or a corporation. In the last 500 years it has changed our priorities, our social interactions,

and the way we value our lives. Today, some argue that as technology evolves the economic

landscape, we might see the end of capitalism, and a transition into a post-capitalist world.

So, are we nearing the end of capitalism?

Well, in recent years there has been a shift towards creating bigger and better “sharing

economies” to replace outdated commercial enterprise. Major industries like transportation

and accommodation have been dramatically overtaken by companies like Uber and AirBnb. Even knowledge

itself has become shared and editable thanks to Wikipedia. Instead of the capitalist ideal

of creating something unique, and personally profiting off of it, the evolution of collaborative

open source projects is something distinctly new. At the same time, capitalist policies

have directly resulted in global financial crises, and rapidly expanding wealth inequality.

So what will force a change in the capitalist system?

Well, the role of technology and the changing workforce are major factors. As more jobs

are automated by advancing tech, realistically, fewer people need to work. The nature of jobs

has already been shifting away from repetitive manual labor. Valued jobs are now concerned

with the knowledge of regulating, improving, and contributing to the technological revolution.

Also, the availability of information through the internet has removed certain types of

businesses, for example travel agents and video rental clerks. As a society, we are

moving away from expecting companies to provide for us, but instead looking to eliminate the

middleman and rely on each other.

One TechCrunch article points out that “Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no

vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content… And Airbnb,

the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate.”

So what does a post-capitalist society look like? Well, the biggest shift is from a focus

on industrial production, to a knowledge and technology based economy. One prediction is

that of a technological utopia, wherein new tech solves society’s largest problems and

creates a functional communal paradise. Through mutual expression over the internet, ideals

like communication, collaboration, and community are combined with the natural online democracy.

Within this framework, entirely new social practices, morals, and customs will arise

out of evolution and necessity. Services like Twitter and Amazon have already shown that

organic internet growth can change and simplify the way we live.

If you want to know how we ever got to the economy we have today, check out our two-part

video on the history and functions of capitalism. Thanks for watching, don’t forget to like

and subscribe. We make new videos every day.