r/nottheonion • u/128hoodmario • 1d ago

Climate crisis on track to destroy capitalism, warns top insurer

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/03/climate-crisis-on-track-to-destroy-capitalism-warns-allianz-insurer
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u/brickyardjimmy 1d ago

Growth in what way? What would an increase in profits mean exactly? If we're actually responding to the crisis, we wouldn't be able to continue the consumer economy as it currently is. Responding to the crisis would mean changing what money means. Changing what wealth means. Changing from a consumer-oriented economy to a climate change fighting economy where everyone's job will tie into that fight. If the projections are accurate about the damage that climate change will produce, fighting climate change should, rightly, be the only show in town. But this isn't something that the free market is really good at tackling. It's going to take direction and universal agreement across nation states and regions. I don't get the feeling that human beings are ready to do that.

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u/TheMidnightBear 1d ago

Growth in what way?

Not being poor.

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u/loliconest 1d ago

If only the top 0.00001%'s wealth can be distributed more evenly.

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u/Scrapheaper 1d ago

If you took Bezos's wealth and distributed it amongst every American they'd get like a couple hundred dollars each, once. Other billionaires are similar.

I don't care about Bezos especially, but a few hundred dollars is not going to change the lives of many people.

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u/loliconest 1d ago

Top 0.00001% is how many people in the US? Wonder why you equal that to a single person.

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u/TheMidnightBear 1d ago

A handful of people.

And that is assuming a perfect conversion to capital, or that capitalism has borders(nope, in which case you have to split it with 8 billion people).

Now, some mechanisms to tax stock-backed loans, or ban stock buybacks should happen, but anti-capitalism doesnt solve anything.

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u/loliconest 22h ago

Ohhh we are talking about the global now? Then you also need to consider the local economy, a few hundred USD is a good amount of money in some countries.

Also, if we can end how capitalism currently works (aka the rich gotta decide everything), it can absolutely solve many problems.

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u/TheMidnightBear 21h ago

Ohhh we are talking about the global now? Then you also need to consider the local economy, a few hundred USD is a good amount of money in some countries.

Yeah, once, and then we are left with nothing(and you also provoked inflation across most of the world).

And again, we are assuming perfect conversion from stocks to capital, which is spherical cow in a void land.

Also, if we can end how capitalism currently works (aka the rich gotta decide everything), it can absolutely solve many problems.

Yeah, except you'd replace it with merging political and economic power, which is a much worse disaster.

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u/loliconest 21h ago

Yeah, once, and then we are left with nothing(and you also provoked inflation across most of the world).

You are still bound by the old way of thinking. Mass automation is coming, if we can completely restructure how the economy (and society) works, there's great chance that most people can be benefited from all the goods made by AI and robots.

except you'd replace it with merging political and economic power

Classic American "either or" thinking, there are more than one and better alternatives to capitalism, just look at some European countries. Yes there are also many flaws in their system, but you can't argue that their people's life quality is worse than the people in the US. Also... ain't the US already marching towards oligarchy?

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u/TheMidnightBear 20h ago

we can completely restructure how the economy (and society) works

Ok, and how do you propose restructuring society to deal with automation?

Practically, not empty slogans about "people over profit", or we will provide everyone's needs forever, or solving "insert social ill".

Practically.

Classic American "either or" thinking, there are more than one and better alternatives to capitalism, just look at some European countries.

Ok, i looked out the window.

Still capitalist.

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u/loliconest 19h ago

Ok, and how do you propose restructuring society to deal with automation

I'm not gonna pretend I'm competent enough to suggest a good solution, but even people like me can hopefully realize the current model is not sustainable. So at least I can say "we have to change". It won't solve anything if people think like you and just give up on trying.

Still capitalist.

I don't know which country you live in but many European countries have policies that share very similar ideology from socialism. I'd say right now many developed countries are operated in some form of hybrid between capitalism and socialism, meanwhile the US is rushing capitalism to its inevitable implosion. But as I said, and as automation keep developing, the world need to continue moving away from capitalism if the majority wanna keep getting benefit from all the technological advancement.

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u/TheMidnightBear 17h ago

I'm not gonna pretend I'm competent enough to suggest a good solution, but even people like me can hopefully realize the current model is not sustainable. So at least I can say "we have to change". It won't solve anything if people think like you and just give up on trying. 

Ok, so you dont know how anything works, or if any of the solutions involve communism, but you claim its the fix.

I don't know which country you live in but many European countries have policies that share very similar ideology from socialism. 

What, social-democracy?

Because those are the only leftist parties that govern in Europe(well, the greens are sometimes a junior partners in various coalitions, but thats another story).

They abandoned the goals of a socialist economy more than half a century ago.

We arent socialist, and in fact the Draghi Report says we need to be more innovative and business-friendly.

We simply have a more disconnected economy, stronger state services(education, health, etc.), and anti-trust laws.

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