Recently CBC aired an Ideas
episode in which the engaging philosopher Todd Dufresne was being interviewed
about the ideas in his book The Democracy
of Suffering. Part of his thesis, as I understand it, is that capitalism is
leading to the destruction of our world. Capitalism has rendered Earth hostile
to life.
His reasoning runs something like this. Capitalism requires
continuing growth and expansion. The expansion thus induced is changing the
earth and has brought about the Anthropocene
geologic era, in which the whole earth is affected by a single species. It’s
hard to say when that started, but Professor Dufresne reckons it was about
1968. That may be a valid starting point. It was in 1968 that Ambassador College,
in its publication Our Polluted Planet,
alerted the public to problems to the perils of environmental pollution.
Dr. Dufresne’s hope is that the inevitable wide-scale suffering
that is sure to ensue from capitalism’s rape of the planet will prompt soul searching
that will lead to the wisdom to embrace values other than three TV sets on the
ground floor. He believes that automation has progressively thrown the middle
class out of work and will now do the same for the upper middle class as A.I.
takes over the work of lawyers, accountants and other professions. Wide sectors
of the population will be dispensable. What we need to do is embrace uses for
our time and attention that do not serve an economic purpose. Play the lute.
Paint a portrait. A universal income plan will enable us to do that if
governments have any sense.
All very logical, but I question whether it’s right. First,
I do not agree that capitalism requires unceasing expansion. Because capitalism
is basically the private control of assets for a profit, there is a propensity
to get bigger, but it is because we do not have a free market that industries
and companies attached to them flourish in their rapacity. It is big
government, which would be necessary in a society of universal income, that has
kept behemoths alive long after they have served their purpose. Look, if a
company needs a government bailout to stay alive, the company is probably not efficiently
putting its resources to their best use. Such a company is wasting resources
--- depleting the commonwealth of the earth --- and should not be given help to
get their hands on more resources. If the company was operating in a free
market where consumers signal through the price system what products and
services are valuable to them, and if the company efficiently responded to the
signals and produced what consumers express as their needs, the company would
make a profit and thrive. If it didn’t, it has failed as a guardian of the
capital it has and should be allowed to fail altogether. For example, the
airlines are in trouble now and no doubt will be bailed out by government. What
for? So they can continue to waste resources? Let them go under. Nothing is
lost. The airplanes will still be here, and so will the airports. There will be
new owners though and maybe they will do things better.
It is possible for a business to thrive without constant
expansion. We see many small and medium size businesses like that --- viable
businesses that fill needs at their current levels of economic activity.
Capitalism does not need continued growth to thrive. A free market requires
that the holders of the capital use it for social good to thrive. Government
interference in the free market causes economic dislocations through false
price signals, aberrations in the profit system, hindrance of voluntary
exchanges, and erosion of property rights. The result is massive waste of
resources.
You do not want to become part of a dispensable population. If AI takes over your work, develop a new
skill. There will always be services provided by professionals who understand
the nuances machines do not and who can bring to their profession an art that
eludes AI. Further, as traditional jobs disappear, there will be new
occupations created and expansion of surviving ones. The AI industry will
require additional workers. I can see that one day there will even be machine
psychologists whose job it is to help AI units integrate their feelings and to
find purpose.
The Dufresne interview is at https://cbc.mc.tritondigital.com/CBC_IDEAS_P/media/ideas-O4tuagqC-20200408.mp3
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