> How did we enter a world in which the only given fact that must be held true is that "the business profit will grow unceasingly for all time, no matter the consequence"
What do you mean enter? This was always the model of capitalistic acquisition. Early industrial revolution was not known for it's blue skies, labor friendly laws and preventing children from working in the mines.
The moment you have inflation, which you need to suppress wages of people living from wages (i.e. labor), is the moment you entered the magical roundabout of infinite growth.
The only time capitalism had to placate labor was when communism was a credible rival.
>This was always the model of capitalistic acquisition. Early industrial revolution was not known for it's blue skies, labor friendly laws and preventing children from working in the mines.
Except for "blue skies", the other things you've listed are the default state of nature. Children worked the moment they were able. Even without a capitalist boss, people worked their asses off during the planting/harvest season under the threat of starvation. The other rest of the year might be more lax, but you're still desperately praying that drought or disease won't wipe away your hard work and leave you starving regardless.
> Except for "blue skies", the other things you've listed are the default state of nature. Children worked the moment they were able.
Not sure if bait or that uneducated. But during early days of industrial revolution was well known for exploitative practices like: children dying in mine collapses, children dying of black lungs, losing their limbs in various machinery.
If you can find these all-natural looms, mines, and labor laws in nature, I'd love to see it.
> Even without a capitalist boss, people worked their asses off during the planting/harvest season
So because it was worse before, we shouldn't strive to improve the system?
>the other things you've listed are the default state of nature
That depends on what you consider to be the default. If you're talking about pre-agricultural man, the difficulty of life varied based on population density. A band of human beings that found an isolated island wouldn't have practiced child labor. They'd do a little bit of work to maintain comfortable living standards and spend most of their time on leisure activities. An area with many competing tribes, on the other hand, would see harsh and sometimes brutal social practices. Again, in a pre-industrial agricultural society, the difficulty of life also varied based on population density. Shortly after the invention of some new agricultural technique or tool, there would be abundance, peace, and easy living. Once that technique had caused a population boom, there would be scarcity, war, and hard living.
>Even without a capitalist boss, people worked their asses off during the planting/harvest season under the threat of starvation.
What do you mean enter? This was always the model of capitalistic acquisition. Early industrial revolution was not known for it's blue skies, labor friendly laws and preventing children from working in the mines.
The moment you have inflation, which you need to suppress wages of people living from wages (i.e. labor), is the moment you entered the magical roundabout of infinite growth.
The only time capitalism had to placate labor was when communism was a credible rival.