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Single Idea 20681

[filed under theme 24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 11. Capitalism ]

Full Idea

In the new capitalist creed, the first and most sacred commandment is: The profits of production must be reinvested in increasing production.

Gist of Idea

The sacred command of capitalism is that profits must be used to increase production

Source

Yuval Noah Harari (Sapiens: brief history of humankind [2014], 16 'Growing')

Book Ref

Harari,Yuval Noah: 'Sapiens: a brief history of Humankind' [Vintage 2014], p.349

A Reaction

In this sense, capitalism is less greedy than its predecessors. 17th century aristocratic monopolists simply spent the profits of their activities. See the gorgeous clothes then (and pyramids and palaces), and the quiet suits of capitalists.

The 29 ideas from 'Sapiens: brief history of humankind'

20663 If a group is bound by gossip, the natural size is 150 people [Harari]
20664 Animism is belief that every part of nature is aware and feeling, and can communicate [Harari]
20669 Dualist religions see everything as a battleground of good and evil forces [Harari]
20670 Dualist religions say the cosmos is a battleground, so can’t explain its order [Harari]
20673 Manichaeans and Gnostics: good made spirit, evil made flesh [Harari]
20671 In order to explain both order and evil, a single evil creator is best, but no one favours that [Harari]
20666 Most polytheist recognise one supreme power or law, behind the various gods [Harari]
20667 Polytheism is open-minded, and rarely persecutes opponents [Harari]
20668 Monotheism appeared in Egypt in 1350 BCE, when the god Aten was declared supreme [Harari]
20665 Mythologies are usual contracts with the gods, exchanging devotion for control of nature [Harari]
20674 The Nazi aim was to encourage progressive evolution, and avoid degeneration [Harari]
20675 The more you know about history, the harder it becomes to explain [Harari]
20676 History teaches us that the present was not inevitable, and shows us the possibilities [Harari]
20677 Since 1500 human population has increased fourteenfold, and consumption far more [Harari]
20678 The Scientific Revolution was the discovery of our own ignorance [Harari]
20679 We stabilise societies with dogmas, either of dubious science, or of non-scientific values [Harari]
20684 Financing is increasingly through credit rather than taxes; people prefer investing to taxation [Harari]
20685 No market is free of political bias, and markets need protection of their freedoms [Harari]
20681 The sacred command of capitalism is that profits must be used to increase production [Harari]
20682 The main rule of capitalism is that all other goods depend on economic growth [Harari]
20683 The progress of capitalism depends entirely on the new discoveries and gadgets of science [Harari]
20687 In capitalism the rich invest, and the rest of us go shopping [Harari]
20686 For millenia people didn't know how to convert one type of energy into another [Harari]
20690 The state fostered individualism, to break the power of family and community [Harari]
20689 In 1750 losing your family and community meant death [Harari]
20691 Real peace is the implausibility of war (and not just its absence) [Harari]
20688 People 300m tons; domesticated animals 700m tons; larger wild animals 100m tons [Harari]
20692 Money does produce happiness, but only up to a point [Harari]
20693 Freedom may work against us, as individuals can choose to leave, and make fewer commitments [Harari]