The Ethical Facade of Capitalistic Success

1min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

Success in the capitalist system often favors individuals with sociopathic and egomaniacal tendencies who are able to make ruthless decisions without being burdened by empathy. Some tech billionaires may use a long-term ethical view as a justification for their actions, allowing them to maintain an ethical facade while pursuing their self-interests. The consideration of future consumers as a means to expand personal wealth highlights that capitalist success may not solely aim at universal value maximization, but also at personal gain.

Paris Marx is joined by Émile P. Torres to discuss why longtermism isn’t just about long-term thinking, but provides a framework for Silicon Valley billionaires to justify ignoring the crises facing humanity so they can accumulate wealth and go after space colonization.

Émile P. Torres is a PhD candidate at Leibniz University Hannover and the author of the forthcoming book Human Extinction: A History of Thinking About the End of Humanity. Follow Phil on Twitter at @xriskology.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Émile wrote about the dangers presented by longtermism and its relationship to Elon Musk.
Paris wrote about Jeff Bezos’ vision of life in space and why Elon Musk is planning for climate catastrophe.
Elon Musk was tweeting about birth rates again (he has some odd views on who should be having kids) and retweeted someone praising a paper by longtermist Nick Bostrom.
After moving to Texas, its governor said Elon Musk liked the state’s “social policies” (in reference to abortion limitations) to little pushback, then Musk forced California employees to move to Texas.