The capitalist system, a driver of growth for two centuries, is paradoxically reaching its end due to its own effectiveness. In the pursuit of efficiency, technology is driving the marginal cost – the cost of producing an additional unit of a good – down to nearly zero. When products and services become free, a market based on profit loses its raison d'être. This article analyzes this transformation, examining the emergence of a new paradigm: an economy built on collaboration and sharing, inspired by the ideas of Jeremy Rifkin.
Capitalism: Entropy Defines the Limits of Growth
Capitalism encounters two fundamental barriers. The first is a physical limit, described by thermodynamic economics. By ignoring the second law of thermodynamics, the system generates increasing entropy – a debt in the form of a climate crisis. Classical economic models overlooked this fact, treating resources as inexhaustible. The second barrier is an internal economic contradiction. Relentless competition forces production costs down to a point where profit, the driving force of the market, disappears. This is the era of zero marginal costs.
Zero Marginal Costs: The End of Market Competition
The theory of near-zero marginal costs undermines the foundations of the market. In the digital world, duplicating an e-book, an online course, or software incurs virtually no cost. Market exchange gives way to collaboration and access. This transformation entails an anthropological shift: the model of humans as selfish Homo Economicus is being replaced by Homo Empathicus – a naturally social and empathetic being. Neuroscience discoveries, including mirror neurons, confirm that empathy is a biological foundation of our species, not a luxurious add-on.
The Cooperative: A Pillar of the Collaborative Economy
In this new paradigm, the cooperative plays a crucial role. It operates outside the logic of profit maximization, focusing instead on meeting the needs of its members. This model is ideally suited for an economy of abundance, where value shifts from ownership to access, and progress is defined not by accumulation but by participation. These changes encompass key sectors: energy becomes a distributed network of prosumers, education relies on open resources (MOOCs), and intellectual property evolves towards Creative Commons licenses. However, this vision carries a risk: sharing platforms could be co-opted by corporations, creating new digital monopolies that control data and algorithms.
Conclusion
The vision of a collaborative economy is not a utopia. Real, functioning models, such as energy cooperatives in Germany and Denmark, prove its pragmatism. Over a billion people worldwide belong to cooperatives, which employ over one hundred million workers. Technology that lowers marginal costs creates a historic opportunity to build a more sustainable and equitable system. The crucial question is whether humanity will use it to redefine collective life or merely to create new forms of control.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Jeremy Rifkin's main thesis regarding the future of capitalism?
Rifkin argues that capitalism is reaching the end of its internal logic because its pursuit of efficiency leads to a situation in which the marginal cost of producing many goods and services falls to near zero, eliminating profit and undermining the basis of market exchange.
What does the concept of near-zero marginal costs mean and how does it impact the market?
Near-zero marginal costs mean that producing each additional unit of a good or service costs next to nothing. This phenomenon, driven by digital technology, causes profit margins to vanish and market mechanisms based on exchange value to lose their meaning, giving way to collaboration and sharing.
How do cooperatives fit into the vision of the collaborative economy?
Operating outside the market logic and driven by profit maximization, cooperatives are becoming a rational and logical solution in an era of near-zero marginal costs. They reinvest surpluses in community needs, promoting co-creation and sharing rather than competition.
How does Homo Economicus differ from Homo Empathicus in the context of the new economy?
Homo Economicus is the traditional model of humans as rational profit maximizers. Homo Empathicus, supported by neuroscientific discoveries, is a vision of humans as inherently social and compassionate beings for whom empathy and cooperation are built-in mechanisms, not just luxury extras.
According to Rifkin, what barriers does capitalism face that lead to its decline?
Rifkin points to two fundamental barriers: the inexorable laws of thermodynamics, which force us to take into account entropy and ecological boundaries, and a new wave of technology (e.g., the Internet of Things), which leads to near-zero marginal costs, sawing off the branch on which capitalism itself sits.
How does technology such as the Internet of Things or blockchain influence economic transformation?
These technologies reduce marginal costs to near zero, facilitating the replication of digital products and redefining the concept of ownership through sharing platforms. They are becoming the arbiter of economic disputes, promoting the Hotelling model of sharing goods at zero marginal costs across decentralized networks.
Related Questions
Why, according to the text, is capitalism reaching its limits?
What is the theory of near-zero marginal costs and how does it challenge the foundations of the market?
What role does the cooperative play in the new economic paradigm?
What is the transition from Homo Economicus to Homo Empathicus?
What are the theoretical and philosophical sources of Jeremy Rifkin's vision?
How does the new economy redefine the concepts of ownership, value, and progress?
What are the main points of criticism and potential threats to the vision of a collaborative society?
What specific changes might this transformation bring to the energy sector?
What are the implications of an economy of abundance for education and intellectual property law?
Will digital sharing platforms become the foundation of community or a new form of monopoly?
Tags:collaborative economyzero marginal coststhe end of capitalismJeremy RifkinHomo Empathicusthermodynamic economicsInternet of ThingsblockchaincooperativesKuhn's paradigmsharingHarold HotellingRonald Coaseentropysustainable abundance
