This poster has been popping up in random places on my uni campus everywhere...

[a completely inoffensive name]

I thought it was an interesting conversation starter about something that we have not talked about in a while, so here it is, taken from my phone (so sorry about the quality):

http://imgur.com/duveL

I am kind of on the fence on the statements there. In the long run, I don't think capitalism will be around for various reasons, but...I don't see the transition happening for at least another 50-100 years.


What do you guys think of it? Stupid uni students trying to say something profound?

[Shibumi]

Seems very general. "The world will change".

I do not quite get the point.

[Husar]

It's the NWO, run to your cellar and hide among your guns!

I think it's partly people wanting it to be like that and by putting it out there, they want to make it more likely by making people think about it.
I don't think they really have a vision or can see into the future, they just (over)interprete certain things and then think there may be a bright future ahead after some struggles.

In a way it's like a monetary replacement for religion I guess. Instead of fighting over theology, people shift to fighting over monetary systems and other ideologies that they expect to make their future bright.
As such I am rather neutral, I don't think such a change is very likely but neither is it impossible, things will develop, stuff will happen.

[Subotan]

holy mother of god it's like Hegel for libertarians

[Slyspy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel_Wallerstein

[Lemur]

No doubt someday a system will replace capitalism; probably something that synthesizes capitalism and software. But that's not going to be for a long time.

Right now? We are living in the high noon of of capitalism. Anyone who thinks differently hasn't thought too hard. What's this "different system" the poster refers to? Some marginally different flavor of capitalism or something?

[edyzmedieval]

The poster has clear allusions to Karl Marx and his works.

[Rhyfelwyr]

Well we are going through some economic and social turmoil right now. And people always like to try to fit these events into a grand narrative, whether its communism, or fascism, or whatever. Which is why I think those two ideologies will have a bit of a revival in the times to come. It's already kind of happening with the far-right sweeping across Europe.

For the life of me I don't know what to make of it, the world is too complicated. Gah!

[Jolt]

The poster has clear allusions to Karl Marx and his works.

And Karl Marx was a Satanist, therefore that poster and its ideas are Satanic propaganda.

[Jaguara]

The poster has clear allusions to Karl Marx and his works.

That was my thought as well. I don't really know anything about Wallerstein (other than what can be learned from a 15 second internet search).

As to something replacing capitalism...I don't know what other options there are other than state control of business - such as in communism or facism. I doubt that we are about to erupt into a state made up of co-operatives.

What I suppose I could see is a possibility for decline in corporatism though...but it is far from clear that this would be inevitable, by any means. There are more groups speaking up against, in particular, large multi-national corporations as being devoid of values (by mandate). But, who is going to take action? It would take either a revolution/uprising or for politicians/governments (Which are funded by those same corporations) to pass laws/treaties that reel in the power of, or regulate these internations corporations. I think things would have to get much worse before you will see a popular uprising against the rich in the West, and I have no faith in politicians...so I would still categorize this in the dreamland category.

The most interesting changes are things that Wallerstein could not likely have forseen. Not worker sufferage and those things, but peak oil, climate change, food and water shortages. These will force many changes, the effects of which remain to be seen. One vision is that they will mandate a change back to local production, de-globalization, and could (if this vision pans out), mean a decline in the economies (including most notably economies of scale) that allow the domination of large multi-national corporations. This is however, only one of dozens of views of the post peak oil world.