pull down to refresh
27 sats \ 24 replies \ @Rothbardian_fanatic 28 Jan \ on: Is Racism Enabled by Capitalism, or the State? | The Libertarian Institute econ
The state it is! Only the state can enforce that sort of garbage with their monopoly on forces in their territory. Capitalists would be FAFO by losing their business because market forces would come to bear on the companies’ profitability and their future ability to recruit good prospects. Always the entrepreneurs want to make more money and they will avoid anything that endangers that quest, including racism or, as noted, tribalism.
That reasoning only holds when there's no consumer demand for racism. Whites-only restaurants and stores could potentially be perfectly viable, if that's what enough patrons want.
I think it's more in non-customer-facing businesses that the more standard economic logic comes into play, about losing out on profits by turning away better workers.
reply
Yes, potentially marginally viable because they would be avoiding a fair number of potential customers. They could be much more profitable with all potential customers.
reply
That depends how racist the majority population is and how relatively wealthy they are. It's very easy to cook up examples where more customers are alienated by integrating than are gained by it.
reply
How racist do you think the population is? Do they actually give a hoot? Racists can always avoid situations that are displeasing to them.
reply
I'm just taking this as a hypothetical question.
The market has some corrective mechanisms against racist behavior, but they don't apply universally.
Of course, in similarly racist societies, the one with the larger state will likely have more racist outcomes.
reply
OK. Have you ever been to an openly racist or religionist place? You would know immediately that the racism or religionism is enforced not only by custom but by the state, also. I think that the roots or racism, religionism and tribalism are exactly the same: we are similar and you are different, so we can do anything we want to you because you are outgroup.