• Ismay@programming.dev
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      1 day ago

      Bernard de Mandeville, 1670 - 1733. First “neo liberal” author and the man that coined the ethicless economy. I was off by 100 years tho 😁

      Not to say everything was perfect and nice before, but he’s one of the father of modern capitalism and the first to theorise businesses didn’t have to be ethic.

      For him, the virtue of the society would be a guard against the sin of the economy. Like that, businesses could focus on making as much money as possible.

      Of course, it was stupid. Greed and cupidity were not magically contained…

      • FiniteBanjo@feddit.online
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        1 day ago

        So theres actually another great example of economic nationalism and inflation without need for ethics slightly before that: Vlad the Impaler.

        and actually, a much more successful example: Ghenghis Khan, aka First Emperor (of Yuan dynasty) Taizu whos descendents ruled China for 400+ years with a noticeable amount of wealth disparity and multiple widespead famines.

        Neither Greed nor Stupidity are inherently capitalistic in nature, nor is it recent, and nor are any individual outcomes.