this post was submitted on 05 Apr 2024
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No, it isn't. "Capitalism" doesn't depend on growth. You can have a shrinking economy, even an intentional degrowth economy, which is still capitalist.
Whatever thing it is you're referring to that assumes infinite growth, that thing isn't capitalism.
Capitalism specifically incentivizes seeking maximum profit, which also means increasing profit growth at all costs. Finance and speculation, inherent to capitalism, further pushes and necessitates further expansion to cover the average costs of the gambling and speculation. You have to remember recessions and depressions are not always contractions in the economy, they are usually just caused by less than "necessary" amounts of growth.
You're conflating growth of particular capitalists' wealth, "profit", and growth of the entire economy. Capitalism's goal is profit but profit doesn't depend on growth of the entire economy. There are capitalists who profit even while the economy shrinks.
OP's meme was referring to growth of the economy, not profit. Again, capitalism doesn't depend on growth (of the economy).
Many capitalists are losing their investments when the economy shrinks though, even if some benefit. The system as a whole needs growth, as all the propertied are expecting to continue accumulating constantly, as physical resources dry up, and workers can hardly be exploited any more.
That doesn't contradict what I said.
The system as a whole isn't capitalism.
It literally is though. In the middle ages would you have said "it's not all feudalism, there's actually some merchants too!"
So the current global market, as counted by GDP isn't capitalism?
Oh, wait, you're right. China's socialist, so not the whole international system. Any given imperialist country still relies on growth to keep capitalism alive, though.
?