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Before Capitalism: How This System Took Over the World
Season 1 · Episode 4 · 1 Dec 2025
Show notes
Is capitalism dying? If so, what comes next? To answer that question, we first need to look at what we did before capitalism, and how this economic system came to dominate the globe.
We journey through time, when our ancient ancestors lived in small communities and shared what they had, up to the beginnings of the early trade systems of ancient Mesopotamia.
Discover the alternative systems humans have experimented along the way - including birth and collapse of feudalism, which eventually led to the rise of capitalism. And explore what might come next, from a de-growth economy to a world where AI and robots do everything for us.
Chapters
Why capitalism is being challenged
Life before economic systems
Barter and early trade systems
Tribute and redistribution economies
Feudalism and the birth of hierarchies
Early alternatives to capitalism
The birth of capitalism
Alternatives today
A growing movement
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