There was a time, long ago, where companies actually cared about their customers, and wanted to sell them good products while making a profit, and they strived for the win - win, and the "customer is always right" philosophy. They took their fair share, and they didn't triy to squeeze every last dime out of their customers with crappy products.

Not that that they were saints by any stretch of the imagination (there were definitely bad players back then too) but there used to be a sense of ethics with Capitalism, in America at least, a sense of products being warrantied to work the way they should be and advertised as how they would actually work.

I have no effing idea how to get back to that state, as it seems like the "lunch for wimps" crowd are running the c-suites these days.

[–] Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago

Regulation. Take the money out of governing, both national government and private directors. If someone makes decisions that affect many people, make that person accountable, either through a competitive market or a functioning justice system.

The problem is that the fantastically efficient tool that is capitalism will try to increase it reach as much as possible. Killing competition and undermining laws will always be the end goal, so long as they are in anyway allowed.

The reason companies used to care is because not caring drove customers to the competition. But then there was no competition, and the care evaporated. As long as they are allowed, they will take. Civility can only be guaranteed if profits are on the line.

[–] umbrella@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

No way of going back to that state unless we start from scratch, power is too consolidated as it is. And capitalism would soon evolve back to something like this eventually anyway.

We are on late stage capitalism now, as predicted by Marx.

e: also those better times werent that good either if you werent white/from somewhere rich, not long ago kids were working in coal mines.