thaisofalexandria

thaisofalexandria t1_j19ravu wrote

Capitalist enterprise could be managed by a board of Jesus, Buddha and Marcus Aurelius and it would still be exploitative: profit comes from labour and the maximisation of profit is the maximum exploitation of value from labour. As someone else points out, the apparent embrace of ESG is due to the perception that it 'increases productivity' (which it may, though only until the market forces prices down to increase market share). Marx didn't get everything right, but he got this right: capitalism is exploitative by nature. There is no 'ethical' capitalist enterprise. A business that put welfare, ethics, compassion, before proft can't succeed when the market as a whole is driven by the profit motive.

It might be nice to believe in a version of socialism that comes about because capital gains a conscience, but it's dangerous naivety. Socialism is the system that governs production according to human need, so that is what is worth fighting for.

−1

thaisofalexandria t1_j1895px wrote

The socio-psychological explanations being put forward for this are quite beside the point. The simple fact is conservatives recognise the danger to capital (production for profit) of the admission of any 'ethical' principle, which is to say (equivalently) any principle that considers the common (rather than private good) or admits consideration of any criterion other than the maximisation of profit. And they are absolutely right to recognise this.

−15