# Explaining a system different from capitalism (not communism which is just a variant) (Part 1 of 2) Date: 2026-04-12 Next Part: https://disrael.github.io/blogs/raw/explaining-a-system-different-from-capitalism-not-communism-which-is-just-a-variant.part2.md --- --- ### Explaining a system different from capitalism (not communism which is just a variant) Capitalism varies from feudalism because in feudalism a worker had some control over the means of production, farming. In capitalism and communism (as it was practiced) workers have no control over the means of production. The first action in both capitalism and communism is to remove a worker’s ability to provide for himself. In capitalism this was accomplished by the [enclosing of the commons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclosure) and in communism it was accomplished by collectivization. Whether robber barons or a state you did not democratically elect owns your means of production, the end result is a worker that must obey the rules or starve. In the world of 2026 the means of production has moved on from predominantly agriculture. So you can’t return to feudalism by just giving everyone a plot of land. You can accomplish something slightly like feudalism by giving everyone a universal basic income, UBI. However UBI does not restore any limited control over means of production and so there would be a large power imbalance with those that do control production. You can have democracy plus state owned control of all production. However again each worker in that system has no control beyond his one vote in an election. He can’t easily go on strike to bargain and so like communism this is another variant (though probably a better variant). What about worker cooperatives? Same problem of having only one vote not backed by any control of means of the production. Then there is the moshav model: > A moshav is a cooperative agricultural village in Israel where families own their own homes and farms but cooperate on marketing, purchasing, and regional services. Unlike the fully communal kibbutz, moshavim emphasize individual household independence while fostering a close-knit community structure. That’s seems like a good system but is difficult to generalize beyond agriculture. Land can be divided up in a way that does not easily extend to other forms of production. Difficult to generalize but not impossible. Many silicon valley tech workers are paid with shares in the company which gives them an incentive for the company to do well but also *voting rights in the corporation.* These workers literally own some small percentage of their means of production. What if giving workers a share of the company was a requirement for all employers?Let’s have a rule that each employee must be vesting at some minimum percentage, mpv, of the company in order to work there legally. That would not only restore some means of production to employees but also, depending on the size of mpv, prevent corporations from endless growth and monopoly. Then you need a second rule limiting the amount of services a company can pay for as a percentage of their permanent staff. Otherwise the company would circumvent mpv by not having any permanent employees. Then you need a third rule limiting the ability of a company to create more shares of itself. When more shares are created the existing shares have less value — this is called dilution. So Silicon Valley tech companies have been developing a startup system that is different from capitalism for some time now, but it’s very unregulated. Even in a fully regulated form the startup system is like modern feudalism as you can be fired by a CEO / feudal lord at any time. However firing is very different from the real violence that a feudal lord could threaten: > Lords used physical threats to enforce *corvées* — unpaid labor obligations, such as repairing roads, building fortifications, or farming the lord’s private fields, often forcing serfs to prioritize the lord’s land over their own subsistence. Also firing someone who owns a percentage of a company that is limited in its use of outside services and dilution is not something the company can do lightly. Let’s review three rules necessary for this system, startup economy: 1. Each employee paid shares meet the mpv, minimum percent vesting. 