December 6, 2025 · 9:04 am

Last night I was rereading an old essay of mine about capitalism (or rather, what I considered to be capitalism at the time). I may or may not write a post later about my thoughts.

(I’d like to do a “review” of one of my older posts at some point–just to see what I’ve learned, which of my beliefs and opinions have changed, how I’ve grown, and so on–but I don’t know if it will be that post.)

I concluded the post with this:

Unfortunately, there’s nothing to prevent someone from […] trading freely to encourage innovation and growth when it suits them, and stealing the best of the profits when it doesn’t. Honest capitalism is the fairest and most effective kind, but that doesn’t mean that only honest people can be capitalists.

If this were the whole story, the future might look pretty bleak: without an advantage that only the honest could use, the thieves would continue to take what they pleased without regard for others’ welfare, and with the science and resources of capitalist practice lifting the restrictions of old, the world would eventually either be destroyed or subjugated utterly. However, there is some hope on at least two different fronts. I’ll elaborate on these next time in part two.

Well, here we are in the future, and gosh, it seems pretty darned bleak! And it does seem like the people (and systems) controlling the economy are going to either destroy the world or enslave its population. I never did write part two, but I’d really like to now–the current timeline makes me want to share those hopes more than ever.

…If only I could remember what those hopes were??