The use of economic language, market logic, and capitalist frameworks to defend positions that serve elite interests while appearing neutral or inevitable. Capitalist Sophism invokes "market forces," "efficiency," and "incentives" as if they were natural laws, ignoring the power structures, inequalities, and externalities that markets produce. It's sophistry in service of the status quo: using the language of economics to obscure the reality of exploitation.
"Privatizing water is more efficient, they said—ignoring that efficiency meant profit, not access. Capitalist Sophism: market logic as moral argument, economics as ethics. The sophistry lies in treating efficiency as the only value, ignoring justice, equity, and life itself."
by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal March 7, 2026
Get the Capitalist Sophism mug.