At the start of this conversation about capitalism between Trevor Noah and Simon Sinek, Trevor asks an important question:
These are your values...but if losing money comes into the equation, then you will adapt your values. So then they aren't values to me.
It's easy to get wrapped around judgment about ulterior motives and hypocrisy ("values aren't values if you defend them when it's easy, they're only values if you defend them when it's hard.") But I think there's a deeper lesson here.
Life is all about tradeoffs. Outside of highly controlled environments (like school or video games), there is no "right" answer. There are upsides and downsides to every decision. Fully internalizing that truth is a major step towards becoming an adult.
Values (or ethics) is what helps you evaluate the tradeoffs.
Unfettered capitalism with no rules, no constraints does have some upsides. It tends to lead to incredible progress. Removing friction (such as regulation and permits and laws) allows more people to try more new things quicker. Trying new things quicker means you'll find good ideas quicker and people will start combining good ideas. There will be a compounding effect.
Of course, there will be lots of crap too. Bad ideas will fail, but there will also be environmental damage, human suffering, political instability, etc.
But that's the tradeoff.
My sense is we're headed in the direction of that no constraints capitalism. A lot of the constraints that had been placed on capitalism are becoming undone. This is bigger than any one person or event. It's a trend that was going on longer than most of us have been alive.
One factor is a decades-long project by the already wealthy and powerful to remove those constraints.
Another factor is the exponential nature of economic growth finally starting to hit the carrying capacity of the entire planet. We're running into some hard boundaries.
Yet another factor is the rise of the internet. Many of the constraints on capitalism were built on pre-internet assumptions. Back then, it was extremely difficult for anyone to communicate with entire groups of people who weren't physically in the same place. Now it's trivial.
It will go too far. There will be pushback and new constraints will have to be built.
But i think there's going to be a lot of pain and human suffering in the interim period.
That's why values are important. Both to survive this interim period with our humanity in tact and to rebuild on the other side.
