I picked up a striking quote on LinkedIn from Erin Remblance (Beyond Duality):
It is mind-boggling how many people defend capitalism without actually knowing what it is. As economic anthropologist Jason Hickel outlines in his book Less is More, capitalism isn't simply markets and trade. Markets and trade have existed for thousands of years, whereas capitalism is only about 500 years old.
Its defining feature is the systematic creation of enclosures and artificial scarcity. Roughly five centuries ago in England, the violent enclosure of the commons began. People were stripped of their self-sufficient livelihoods and fenced out, systematically forced to sell their labor, slave away for others, and secure basic survival.
To this day, capitalism operates through this exact mechanism: when resources are artificially restricted and access is blocked, citizens are forced into dependency. If we want to discuss genuine alternatives, we must dismantle these historical enclosures and build spaces that are once again freely available to all thinkers.
