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martin's avatar

maybe it isn't quite 'universal of the human condition'. one should ask anthropologists, i suppose, maybe they know of societies where it was different. i also think the 'human condition' didn't and doesn't just happen, but is construed (there are material external factors, but also human agency, imo).

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Peter S. Fosl's avatar

Right, anthropologist David Graeber’s work has centered on showing how there have been thousands of different social organizations in human history different from capitalism. The idea that capitalism is the natural human condition is one of capitalism’s central propaganda myths.

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peta's avatar

Yes, everyone should read: The Dawn of Everything, A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow.

Also, indigenous societies existed peacefully for thousands of years.

Also, Against the Grain by James C. Scott is excellent and discusses how the discovery of agriculture about 10,000 years ago is what turned humans into capitalist pigs (sort of, it's much more complicated than that).

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Michael's avatar

It’s not a myth. It’s right there in front of your face. All life competes AND collaborates. Competing is the more primitive but natural behavior. Plants, animals, human animals.

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JennyStokes's avatar

In France they have just uncovered a whole village of Neanderthal man.

It seems that they were NOT stupid as history tells us but humans who did what they did in order to survive.

The myth of Neanderthal man is broken.

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Susan T's avatar

Capitalism is not only about competition. A big part of it is making money and the more the better. That is where the problems really come in.

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Dimitris Alexopoulos's avatar

Capitalism goes hand by hand with colonialism that is a European invention. For some reason I think that Protestantism is better matched with both above than Catholicism. Seems to me that being Protestant induces more social restraints than Catholicism,thus more hypocrisy. By the way I don't belong to any of those dogmas.

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Chang Chokaski's avatar

Yes - there is an interesting book "Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman" (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57928536-humankind) that presents a good thesis on the Hobbes versus Rousseau debate. Worth checking out for an alternate perspective on human behavior and psychology.

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