2. Companies limited on the ratio of outside services to permanent staff. 3. Limits on the allowed rate of dilution of a companies shares. Startup economy is substantially different from our current capitalism and its variant communism. Even today taxes are collected, mostly in Delaware, for incorporation and Delaware’s taxes even include the number of outstanding shares. In a full startup economy the state would take on the job of auditing all corporations for compliance with 1–3 (and other regulations no doubt) and collecting taxes to pay for this service. Unfortunately this startup economy could be broken by a Volcker Shock much as the American economy was: > The “[Volcker Shock](https://www.google.com/search?q=Volcker+Shock&sca_esv=ac7700c26f5fc397&sxsrf=ANbL-n6dZOESAIWLV2RmOXvgAzqmVdwEJQ%3A1776015898104&ei=GtrbabSHBsiq0PEPwP-y6QM&biw=1920&bih=1065&ved=2ahUKEwie5dKt_OiTAxVeJDQIHQeiGowQgK4QegQIARAB&uact=5&oq=volcker+shock+artificially+raised+unemployment&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiLnZvbGNrZXIgc2hvY2sgYXJ0aWZpY2lhbGx5IHJhaXNlZCB1bmVtcGxveW1lbnQyBRAhGKABMgUQIRigATIFECEYnwVI5HJQAFjCcXAIeACQAQCYAcACoAH_IqoBCDQ5LjEuMS4xuAEDyAEA-AEBmAI8oALSJMICBBAjGCfCAgsQABiABBiKBRiRAsICChAAGIAEGIoFGEPCAg4QLhiABBixAxjHARjRA8ICChAuGIAEGIoFGEPCAggQABiABBixA8ICBRAAGIAEwgINEC4YgAQYigUYQxixA8ICExAuGIAEGIoFGEMYsQMYxwEY0QPCAg0QABiABBiKBRhDGLEDwgIQEC4YgAQYigUYQxjHARjRA8ICEBAAGIAEGIoFGEMYsQMYgwHCAhEQLhiABBixAxiDARjHARivAcICBBAAGAPCAgsQLhiABBjHARivAcICCxAAGIAEGIoFGIYDwgIGEAAYFhgewgIGEAAYHhgNwgIIEAAYHhgNGArCAggQABgFGB4YDcICCBAAGAgYHhgNwgIIEAAYgAQYogTCAgUQABjvBcICBRAhGKsCmAMAkgcINTYuMi4xLjGgB96LArIHCDQ4LjIuMS4xuAe7JMIHBjEuNTUuNMgHb4AIAQ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp&mstk=AUtExfAb_Kd800zvFFBSbo7eeM_9-BpcNSJCwcMJ-YT4lahGdIG0nUXIXwV1CLNxo2nnHlACbcQEGAQBYmeoQmI4OM01v68R3umWqygrtrEIlVz0r8_ywXRHFALMoJ2baPXnASmCgaZdRgNET0EpC9UL-ytylnqb4tTKHNRFZrtIr3v0CoU&csui=3)” (1979–1982) was a deliberate, aggressive monetary policy move by the Federal Reserve to break high inflation, which resulted in a severe, engineered recession that caused unemployment to spike to nearly 11%. Artificially create enough unemployment and you weaken workers collective bargaining. The unemployed of a startup economy would not be collecting any further mpv and mpv could, as minimum wage is sometimes accused of, be a deterrent to employing them. This leads us to a thorny fourth rule for a startup economy: 4. The state would have to have programs for funding the unemployed in the creation of their own startups. That’s of course not any different than what Silicon Valley currently uses to keep its own startup culture going. All big tech has its origins in a combination of venture capital and state subsidies. The reason this funding is available is that startups have been shown to outperform larger corporations. However currently many unemployed have fallen into a gig economy of mowing lawns and making deliveries. In a startup economy what prevents people from directly personally hiring large amounts of individual wage labor without mpv? That was a problem with traditional feudalism also: > Feudal lords — particularly barons, high-ranking nobles, and royalty — maintained large staffs, often numbering in the dozens, hundreds, or even thousands depending on their wealth and rank. These households were not just personal homes but centers of administration, local justice, and military power, requiring a massive entourage for day-to-day operations and protection Which is why any economic system has to be overlaid with [Limitarianism](https://medium.com/@disrael/limitarianism-or-fascism-your-choice-mr-billionaire-ee6f8d5d961c). But capitalism and communism had something that startupism doesn’t, a path to becoming widespread. For capitalism it was enclosing common land and forcing peasants into wage labor. For communism it was organizing peasants to revolt and then forcing them into wage labor. --- **[Continue reading Part 2 of 2](https://disrael.github.io/blogs/raw/explaining-a-system-different-from-capitalism-not-communism-which-is-just-a-variant.part2.md)**