Forum Post: So-called "Crony" Capitalism

A popular trope being peddled by libertarians and other members of the Right is that capitalism per se is not the problem, but rather "corporatism" or "crony capitalism."

The problem is that they simplistically equate capitalism with laissez-faire economics, free markets, small government, etc. Capitalism is capitalism regardless of whether or not the rich are taxed highly, the market is regulated by bureaucratic oversight, there are government welfare programs or other social services, and so on. State-interventionist capitalism is just as much capitalism as free-market capitalism.

The defining feature of capitalism is the accumulation of capital through the purchase of labor in order to produce commodities, products which are valorized or supervalued through the labor process. These are then circulated throughout society in order to realize the surplus-value bestowed upon them by the congealed labor invested in their creation. This can take place in any number of circumstances, including large welfare states.