Artificial intelligence (AI) is now in appliances and doorbells. Its flaws and biases are increasingly obvious. But so is a hidden strength: when wrong, it is consistently wrong. And that helps to expose hypocrisy.
For example, ask Bixby, ChatGPT or MS Copilot to define “capitalism.” You get a mishmash heavily biased by the last hundred years of socialist academics badmouthing the concept. Capitalism, to them, is about greed and desire for money.
Which is why I prefer hardcopy Oxford dictionary definitions. The four-inch-thick Oxford dictionary was a work of passion. One lead etymologist (expert who identifies word origins) was Lord of the Rings author, J.R.R. Tolkien. When asked in which of his literary works he took most pride, Tolkien often cited “The Oxford English Dictionary.”
According to these Oxford geniuses, capitalism is where “decisions about industry (production) and trade (buying and selling) are made by private owners based on anticipated profit.”
I entered that exact phrase into the AI engines. What came back was an argument. “This definition lacks key capitalist ingredients,” Copilot arrogantly corrected Oxford. The AIs found the definition missed (1) the reinvestment of profits to expand market share, and (2) the exploitation of labor by pricing at “labor cost plus profit”.
So, their definition of capitalism apparently requires “seeking monopoly status” and paying for work at less than market value. Except . . . monopolies are “counter-capitalist,” and forced exchange of labor for below-market wages is the opposite of capitalism’s definition.
This gave me an idea. I asked AI, “Did capitalism exist before money?” Out spit a uniform and unequivocal “yes.” I asked for examples. This is what I got:
Musicians would perform for a meal and applause. Villagers would offer food to a warrior in exchange for protection. Designers would trade artwork for access to exclusive showings. Healers would provide treatment in return for shelter, meals or gratuities of all kinds.
In every case, something belonging to an individual (private ownership) is produced and traded for something the individual desires more (i.e., realizes “profit”).
By AI’s own admission, capitalism exists independent of money. Monopolies form when capitalism is anemic. In capitalism, labor is sold only for profit; all forms of slavery are not capitalism. The system of incentives and rewards that comprise capitalism simply “exist.”
Capitalism is to economics what gravity is to movement. I can enjoy waterslides, and gravity works to my benefit. Or I can climb a mountain and fight gravity at every step. I can fly by plane and seemingly defy gravity. But in truth, none of these occur without gravity.
In the old Soviet Union, communal farms were formed to “feed the people.” But small private plots of land, often hidden and cultivated in secret, and estimated to occupy only 3% of the available acreage, are now credited with producing between 39% and 66% of the fruits and vegetables consumed by Russians in that era.
Capitalism existed and “did its thing” even in the world’s most ruthless and rigid communist regime.
Money merely substitutes a “token” for a commodity of value. Few progressives criticized ranchers who traded a beef quarter for tutoring children in “arts and letters.” That trade was capitalism. But money allows observers to question, “Is that instruction worth more (or less) than what the rancher paid?”
For the last century, progressive radicals have bad-mouthed capitalism. But they have yet to define capitalism’s alternative. They simply object to the choices you and I make that define “profit.” We might value something they do not.
Governments cannot repeal capitalism any more than gravity. The economy today is like a jump from an airplane flying at 10,000 feet. “Who is piloting?” isn’t the defining question. Whether we are equipped with parachutes or lead weights matters a whole lot more.
(1) comment
Here's what one "progressive radicle" found in AI...
"Challenges to free market principles: While capitalism generally emphasizes free trade and minimal government intervention, tariffs represent a form of government interference in the market"
You'll need to get that adjusted.
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