This Machine Kills 437. Do Socialists Dream of Electric Institutions, Part 1 (ft. Aaron Benanav)
Dec 23, 2025
Joining the discussion is Aaron Benanav, a political economy researcher and author of 'Beyond Capitalism.' He pinpoints the limitations of capitalism's single-minded focus on profit maximization and its detrimental effects on societal goals. Aaron argues for a multi-criterial economy, emphasizing the need for democratic institutions to navigate competing values. He critiques past socialist experiments, highlighting lessons learned, and insists that investment should be a democratic, creative process driven by diverse goals like sustainability and care.
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Capitalism As Single‑Criterion Optimization
- Capitalism functions as a single-criterion system that prioritizes profit/efficiency above all other values.
- Aaron Benanav argues this primacy subordinates safety, sustainability, and well-being to extraction and growth.
Efficiency Includes Product And Process Gains
- Efficiency gains include both cost-cutting and revenue-expanding innovations, not just labor exploitation.
- Benanav stresses capitalism produces real productivity increases while also offloading social and ecological costs.
Growth Won't Automatically Buy Social Goals
- Defenders claim more GDP/efficiency will fund other social goals, but Benanav calls this magical thinking.
- When profit remains the system's goal, the economy rarely 'cashes out' gains for public ends like sustainability.