Why can’t Israelis just pay for Gaza?
Why capitalism can’t solve a tribal problem
I read an interesting take on the Gaza conflict today that I hadn’t seen before. Basically, the author proposed to solve the Gaza conflict via capitalism. That is: they proposed that Israel could buy the Gaza strip.
I don’t think this solution would work. But the reasons why I think it would fail may not be what you expect.
People like to rail on capitalism for the huge disparities in power and well-being it can cause, which can persist over generations. But if you think about it, all disparities in well-being ultimately stem from a disparity in power. And similar disparities in power have existed for most of civilization, certainly as far back as the pharoahs of Egypt.
And so, in a way, all capitalism has really done is change the exercise of power from a process that happens in the physical world — i.e. through violence, and without any regard to consent — to a process that happens on paper. Seen in this light, capitalism is ultimately just a move towards less violence, and more consent. It doesn’t solve the problems of the ancient world, but it doesn’t necessarily exascerbate them either.
