Re: extropians-digest V3 #175

Emmanuel Charpentier (manu@cybercable.fr)
Sun, 13 Dec 1998 20:06:01 +0000

Cynthia Allingham wrote:
>
> >
> > I think the difference capitalism/socialism is about
> > competition/cooperation.
>
> Socialism is based on what is called the command economy. Where the guys at the top give orders to their underlings, with
> no cooperation involved.

I didn't have that image in mind. True, top down organisation is crap in every day life, but crisis might need some kind of chain in command, some kind of government that would try to organise efforts towards one goal.

How could an anarcho-capitalist nation deal with an outside aggression???

Can competing entreprises or individuals offer the same level of service than a one block organisation, like the army?

> And it is true there is a an element of competition in capitalism. Every business has to match the prices and quality of
> their competitors, or they will go out of business. But capitalism is a system of cooperation, not on force. In order for
> a business to survive, it has to cooperate with its suppliers, its employees, and its customers.

There is cooperation "inside" a capitalist organisation and with suppliers, and competition with other organisation.... And on the long term it seems like a good thing for the general economy, but what happens in case of crisis? Who is in charge?

When I speak about competition/cooperation, I speak about the competition between entreprises and individuals that could lead you or me to lose our jobs, and about cooperation considering the way people in some systems are not stressed to work and can profit of others' work.

Manu.