“If you’re so smart why are the only ways you have to get rich value extractive?”

A thought I have often about our so called smart people

The Farcaster formerly known as Kchamp. Books, beats, bodybuilding, bright ideas and beautiful things.

katherinechampagne.com

Extraction of natural and human capital is the story of civilization unfortunately

Growing veggies for the fine folks of Southeastern Massachusetts, w/ a focus on nutrient quality. Always interested in the evolution of digital payments.  🎩 

and people call me doomer!  

Extraction may be inevitable but is it desirable or sustainable? 

I agree the optimal amount  of all bad things is nonzero but Many things were until they weren’t. Leaded gasoline was profitable and widespread and yet we somehow got it together to stop doing that

Controversial but I believe Weber that the cultural fuel of capitalism was the Protestant work ethic 

Catholics were slower to industrialize for this reason 

Unfortunately we abandoned all that cultural fuel. I believe that without it we will find the system can no longer self sustain. It is why many push for what I argue are lesser economic systems without knowing why

what's the cultural fuel driving china's rise?

They don't need it. Entirely diff engine 

The CCP swaps out belief in God with the Party
The West served God. Manifest Destiny and all that
The Chinese model works to serve the State

They have stuff that makes it more stable 
- not pure — there's still some selective freedom in markets. More of a hybrid model but for this argument's sake it still counts 
- it is its own thing. not marxist or rooted in like this explicit class struggle
- saw ussr's mistakes and didn't run them back. media is tightly controlled. all people are allowed enough prosperity 
- can often use tech to enforce control no violence needed 

to your og q of cultural fuel you could also say 1000s of years of confucian tradition allowed communism to slot in nicely ("In Confucianism, too, we see the groundwork for the philosophy of Maoism.") but it not that straightforward i don't think

They have stuff that makes it more stable 
- not pure — there's still some selective freedom in markets. More of a hybrid model but for this argument's sake it still counts 
- it is its own thing. not marxist or rooted in like this explicit class struggle
- saw ussr's mistakes and didn't run them back. media is tightly controlled. all people are allowed enough prosperity 
- can often use tech to enforce control no violence needed 

to your og q of cultural fuel you could also say 1000s of years of confucian tradition allowed communism to slot in nicely ("In Confucianism, too, we see the groundwork for the philosophy of Maoism.") but it not that straightforward i don't think https://bigthink.com/thinking/maoism-communism-in-china/

hm.. why does it work for them though? hasn't worked for any other State afaik