• Microtom [none/use name]@hexbear.net
    0·
    1 year ago

    No economic system is sustainable or unsustainable. They just don’t pertain to that. Concerns of sustainability requires ethics or judicial system. If anything, socialism is less sustainable than capitalism because it eliminates distributive injustices that cause a reduction of productivity. For example, capitalists would hoard land to seek ransoms in exchange of its access. This causes land unaffordability and under usage. If socialism eliminates that, more land might be used and there might be more environmental destruction as a result. So you need a system that protects land from environmental degradation. Socialism doesn’t do that by itself. You need specific laws to protect the environment.

    We want socialism because it’s more fair and isn’t literal extortion like capitalism is, not because it’s more sustainable. We also want sustainability, so we want a strong and fair judicial system to go with our social economic system.

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmygrad.mlOP
      01·
      1 year ago

      One of the core problems with capitalism is that it’s fundamentally based on growth and consumerism. Companies need to constantly sell products in order to continue to operate and this leads to things like planned obsolescence where goods are intentionally manufactured to break so that new ones could be sold. This is just one of countless examples of perverse incentives that capitalism creates.

      On the other hand, socialism creates a completely different incentive structure. Things are produced based on societal needs, and producing things is seen as a cost. This creates incentive to make things that last, and that can be repaired. Here’s a great article explaining how this worked in practice in USSR.

      So, while socialism alone doesn’t ensure sustainability, it doesn’t create perverse incentives that capitalism creates, and it makes it possible to have a sustainable economy.