“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.” – Adam Smith (Wealth of Nations, published 1776)
This quote is quite significant because it represents capitalism. As author, Simon Sinek would put it, “our ability to enjoy the best dinner we can ever make is as a result of the combined self interests of the butcher, the brewer and the baker.”
According to Adam Smith, the presence of individual self-interests leads to collective prosperity through the “invisible hand” of the market. And this has been the case for so many years since the 18th century.
Over the years, capitalism has helped humanity evolve economically from the hunter-gatherer lifestyle our ancestors practiced. We have grown beyond building isolated economies to creating economies of scale which have opened the floodgates of innovation and creativity. It is the free market Smith referred to that contributed to this growth. Recently, after I stumbled upon an article from the National Library of Medicine website on how certain big economic players are trying to manipulate the invisible hand, I began to question the future of humanity in the light of this “free market”.
Subtle Dangers of the Free Market
In the article, the author wrote about the corporate political activities big companies were involved in for the sake of shareholder satisfaction at the expense of the common good. In this case, the article was about the baby food industry and the lengths their representatives would go to ensure that they remained competitive. Today, it could be about lobbying labour workers to deprive women of maternity leave so as to depend on breastmilk substitutes. Tomorrow it might be something else, but the truth remains that capitalism without conscience, without consideration for its impact on users and society at large, can lead us down a dangerous path.
Capitalism, at its core, is an incredible engine for progress. It has lifted billions out of poverty, spurred technological advancements that have transformed our lives, and created prosperity on an unprecedented scale. From the Industrial Revolution to the Digital Age, capitalism has been the driving force behind many of humanity’s greatest leaps forward.
But allowing capitalism free reign without the balance of user-centred design creates room for self-interests that lead to borderline greed and once we get on that wagon, the end is usually pain and destruction. Ask the Once-ler, a character in Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax”.
In the story, the Once-ler, representing the average capitalist entrepreneur, was in search of the next big idea and found it in “Truffula trees” – a plant that had fluffy leaves which he used to create a new product “the thneed”. The Lorax, a guardian of the environment, after watching the Once-ler innovate several times to meet customer demands, tried to warn the Once-ler about the environmental effects of his business activities. The Once-ler replied with the familiar “Business is business and business must grow…” In the end, everyone lost out, including the Once-ler himself.
In the absence of user-centred design and innovation, similar things happen because companies tend to prioritise shareholder profit over sustainability and the result is usually overexploitation of the vulnerable like mass layoffs to balance books, lobbying political champions to amend policies, creating single-use gadgets to increase market share, campaigning against early breast milk for infants so as to sell more baby formulas, the list is endless.
Capitalism vs Design: Can we have both?
Capitalism is fantastic. We can see that in years of research some companies have done just to stay ahead of competition, and this is not a case against the free market. It is a simple call to create a balance.
User-centred design is an approach that puts the needs, desires, and well-being of users at the heart of the design process. It’s about designing products, services, and systems that not only generate profit but also genuinely improve people’s lives and contribute positively to society.
We need Innovation that doesn’t just disrupt for the sake of disruption, but that solves real problems and creates genuine value for users and society. And in order to do this, we need to prioritise long-term thinking in our product design processes, we need to focus on stakeholder value not just shareholder value (by stakeholders, I mean employees, everyday users, the society, the environment), we need to employ ethical design into every phase of the innovation process.
Conclusion
Capitalism, when rooted in competition and innovation, has the potential to transform lives and societies for the better. But without ethical guardrails and a focus on user-centred design, it risks becoming a vehicle for exploitation and harm.
The baby food industry’s unethical practices are not isolated; they are symptoms of a broader trend where profit trumps purpose. To ensure humanity thrives, we must demand a form of capitalism that innovates for people, protects the planet, and operates with integrity. Only then can Adam Smith’s vision of markets serving the public good be fully realised.
[image of the Once-ler credit: Dr Seuss Fandom]
