Actually, Capitalism Is Collectivist

Writer and Oxford doctoral candidate Samuel Miller McDonald returns to the channel to address a pesky misconception—that capitalism is inherently individualist and that communism and socialism are inherently collectivist.

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[ArtsAlign]

"When Carl Reiner was 17 in 1939, he was working as a machinist’s helper, bringing sewing machines to hat factories. Then Reiner’s brother saw a small ad in the New York Daily News about free acting lessons being offered in lower Manhattan by the Works Progress Administration. Reiner had never contemplated acting before in his life, but his brother insisted, so he went.

The WPA had been established several years prior to carry out public works projects during the Great Depression, with workers put directly on the government payroll, keeping the struggling economy afloat while also expanding the infrastructure of the U.S."

Had it not been for the WPA, Reiner said he probably would've still been a machinist. But it was this "collectivist" social program that invested in the cultivation of individual creative skills that added to the cultural richness of society. 

Today, the arts are the first programs to be cut in high schools. There are no social programs like the WPA, or any FDR level of funding for public purpose. It's time for the MMT People's Economy (see Stephanie Kelton's new book, The Deficit Myth) to allow every individual an opportunity to reach their highest potential by investing in these programs again.

[dr.madmad]

Damn it's almost like no man is an island and we're all connected whether you like it or not

[umangmalik]

WHERE'S THE GUY WITH THE BRITISH ACCENT AND THE FUNNY SUITS

[harmonizedigital.]

The product is created collectively the wealth created is not shared collectively

[MrSickNoodle]

I've been trying to explain this to people for years as anarchist, thank you for putting it together. Haha

[LongDefiant]

As a left libertarian, I've been saying this for years.

[gregmckenzie]

Individualism is a myth. Everything is connected. We are all one. We are all in this together. The failure to recognize this basic truth is what is destroying our planet's ability to sustain us.

[jonathanedwardgibson]

I always come to this conclusion. Our business schools can’t even acknowledge the role slave trade processes informed modern business -ore- -times- practices. Bosses are bosses, from Orwell to Huxley portrayals.

[federicomanuelolveira]

Capitalism is the nightmare of Zamiatin. Capitalism is very similar to the book "We" of Zamiatin. The factories, the human as tool.
Stirner was individualistic and widely anti-capitalist.

[jamalcalypse]

I don't understand how this shuts down the idea of voluntarism and work contracts being "voluntarily" signed by choice of the individual, which is the main ideological drive of libertarians and ancaps. In their simple thinking, they would retort with "get another job" or "start your own coop".

[Dorian_sapiens]

I've always thought it was bizarre that defenders of capitalism think a system where we're free to pursue our interests without consideration for how we'll manage to fulfill our basic needs was _less_ individually liberating and empowering than a system where we sell half of our waking lives to a business that treats us like interchangeable parts of a machine just so we don't die the same kinds of miserable deaths, from hunger, exposure, and disease, that kill most non-human members of the animal kingdom.

[ze]

Actually, individualism v. collectivism is a false dichotomy

[sscoutistaken]

"Liberate this and that state and go back to work! The government saved all the big businesses that didn't need the money, and we ran out of money for you." - The "Jeff Bezos for Trillionaire 2026" Project.

[rtw]

Love the Beethoven appasionata as the background. People forget the brilliance of good composition, a skill which required lots of collectivism

[stevenzerbach]

This reminds me of Robert Owen in America, and why New Harmony, Indiana failed as a collective. American individualism and its inherent greed, after two years, sent him packing, nearly penniless. And I am still pestered by my stardust memories. It's ALL just one big being together, whether you comprehend it ALL or not. I still believe in cooperation over competition.

[PhatLvis]

An entrepreneur - unless he's entirely self-employed (like certain artists and craftsmen, for instance) and has no employees - is merely some one who has an idea for a business, but no way to actualize his vision without help from others, and so he obtains legal permission (a business license, etc.) to exploit these helpers (employees) by keeping all the fruits of their labor. We are taught that we should aspire to be one of these enterprising "job-creators, " to be the exploitER rather than the exploitEE.

[philinnc]

Why isn't Current Affairs a worker co-operative?

[EclecticoIconoclasta]

Excelent video. Could have also added that bureacracy is a social form existing both in state and capitalist organizations. Max Weber actually saw that but right wingers want to associate bureaucracy only with the state and capitalism with "freedom to choose" and "individual liberty". The most individualist situation is something like being alone in one´s bedroom doing whatever the hell one wants without external judgement or supervision, and clearly not working for someone else in a workplace be it an office or a factory where one only receives orders or follows strict procedures. As such capitalism is "freedom" only for the owners of the company and in a certain sense not even for those people since they also have to sometimes work and also have to worry about tastes of other people so that what they make in the company "sells" in the marketplace (as such a very collectivist worry). As I see it the really individualistic situation is something like a party or staying home alone with supplies to satisfy ones appetites. Not really being in a job, whether by oneself, with only 3 people or in a large organization such as a factory or an office. From that point of view real social freedom would be a world where robots do work and people can freely associate for as long as they want without pressures to get something done or hierarchies to obey during one´s time, or imperatives to earn a salary. If one does not offer that probably one should not say it is a system of "freedom" since it will involve hierarchies, rules and hours following that regime. In the end the most individualist action possible is something like masturbation, not capitalism

[redcapetimetraveler]

7:23 what is the source of this diagram, please ? on who or what can i quote for it ?
i mean from where the EPI got it ?

[capitalistholocaust]

Yes, we are all collectivised by virtue of being under the same ozone-layer