See, capitalism is not fundamentally racist -- it can exploit racism for its purposes, but racism isn't built into it. Capitalism basically wants people to be interchangeable cogs, and differences among them, such as on the basis of race, usually are not functional. I mean, they may be functional for a period, like if you want a super exploited workforce or something, but those situations are kind of anomalous. Over the long term, you can expect capitalism to be anti-racist -- just because it's anti-human. And race is in fact a human characteristic -- there's no reason why it should be a negative characteristic, but it is a human characteristic. So therefore identifications based on race interfere with the basic ideal that people should be available just as consumers and producers, interchangeable cogs who will purchase all the junk that's produced -- that's their ultimate function, and any other properties they might have are kind of irrelevant, and usually a nuisance.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Capitalism treats people as interchangeable cogs, making racism inefficient long-term though it may exploit it short-term for labor.
- In plain terms
- Capitalism does not need race, it just needs workers, so racism is usually a mistake unless it helps exploit people.
- What can you take from it?
- Capitalist efficiency favors interchangeability over racial distinctions.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Does capitalism oppose racism or use it?
- Are workers truly interchangeable?
Another view
Calling capitalism anti-racist ignores how it actively sustains structural racial inequalities.
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