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I've always considered myself a capitalist, and 20 years ago I used to be very annoyed by what I considered insufficient appreciation for marketplace competition on the left.

But runaway inequality and the intransigent insistence of people like Gates that said inequality is not a problem has me questioning whether I need to reassess. (In my view the problem with inequality is that political power corresponds roughly to economic power, so unlimited amounts warp our political system.)

If you're losing people like me, maybe a crisis really is on the way.



But your belief can't be true because I'm both trump and Brexit the side that spent the most money (by far) was beaten. Clearly that's a syringe against the idea that political power covers directly from money.

See also: tech firms in Europe


I didn't read this article as Gates saying that inequality is not a problem. In fact, he's saying that it is a problem.


> I've always considered myself a capitalist

Curious as to why? Do you derive your livelihood from your ownership in capital? Or do you have to work, but value private property, markets and liberal economics?

I ask, because when I think of a capitalist, I think of someone whose wealth and power are derived from significant ownership in companies and assets, real or financial.

There are plenty of ideologies that value market economics from the very left to the very right. Examples include market socialism on the left and American libertarianism on the right.


Capital is a synonym for wealth and a synonym for property.

Being against capital is a fairly extreme position that has been tried and has a much worse track record.

What people think of when they say capitalism these days is more like kleptocracy or corporationism.




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