For long, economists have been blindly following Darwin's theory of "Survival of the fittest" as the maxim for the functioning of the capitalist economy. The problem is, however, they forget that the whole purpose of functioning of an economy is to move towards a more civilized form of existence. Civilization has seen man moving out of the jungle and reach where he is today. Sadly, however, he has not yet been able to discard the rules of existence that he used to follow in the jungles.
Capitalism from the very beginning has been based on the principle of individualism and survival of the fittest. When Adam Smith had talked about man being rational and therefore trying to maximize his returns if left free in the market... he had also referred to the same principle. The rules of the capitalist market have always wanted us to compete with others and maximize our benefits (read as profits). Critics point out the fact that when left free in a market an individual's return is not only a function of his competence and efforts (in terms of the number of hours he puts in) but also a function of his past accumulated wealth (on which he might have had no contribution).
Originally posted at : http://www.arindamchaudhuri.com/survival-of-the-weakest.html
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Capitalism from the very beginning has been based on the principle of individualism and survival of the fittest. When Adam Smith had talked about man being rational and therefore trying to maximize his returns if left free in the market... he had also referred to the same principle. The rules of the capitalist market have always wanted us to compete with others and maximize our benefits (read as profits). Critics point out the fact that when left free in a market an individual's return is not only a function of his competence and efforts (in terms of the number of hours he puts in) but also a function of his past accumulated wealth (on which he might have had no contribution).
Originally posted at : http://www.arindamchaudhuri.com/survival-of-the-weakest.html
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