VOL. 2 ISSUE 7
NOVEMBER 2026
Real needs and wants, not “money votes”, should determine what is produced and innovated..
Aqua Car with watermelon umbrella. Photograph by Lies On
Phil Hall is a college lecturer. He is a committed socialist and humanist. Phil grew up in East Africa and settled in Kingston-upon-Thames. He has also lived and worked in Ukraine, Spain, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Abu Dhabi. Phil has blogged for The Guardian, the Morning Star, and several other publications, and he has written stories for The London Magazine. He started Ars Notoria in May 2020.
CAPITALIST & SOCIALIST INNOVATION
In a classic 1951 British Ealing Studios satire called The Man in the White Suit, starring Sir Alec Guinness, Guinness plays Sidney Stratton, a research chemist working at a Northern England textile mill. He develops a revolutionary synthetic fibre that is completely indestructible and dirt-repellent. The mill owners realise that if people only ever need to buy one suit or pair of trousers in their lifetime, textile empires will collapse. So they lock Sidney up and try to bribe or force him to hand over the formula. Just as they corner him, his suit disintegrates off his body.
Capitalism does not innovate for human need, but for profit. It suppresses useful, long-wearing technology when that technology threatens artificial scarcity, built in obsolescence and profit margins. Of course, nowadays the idea of an indestructible plastic coat horrifies us, but it would not have horrified people living in post-war Britain.
Innovation is something capitalism boasts of, and it used its proud record in innovation to attack socialism, especially during the so called ‘Cold War’. The Soviets were famous for the relative simplicity and durability of their products. Though it should be noted that they did put a satellite and a human (a man and a woman) and a small dog called Laika into space before anyone else managed it.
First, let’s give a respectful nod in the direction of the enormous creative and productive power of capitalism before launching into a critique. Note that slavery was also productive and impressive system from the time of ancient Greece and Rome to the time of the Caribbean and southern US plantations. The Colosseum was built by slaves, and the aqueducts, too. Few people will rush to the defence of slave owners in the 21st century. More will sally forth to defend capitalism.
MORE CRITICISM & IDEAS FROM THE NOVEMBER ISSUE
Capitalist versus Socialist Innovation
Phil Hall. An economic comparison of how market-driven and state/public frameworks work to foster technological development.
Have You Been the Victim of Epistemic Terrorism?
Phil Hall. A critical essay on psychological gaslighting, information warfare, and narrative manipulation using AI.
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