Does capitalism kill love?

Posted on May 16 2012

I was given a bag with the following on it after my talk in Frome last night. The bag was , apparently, produced locally and seems to correctly reflect the sentiment of some (maybe many) in the town:

We had a really good discussion about what capitalism was during the evening. I have to say in my version of capitalism - where it is accountable, regulated and works in partnership with government in a truly mixed economy as described in the Courageous State (see right) then capitalism would not kill love.

But this morning David Cameron is apparently set on another £25 billion of benefit cuts. That's not just killing love. That will, quite literally, kill people.

In which case the person who designed the bag may well be right.

Either way, my thanks to those who organised and took part in a great debate last night.

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3 Responses

  1. paul says:
    May 16 2012 at 4:13 pm

    They only love that endures seem to be of money.

  2. Matt Sisson says:
    May 17 2012 at 9:06 am

    I’ve just been reading ‘When corporations rule the world’ by David Korten, A bit old now (10 years or so) but still absolutely spot on for the current crisis. He uses the term ‘Corporate Libertarianism’ for the current socio-economic model – it’s a good fit I think.

    He explains how a balanced ‘plural’ democracy – similar to what you describe in the courageous state – is the result of a dominance of civic structures and culture in society, with the government and the economy playing valuable but supportive roles. He criticises socialism for elevating government and suppressing civic life and a ‘free’ economy, and the current corporate libertarianism for elevating economic power, with government and civic life in servitude to it.

    It makes sense to me anyway – I think the ‘love’ your bag talks about here is the space and time for community, culture, and relationships to flourish. Today’s capitalism, with it’s primacy for economic dominance at the expense of all else, undoubtedly does kill love.