Capitalism Inhibits Innovation
I find it baffling that people always say that without Capitalism we would have no Innovation, when in reality, Capitalism has always stood in the way of innovation, or even worked to undermine or eliminate it if it does not work in the favor of companies. For those of you who do not understand, let me explain it in a few ways.
Most innovations came from taxpayer funded research (socialism)
Innovation and the furthering of society rarely relied on market Capitalism to be created. It only relied on Capitalism as a form of distribution, tricking people into believeing they need the already built product, but all of the bits and pieces that built it already existed for decades before the end product was finalized.
Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb. In fact, an early version of the light bulb was created by Humphry Davy while in the Royal Institution probably a good 70 years before Edison made his patent. In fact, there may have been over 20 electric lights invented before Edison tried to improve upon them.
Edison ultimately made a light bulb with bamboo filiments, which were far less effective than others on the market. His company failed when he was kicked out of it for trying to squash the innovation of his competition, and the man who created the lightbulb with the tungsten filiment used to this day was Alexander Lodygin. Not to say Edison didn’t add anything, but most of what he added already existed due to public funds and institutions.
It is like with the case of Bill Gates. Capitalism did not allow him to make the computer better. In fact, the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell mentions that he was able to succeed due to a variety of factors. One of which was the fact that the university near his house had a computer that would allow for him to learn coding in his free time.
Bill Gates would sneak out of his house at night to be able to use the university machines for free, punching in calculations for thousands upon thousands of hours. Gates did not get this due to Capitalism, but due to a publicly funded university giving him free access. The computer Gates made and the code he used is built on the shoulders of Socialism.
Even the iPhone was not new. The iPhone was released in 2007, but touch screen devices and phones have existed since 1993, and all of the ideas, parts, networks, etc, have been researched and noted with public funding for decades. Nobody needed the iPhone, and to this day there is minimal, if any, difference between the iPhone 12 out now, and the iPhone 5 released in 2013.
Apple products make them so much money due to false demand and FOMO that they have stagnated. Their lack of innovation is evident to many in the world. And that is the issue:
Capitalism doesn’t care about innovation, it cares only about profits. Any innovation it might have is stolen from people who actually put in the work without credit or acknowledgement. Any innovation they might have made is recalled, destroyed, and ignored the moment it stops being profitable or required. Don’t take my word for it, here is a story describing GM’s foray into electric vehicals in the 1990's:
“As GM was promoting its foray into renewable vehicles, it was simultaneously lobbying to weaken the California law. When the auto industry succeeded in watering down the regulations in 2001, GM, under Wagoner, soon after terminated the EV1, citing limited demand.
But GM just didn’t stop making the cars, however; it recalled the vehicles and destroyed them, over the objections of their drivers, who offered to buy them from GM”
Actively working to undermine or squash innovation
The global meat, dairy, and egg industries are playing a game with us. With the more information we have, the more people are starting to see the animal agricultural industry as how awful it reall is. Many people see animal products of one kind or another as unhealthy, bad for the environment, or harmful for animals. As a result, people are flocking to almond milk, vegan meats, and egg replacements.
Meat, dairy, and egg companies, not enjoying how their profits are being ripped from them, are working hard to undermine these replacements any way that they can. Suing governments so that plant based milks cannot be called “milk” anymore, all the way to “joking” about putting a hit out on the makers of a vegan egg alternative.
This is just animal agriculture, and these are just a few examples in this field. In fact, we can turn to a different industry and see the same thing, how about the Petrolium and Natural Gas industries? Working hard with lobbyists and corperations to prevent a national flock of well-made electric vehicals.
These companies work tirelessly to lobby governments and eliminate laws that work towards emission reduction standards and green energy. They demand government handouts and subsidies, while working inside the government to block this same support for green energy investments.
As with the article about GM and the electric car I linked to before:
“In the documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car?, released in 2006, director Chris Paine contends GM sabotaged the EV1, fearing electric vehicles would undermine its conventional business.”
If this is true, they might have been under pressure by fossil fuel groups to do the same. Anything that can hurt the bottom line is seen as a threat, so Capitalism works to undermine innovation unless companies can use it to earn more profits.
Not enough money to innovate
Perplex City is a long term puzzle game that spread the world over (for the most part) from 2005 to 2007, in which people were tasked with finding a cube. The winners of the game would be 100,000 pounds and loads of bragging rights. But in order to find this cube, you needed to buy packs of cards, and the like, which had puzzles on them to solve and help you get closer to finding the cube.
It was a super fun game, and tons of people loves playing it. However, despite being innovative and fun, it did not gain a profit, and as a result, the game would never have a second season.
It took years for the light bulb to become marketable to the general public. In fact, it was created in 1802, and multiple times since then, but it was not until the late 1880’s that light bulbs became marketable. Even then, it was not until 1925 did over half of all US households even have electricity. If government funds were more available for implimentation and research, we would probably have far better systems.
But ultimately, Thomas Edison owned over 1100 patents in his lifetime, and would thus prevent thousands of others from utilizing his work for innovation unless they had the funds. Patents are the bane of innovation, and are only used for the purpose of earning money.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” (refusing to innovate because it is too burdensome to do so)
While working in customer service, I worked at a few jobs. I worked at Taco Bell, Burger King, Rallys, and Dollar General. This may not be true for all stores, but they were true all of the ones I happened to work for. Remember, this was not some time in the anceint past, this was less than a decade ago.
My first job was in 2011 at Dollar General. In that store, my manager had a hard time making a schedule, and had to deal with computer issues all the time. The front registers were extremely old. White type on a black screen with all the borders done in ascii on an old desktop from IBM.
It was so old that it was yellow. I was shocked that in 2011, I had to deal with technology this old. In fact, at the time I got my first job, I was about 21 years old. I grew up with a computer in the home, and I have never seen a computer this old.
Dollar General gets billions of dollars every year, and their operating expenses were in the green the entire time I worked there, and for many business quartes before and after. They had the money, so why not spend it on updating their system out of the early 1990's?
For the same reason why Burger King, Taco Bell, and Rallys still ran on old desktops and Window’s 95 when I worked at those stores from 2013–2019: it would be too burdensome to update their system until they were sure there was income in it for them. Even if it means computers freezing all the time, software bugging out, and the like.
Capitalism does not like innovation, and companies will refuse to innovate on anything until they are either forced to, or until it is too burdensome to keep going at the slower pace of machines built in the 1990’s.
Innovation stands on the shoulders of Socialism and social policies. Capitalism always trails behind, and even fights against new ideas, until they are forced to accept innovation. Many companies actually fail due to this common business trope. Kodak was a company that ruled the camera market, until digital cameras came along. They faught against accepting digital cameras until it is too late, and they failed.
Capitalism doesn’t spur innovation, it spurs greed. And greed is something we are seeing more and more of until Capitalism collaspes on itself like it did during the Great Depression. During the 2008 Market Crisis, during the Dot Com Bubble, and each time Capitalism fails, Socialism in the form of tax payer dollars will be used to bail them out.
Don’t you think it is about time that we worked to cut the tumor of Capitalism completely?
____
Want to support me?
If you like what you have read and want to help me out, I have a few things you can buy to help. I am a small shop owner who sells upcycled crafts and supplies, as well as secondhand clothing. I am a trans person, neurodivergent, disabled, and in poverty, so any little bit helps. But please do not buy more than you need.
My shops:
This is my Etsy shop, where I sell scarves, zero waste bags, throw pillows, and more using salvaged and upcycled products, usually with 100% natural fibers.
These are where I sell my secondhand clothes that I salvage via dumpster diving, donations, and sometimes by thrifting.
