Explain Like I'm 5 (ELI5)

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ELI5 why is perpetual growth "inherent" to capitalism? Is it? (lemmy.world)

submitted 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) by ivanafterall@lemmy.world to c/eli5@lemmy.world

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Why can't I, in theory, start a business, grow it until it's successful, then just...be content and stop growing? Why do people talk about it as inherent to the system to grow like cancer? What about capitalism causes that and why can't we avoid it? Like, technically speaking?

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[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 4 points 11 hours ago

As I've sat here thinking about it, I think you're right and that the answer is really, "because you WON'T be content and stop growing." Or rather, "even if you are content with enough, others won't be and thus bad actors are incentivized." Thus the need for regulations, at a minimum.