Capitalism - Revision history

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‎Context

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‎The Decline of Capital

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‎Enclosure

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‎Enclosure

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‎Enclosure

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‎Enclosure

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‎Problems

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‎Problems

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 * [[Capitalism]] as been through a wide range of interpretations and manifestations since David Hume and Adam Smith. <ref>Adam Smith, ''An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the  the Wealth of Nations'' (1776-03-09) William Strahan publisher Went through 5 revisions, some major. A Translation into Modern English, Industrial Systems Research, 2015. ISBN 978-0906321706</ref> defined an alternative to the zero sum politics of the Feudal age. They were right and an age of capital growth began that has itself gone through many iterations, but remains the dominant way for humans to organize themselves.
 * For most of this new age of capital, the capitalists consider themselves to be an integral part of society that shared in the burden of making the entire society healthy.
 ==Problems==

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 * Mergers & acquisitions – Many corporations are acquired or merged, shortening their independent lifespan.
 * Economic cycles – Recessions and financial crises can accelerate corporate failures.
-* Financializaation - The incentive to meet market expectations on a quarterly financial report squeezes investment in project that want deliver results in the short term causing industry stalwarts like Boeing, Intel and even General Electric to stumble. Some companies can get back into investment mode, but most just wither away and get bought up by their competitors.
+* Financialization - The incentive to meet market expectations on a quarterly financial report squeezes investment in project that want deliver results in the short term causing industry stalwarts like Boeing, Intel and even General Electric to stumble. Some companies can get back into investment mode, but most just wither away and get bought up by their competitors.
 ==Historical Cycles==

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 Philosophical Counterpoints
-* Thinkers like Hayek or Polanyi would argue that capitalism also enables spontaneous order and innovation. But even Polanyi warned that “the market was planned, planning was not.”<ref>Karl Polanyi, ''The Great Transformation''  1944 </ref> In other words, enclosure is not a side effect—it’s a design feature.
+* Thinkers like Hayek or Polanyi would argue that capitalism also enables spontaneous order and innovation. But even Polanyi warned that “the market was planned, planning was not.”<ref>Karl Polanyi, ''The Great Transformation''  1944 	Farrar & Rinehart</ref> In other words, enclosure is not a side effect—it’s a design feature.
 ===The Decline of Capital===

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 Critics like David Harvey, Silvia Federici, and Michael Perelman argue that capitalism:
 * Expands through dispossession, not just production
-* Privatizes public goods (e.g., water, education, digital infrastructure)
+* Privatizes public goods (e.g., water, education, [[Digital Public Infrastructure]])
 * Encloses intangible commons—like attention, data, and even identity
 In this view, capitalism isn’t just a market system—it’s a systematic enclosure of the commons, whether physical, social, or cognitive.

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 Capitalism as Enclosure:
-* Critics like David Harvey, Silvia Federici, and Michael Perelman argue that capitalism:
+Critics like David Harvey, Silvia Federici, and Michael Perelman argue that capitalism:
 * Expands through dispossession, not just production
 * Privatizes public goods (e.g., water, education, digital infrastructure)
 * Encloses intangible commons—like attention, data, and even identity
 In this view, capitalism isn’t just a market system—it’s a systematic enclosure of the commons, whether physical, social, or cognitive.

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 See the wiki page on [[Moral Values]] for some of the rights and responsibilities that each member of society might have in the future. Also, 50 years later, some commentators are rethinking Milton Friedman.<ref>Leo Strine Jr. and Joey Zwillinger, ''Rethinking Milton Friedman'' New York Times 2020-09-10 https://timesevents.nytimes.com/dealbookdebrief0910</ref>
 ===Enclosure===
-“Capitalism is nothing more than enclosure”—is a provocative synthesis that echoes deep historical and philosophical critiques. Historically, enclosure refers to the privatization of common lands in England during the 16th–19th centuries: Land that was once shared by villagers for grazing or farming was fenced off and claimed by private owners. This process displaced rural populations and laid the groundwork for wage labor and industrial capitalism. Enclosure is often seen as the material foundation of capitalism: turning shared resources into private property, commodifying access, and creating dependency on markets.
+“Capitalism is nothing more than enclosure” is a provocative synthesis that echoes deep historical and philosophical critiques. Historically, enclosure refers to the privatization of common lands in England during the 16th–19th centuries: Land that was once shared by villagers for grazing or farming was fenced off and claimed by private owners. This process displaced rural populations and laid the groundwork for wage labor and industrial capitalism. Enclosure is often seen as the material foundation of capitalism: turning shared resources into private property, commodifying access, and creating dependency on markets.
 Capitalism as Enclosure:
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 Contemporary Examples
 * Digital Enclosure: Platforms like Google and Meta monetize user data—turning personal behavior into proprietary assets.
-* AI Regulation: As noted in the SSRN paper by Mei and Sag, rights-based AI governance often masks managerial control, enclosing autonomy within administrative logic.
+* AI Regulation: As noted in the SSRN paper by Mei and Sag, rights-based AI governance often masks managerial control, enclosing autonomy within administrative logic.<ref>Yiyang Mei and Matthew Sag, ''The Illusory Normativity of Rights-Based AI Regulation'' Emory Legal Studies Research Paper No. 101  2025-08-12 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5389294</ref>
 * Intellectual Property: Patents and copyrights enclose knowledge, limiting access and innovation.

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 * The major villain in this story is Milton Friedman of the Chicago School of Economics. His manifesto telling business people that they should literally care about nothing other than profits and they had not additional responsibility to society whatever. <ref name="Friedman">Milton Friedman, ''A Friedman Doctrine, the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits'' New York Times Magazine (1970-09-13) https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/13/archives/a-friedman-doctrine-the-social-responsibility-of-business-is-to.html</ref>
 * Extreme Capitalism resembles communism<ref name=Anderson>Kurt Anderson, ''Evil Geniuses'', Random House (2022) ISBN‎ 978-1984801340</ref> as it is practiced in existing examples throughout the world. The allocation of capital is controlled by a professional elite. In capitalism the elite is called [[Business]]. In Communism the elite is called [[Government]].  The only big difference is that [[Government]] has a monopoly on the use of force.
-See the wiki page on [[Moral Values]] for some of the rights and responsibilities that each member of society might have in the future. Also, 50 years later, some commentators are Rethinking Milton Friedman.<ref>Leo Strine Jr. and Joey Zwillinger, ''Rethinking Milton Friedman'' New York Times 2020-09-10 https://timesevents.nytimes.com/dealbookdebrief0910</ref>
+See the wiki page on [[Moral Values]] for some of the rights and responsibilities that each member of society might have in the future. Also, 50 years later, some commentators are rethinking Milton Friedman.<ref>Leo Strine Jr. and Joey Zwillinger, ''Rethinking Milton Friedman'' New York Times 2020-09-10 https://timesevents.nytimes.com/dealbookdebrief0910</ref>
 ===The Decline of Capital===
 The average lifespan of a corporation has been shrinking over time. In 1958, companies listed on the S&P 500 had an average lifespan of 61 years. In 2024, that number had dropped to less than 18 years. Several factors contribute to this decline:
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 * Mergers & acquisitions – Many corporations are acquired or merged, shortening their independent lifespan.
 * Economic cycles – Recessions and financial crises can accelerate corporate failures.
 ==Historical Cycles==