order to justify its existence”
If there are enough resources for everyone, then it is difficult to make a profit. So capitalism creates artificial barriers and waste to artificially create scarcity and demand in order to maximise profits. Its most obvious with products that are deliberately designed to wear-out, or break, or degrade over time.
Making long-lasting durable, repairable, and upgradable products is not beyond us - but is harder to make a profit that way. So instead we get stuff that degrades over time.
With food it is more subtle, but what is crystal clear is maximizing profits is the top priority for the invisible hand of capitalism. Keeping everyone well fed may be a desirable side effort, but is not what capitalism is trying to achieve. And that’s why we end up throwing away huge amount of vegetables that aren’t quite the right shape for supermarkets, but at the same time as having people starving.
Yes, and when the cost of a product becomes too high for it’s true value, alternatives are created, which is why you’re probably on lemmy right now. Right now, made to break profits are marketed to be cheaper, and while they are not, people believe it which is why they are still in high demand. There is an abundance of supply with many options, this is very different from low supply.
Capitalism is not inherently the problem. It’s the corruption of governments that allow artificial scarcity to exist.
god you libs would have your paper politics ripped to shreds by basic marx and engels if you didn’t have the power of incredible amounts of ignorance