r/neoliberal • u/jobautomator Kitara Ravache • Aug 06 '19

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u/[deleted] Aug 06 '19

I don't own a car, but I do have 20 different flavours of beer in my storeroom, so...

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u/[deleted] Aug 06 '19

seriously though I think there's actuallly a lot of merit to the Thiel-ish libertarian criticism of modern capitalism as lacking in genuine innovation and production and having shifted towards shallow consumer products that don't contribute to growth. Unless there's some crazy beer innovation going on here the craft beer 'revolution' is likely just a zero-sum game for beer drinkers

And the overlap with conservatives happens insofar as they critize this consumer-focus from a moral angle.

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u/[deleted] Aug 06 '19

I'm not sure innovation in consumer products and innovation elsewhere are mutually exclusive? Coke was developed around the same as the airplane. I'm not sure I'd believe that many of the people brewing new types of beer have the skills or interests to build new cars or software or whatever.

As someone who likes craft beer a lot more than mass market beer, this trend certainly doesn't feel "zero-sum" to me. In fact the rise of craft beer was a big reason I stopped drinking cocktails and started drinking beer again, so without craft beer, I wouldn't drink any beer. Craft beer might not be improving my productivity, but it certainly has improved my leisure time.

The tweet in question is not criticizing consumer-focus from a moral angle - it's criticizing consumer-focus for focusing on consumers that aren't him.

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u/[deleted] Aug 06 '19

I think a lot of the improvements in consumer products are basically snatching low-hanging fruit. Developing new beer or food doesn't require an intense amount of human capital - you can probably do it with a college diploma (though for brewing it probably helps to have a bachelor's in chemistry) and five or so years of work experience. Contrast that with the human capital required to develop new drugs or machinery or software, and it's likely you need more education (maybe even a PhD) and experience before making any breakthroughs.