The Unintended Consequences of Technology

CHAPTER 1Capitalism: The Cult of Self-Sufficiency

Capitalism is an economic system where people and companies make most of the decisions and own most of the property. The means of production are largely or entirely privately owned (by individuals or companies) and operated for profit, rather than owned by the state. The United States practices free-market capitalism, whereby the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand (the free market), rather than set artificially by a third party such as the government.

You may be wondering why this book starts with this topic in Chapter 1. Well, anything and everything technology- or systems-related that we discuss in this book has developmental incentives and motivations largely aligned with capitalism. You will hear capitalistic power echoing through every chapter in this book. In addition, most negative unintended consequences of technology (UCOTs) strongly correlate with misalignment in incentive structures. That's why capitalism is covered in Chapter 1. The nature of capitalism and the UCOTs caused by it and consumerism set the stage for all the topics covered in this book.

A QUICK HISTORY OF CAPITALISM

Technology in the scientific and industrial revolutions transformed humanity's understanding of the world. Technology transformed our ability as humans to alter that same world. And this altering of our world is now aligned and heavily driven by a major force, known as capitalism.

The history of capitalism ...