Dr. Olaf Brugman’s Post

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Head of Sustainability Risk DWS. Thoughts expressed are purely my own.

This book presents a unique perspective on dysfunctional political-economic systems, attributing them to capitalism. It challenges traditional views, albeit by incorporating obsolete Marxist class struggle concepts. Blakeley suggests bureaucratization and mass surveillance as consequences of capitalism, proposing democratization at scale as a solution. However, the examples provided are mostly localized and lack scalability. The book raises questions about the effectiveness of democratic planning in addressing capitalism's criticisms. However, the author proposes solutions that may inadvertently perpetuate the same issues she is aiming to resolve. As a result, since the implicit hypothesis that capitalism leads to dysfunctions and bureaucratisation is not convincingly underpinned by using obsolete 19th century concepts, what remains is the usual demonization of everything linked to state or corporate power, whilst conveniently not offering any realistic alternative except revolution. It’s too simplistic and a form of unfounded blackwashing. But for sure there will be a segment of readers for this book. #Economics #Politics #Capitalism #BookReview

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