Capital 2.0, or what Marx did not notice.
At BizTimes.ru , the translation of articles by the famous Austrian economist of the 20th century, Ludwig von Mises, this time - “Capitalism” is continuing. The author at one time wondered whether a subject could be called a random phenomenon or pattern, a temporary stage of evolution or a constantly evolving subsystem of civilization. It is no secret that the word "capitalism" for some people has a pronounced emotional tinge, most often negative - they say, a monster that exploits people and sucks all of them out of them. Sometimes ecological rhetoric is also used (“violence against nature”, etc.).
For the modern (global, informational) stage of development of capitalism, I use the term “ capitalism 2.0 ”. This is not some kind of newism, since nobody has canceled the foundation of capitalism (private ownership of the means of production, market relations) and is not going to cancel it, on the contrary, the potential position of the “owner” against the temporary “user” is becoming more and more recognized, including and ecologically. 2.0 is an indicator of the qualitatively changed (and continuing to change) influence of capitalism on a person as he evolves. Like the Web 2.0, which now covers almost everyone, including a user who is far from IT, capitalism 2.0 is capitalism, providing benefits for everyone. But Marx said something about exploitation (and critics of the Internet revolution - about the complexity and inconvenience of web technologies for the user). Consider what he was wrong.
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The problem with Marx was that he did not take into account the consequences of the upcoming mechanization, automation, informatization (and in the future, robotization) and the resulting completely market demand for mass literacy, education, professionalism and so-called “talent”. He considers, in fact, SLAVES - unskilled hired workers, who are exploited by capitalists because they need a certain amount of their labor, but the supply more than meets demand, especially at the stage of demographic growth. Such a state was supposed to last forever, on the basis of which Marx prophesied the "inevitability" of the class struggle and revolution of these slaves. And then something happened that he did not expect: the complication of working and the growth of professional requirements for work. As technology develops, it first requires the ability to read and write, then vocational education, higher education, and finally the so-called “talent”, that is, some extraordinary, intuitively chosen abilities. And at the same time the market potential of a person grows: a literate WORKER requires a reduction in work time and adequate working conditions; he has his own conditions for capital and enters into a partnership with another “talent” (business) on the conditions that he can bargain for himself in accordance with the market potential. As the former Worker moves toward this stage, he begins to think more and more as a capitalist, take on ever-greater responsibility for his life and manage his capital, both earned tangible assets and personal abilities that need constant development and renewal (education “for diploma "is replaced by a lifelong education 2.0 ). It becomes obvious to him that it is possible to truly help hired workers only by encouraging them to learn and develop this very “talent” (even if there is a shortage of any kind of wage labor, it will significantly improve the situation of those who do it, and stimulates their "talantization" and "capitalization", pulling out of the class of closed thinking).
I write the word "talent" in quotes, because I am deeply convinced: in absolutely every person there are many unique talents buried who are waiting for their time. This is our personal capital, to which the evolution of the economy, and in particular of capitalism, provides more and more opportunities for realization. Even if a skill becomes obsolete and becomes unclaimed, ten new directions for development appear. A person can no longer be tied to one narrow specialty and at the same time is free to choose in which sphere to apply his skills - whether he will program medical equipment or heal programmers. The basis for this is the concept of so-called education 2.0, a superstructure above the foundation of basic, secondary and higher education, which implies constant self-study of promising skills.
I am also convinced that there can be no oversupply of “talents,” like people with higher education. Even if the current state of the economy does not allow to arrange everyone “by specialty”, it only stimulates a massive transformation of thinking from narrow specialization to managing a portfolio of skills, to education 2.0, from which everyone will benefit. The fact that we cannot imagine now a society consisting entirely of “unicums”, of “creators” with corresponding values does not mean that such a society is impossible by definition. It is just a matter of time - and our efforts. And we go to this completely capitalist way.
Crosspost with http://vovix.me/blog1 .
For the modern (global, informational) stage of development of capitalism, I use the term “ capitalism 2.0 ”. This is not some kind of newism, since nobody has canceled the foundation of capitalism (private ownership of the means of production, market relations) and is not going to cancel it, on the contrary, the potential position of the “owner” against the temporary “user” is becoming more and more recognized, including and ecologically. 2.0 is an indicator of the qualitatively changed (and continuing to change) influence of capitalism on a person as he evolves. Like the Web 2.0, which now covers almost everyone, including a user who is far from IT, capitalism 2.0 is capitalism, providing benefits for everyone. But Marx said something about exploitation (and critics of the Internet revolution - about the complexity and inconvenience of web technologies for the user). Consider what he was wrong.
')
The problem with Marx was that he did not take into account the consequences of the upcoming mechanization, automation, informatization (and in the future, robotization) and the resulting completely market demand for mass literacy, education, professionalism and so-called “talent”. He considers, in fact, SLAVES - unskilled hired workers, who are exploited by capitalists because they need a certain amount of their labor, but the supply more than meets demand, especially at the stage of demographic growth. Such a state was supposed to last forever, on the basis of which Marx prophesied the "inevitability" of the class struggle and revolution of these slaves. And then something happened that he did not expect: the complication of working and the growth of professional requirements for work. As technology develops, it first requires the ability to read and write, then vocational education, higher education, and finally the so-called “talent”, that is, some extraordinary, intuitively chosen abilities. And at the same time the market potential of a person grows: a literate WORKER requires a reduction in work time and adequate working conditions; he has his own conditions for capital and enters into a partnership with another “talent” (business) on the conditions that he can bargain for himself in accordance with the market potential. As the former Worker moves toward this stage, he begins to think more and more as a capitalist, take on ever-greater responsibility for his life and manage his capital, both earned tangible assets and personal abilities that need constant development and renewal (education “for diploma "is replaced by a lifelong education 2.0 ). It becomes obvious to him that it is possible to truly help hired workers only by encouraging them to learn and develop this very “talent” (even if there is a shortage of any kind of wage labor, it will significantly improve the situation of those who do it, and stimulates their "talantization" and "capitalization", pulling out of the class of closed thinking).
I write the word "talent" in quotes, because I am deeply convinced: in absolutely every person there are many unique talents buried who are waiting for their time. This is our personal capital, to which the evolution of the economy, and in particular of capitalism, provides more and more opportunities for realization. Even if a skill becomes obsolete and becomes unclaimed, ten new directions for development appear. A person can no longer be tied to one narrow specialty and at the same time is free to choose in which sphere to apply his skills - whether he will program medical equipment or heal programmers. The basis for this is the concept of so-called education 2.0, a superstructure above the foundation of basic, secondary and higher education, which implies constant self-study of promising skills.
I am also convinced that there can be no oversupply of “talents,” like people with higher education. Even if the current state of the economy does not allow to arrange everyone “by specialty”, it only stimulates a massive transformation of thinking from narrow specialization to managing a portfolio of skills, to education 2.0, from which everyone will benefit. The fact that we cannot imagine now a society consisting entirely of “unicums”, of “creators” with corresponding values does not mean that such a society is impossible by definition. It is just a matter of time - and our efforts. And we go to this completely capitalist way.
Crosspost with http://vovix.me/blog1 .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/30822/
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