“The idea that all decisions are about money just isn’t true,” the group responded. “Companies think about profits, sure. But profits are a result of good decisions, not the reason for them.
Shifting to a post-capitalist world means expanding our collective dashboard beyond just financial value (the “capital” in capitalism) to include other values as well. Financial value isn’t the only rational value that can be defined and grown — it’s simply the first. Other values (plural) can be transitioned into value (singular), too. In the book that I told my dinner companions about, I share the story of how Adele used an algorithm that measured the loyalty of her fans to distribute concert tickets. That way scalpers wouldn’t get in the middle and run up prices. Adele balanced financial value by using a measurement that approximated another value — in this case loyalty. A value from the left side of the Values Spectrum was shifted over to the right. Adele’s approach wasn’t anti-capitalist, it was post-capitalist. Adele’s shows turned a profit while optimizing for a non-financial value. In a post-capitalist world, financial value would still be a core part of our decision-making. It just wouldn’t be the defining consideration as it is today
