Adam Smith would also have been greatly opposed to the deregulation that the extremely wealthy have been pushing. He viewed appropriate regulation as being essential to keep the free market free. Without it, he said, it will inevitably devolve into monopoly.
The capitalists running things now are pretty much antithetical to Adam Smith's view of capitalism. I think this is a point that younger anticapitalists miss: there is more than one kind, and the kind they (correctly) oppose pushed out the kind that has benefited us all in the past.
Adam Smith would hate a lot more than Musk's capitalism. He had morals, and would hate the private-equity asset strippers at very least.
Adam Smith would also have been greatly opposed to the deregulation that the extremely wealthy have been pushing. He viewed appropriate regulation as being essential to keep the free market free. Without it, he said, it will inevitably devolve into monopoly.
The capitalists running things now are pretty much antithetical to Adam Smith's view of capitalism. I think this is a point that younger anticapitalists miss: there is more than one kind, and the kind they (correctly) oppose pushed out the kind that has benefited us all in the past.