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The difference between commerce and capitalism might seem like a semantic distinction, but understanding this gap illuminates how our entire economic system functions today. Commerce—the simple exchange of goods based on mutual needs—has existed in all human societies since time immemorial. It's relational, built on trust and reciprocity. But capitalism? That's something else entirely.

In this deep dive, we trace capitalism's evolution from feudal Europe through the first multinational corporations to today's tech monopolies. The story begins with the rise of merchant classes who threatened landed elites, and the subsequent creation of corporate charters that married private capital with state violence. The Dutch and British East India Companies—with their own militaries, courts, and prisons—represent the first true capitalistic enterprises, extracting wealth globally while distributing risk through public stock offerings.

This historical development fundamentally transformed human values. Worth became determined not by usefulness but by exchange value. Time became money. Work became wage labor. The abstraction of wealth from tangible goods to returns on investment created our modern financial system where billionaires claim to assume risk while actually transferring it to workers and consumers.

From ExxonMobil's resource extraction backed by military force to Amazon's 30% marketplace cut while enjoying massive tax breaks, the mechanisms have evolved but the underlying structure remains. Delaware's corporate secrecy laws hide the modern version of those early public charters from scrutiny, while our legal system obligates companies to maximize quarterly profits regardless of human or environmental costs.

Understanding this history challenges us to reimagine what trade could look like without domination. How might we increase reciprocal commerce in our communities while resisting exploitative capitalism? Join this conversation about one of the most misunderstood but influential systems shaping our world today, and discover practical ways to support alternatives that benefit everyone, not just those at the top.

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The golden era of capitalism from the 1950s to 1970s wasn't brought to you by capitalism but by communism and government regulation. During post-WWII America, the government implemented socialist policies that created unprecedented prosperity while simultaneously demonizing communism abroad.

• Government contracts forced corporations like Boeing, General Dynamics, and Lockheed to build specific products with extensive oversight
• Social services including the GI Bill, Federal Housing Administration, Highway Interstate Act, Medicare and Medicaid were created during this era
• Top marginal tax rate was 91% from 1946-1963, funding social spending and development
• Employment Act of 1946 legally committed Washington to pursue maximum employment
• When USSR collapsed in the 1980s, deregulation followed, creating massive inequality
• Capitalism only wore a human face because it feared losing its head to communism

Citations:

1. Knaack, Robert. _Post-World War II Bombers: 1945–1973_. USAF History Office, 1988.

2. Markusen, Ann. _The Rise of the Gunbelt_. Oxford Univ. Press, 1991.

3. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. _Saturn Illustrated Chronology_. NASA SP-4012, 1974.

4. Sapolsky, Harvey. _The Polaris System Development_. Harvard Univ. Press, 1972.

5. U.S. GAO. _F‑111 Aircraft Staff Study_. February 1973.

6. Pedlow, Gregory & Welzenbach, Donald. _The CIA and the U‑2 Program, 1954–1974_. CIA, 1998.

7. Robarge, David. _Archangel: CIA’s Supersonic A‑12 Reconnaissance Aircraft_. CIA, 2012.

8. Francillon, René. _Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913_. Naval Institute Press, 1979.

Check out my book Rethinking Broken now available at RethinkingBroken.com where you can purchase the paperback, hardback, ebook, or soon-to-be-released audiobook directly from me rather than through Amazon.

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America has been functioning as a fascist country for years, but we're only now seeing the Nazi salutes and hearing direct Nazi quotes in Congress. The real issue isn't just the obvious villains, but the entire political system controlled by trillion-dollar investment firms that fund both parties while the public fights over social issues.

• Texas Representative Keith Self quoted Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels during a congressional session
• Politicians from both parties serve the same financial interests while maintaining the illusion of opposition
• The same corporate donors fund both Republicans and Democrats to different degrees
• BlackRock controls $10 trillion in assets, dwarfing even billionaires like Elon Musk
• Politicians enter office middle-class and leave as multimillionaires through insider trading
• Democrats are morally compromised by claiming higher ground while enabling similar systems of oppression
• America needs revolution, not reform, as the issues that truly matter don't change regardless of who's in office

Go check out owlchrysalismedicine.com to see what I'm up to and consider buying me a coffee. Stay curious and stay uncomfortable.

PS. The video of Rep Self seemed to imply but did not actually show the representatives support of the quote. He simply stated "I think this is what we are here to talk about." In my opinion this doesn't necessarily mean he supports the quote. He was just the one who read it and i couldn't find any record of what he was saying just before the video. So Representative Self may or may not support the Goebbels quote.

#politics #elon #musk #democrats #republican #Trump #project2025

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Music by Wutaboi

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www.decolonizehealthcare.com

www.rethinkingbroken.com

#rethinkingbroken #CPTSD
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