Another Article on Need to Change Capitalism

I seem to be running into a lot of these types of articles where the authors are questioning the value of capitalism in today's society. This one started life in LinkedIn's Pulse but apparently it moved into other websites. Which is good because it is harder to link to a LinkedIn article. Anyway, here's a link to one website that is posting the entire LinkedIn article.

This author comes closest to what I think or feel in that capitalism has done a lot of good but that now it may be time to change it in the context in the type of changes we will be facing in the near future. He is not advocating socialism or communism or whatever "ism"; he leans toward finding a new "ism". We just don't know yet what that should be.

The author tells a story about his middle-aged father-in-law who has worked most of his life as a salesman and was able to make a decent living out of it. But now, his company is moving sales online and each year, it lets go a few more salesmen. The author then lists some of the reasons why it will not be so easy for his father-in-law to transfer his skills elsewhere.

"However, the theory of creative destruction isn't as applicable when one of the things being destroyed is the very idea of human labor." Dustin McKissen, "My father-in-law won't become a coder, no matter what the economists say."

Most economists say that when jobs are destroyed in one industry or job types by new technology, that very technology creates new and better job opportunities elsewhere. But this author has articulated a very fundamental difference between these new technologies today versus the ones during the Industrial Revolution. Couple this fundamental difference with the narrow shareholder thinking of generating the most profit for only the shareholders, you have a situation where it is harder to find employment. The capitalists will be trying to capture all of the profits without considering the effects on the entire business ecosystem.

The author doesn't have an answer (who does?) but he recognizes that our society has to change. He has some good arguments against the unbridled free market, Ayn Rand/Atlas Shrugged theories. He brought up a good point about the bankers with their hands out during those dark days after Lehman's bankruptcy in September 200, when our financial system was teetering on the brink.

"But first we need to recognize that our old ideas aren't a solution, and that a middle-class, middle-aged, technologically displaced worker won't be helped by a tax cut or a higher minimum wage.

Or a few coding lessons."