As a system, capitalism doesn’t seem like that bad an idea at first glance because markets are an intuitive and ancient form of human interaction. I have something that you need, but you don’t have anything that I need (what a shame!), however, all is not lost because Ashley here does have something that I need, and you have something which Ashley needs, and so with the increasing complexity of these situations arising among increasingly large numbers of people, the system which results is almost, some might say, organic…. natural… beautiful.

However, to say that this is what capitalism is all about is, first of all, just not true. If ever it was, then that state of affairs ended with the first accession to power of a ruler.

Once some individual wants power for themselves, the whole thing takes on a whole new face.

It could be argued that the ruler is just the person who somehow manages to accrue the largest quantity of what people need by offering them another hybrid service: that of governance. After all, a market, per se cannot tell us what one service or product is worth in comparison to another. Nor can it give us a mode of redress if the thing which we receive through the market dynamic turns out to be not what we expected, insufficient or unfit for purpose, or our treatment within the dynamic is otherwise unsatisfactory. When this happens, we usually require more than just a heavy stick and an impatient attitude – we need at least some form of validation for our claim – someone who can be said to have authority over the market process; someone who has the power to wield lots of heavy sticks if and when our dispute, though just, is only backed up by a minority. And of course, these are some of the problems that we indeed still find within the market element of our modern capitalist system. Which is arguably why we have that thing we call the ‘state’ - a 'dispute resolving authority'..

Does this line of reasoning interest you? Could you put it better yourself or maybe write a song about it? Could you perhaps be part of a team that translates the whole thing into a post modern cartoon gem called “Starfrack” which although set in a future where Earth as we know it no longer exists, still approaches these kind of ideas on a truly universal or even extra-universal level, in the hope of getting ordinary people to think about them and maybe end up agreeing with us that life could be better if we all just smiled a bit more.

If you are interested then for Whoevers sake, please get in touch. This website will continue to grow until its a company with a mostly home-based workforce; but only if we make it happen.

Contact:siddhimouse@starfrack.com
This website is built using Libre Office, Geany, Blender, Gimp and other much appreciated freeware - I love freeware.