I love Alain de Botton's writing but every time he says a company is trying to "fix a deep psychological need" what he is actually saying is "monetise deep philosophical needs" and that is terrifying to me.

can't wait for that moment when i can call kelloggs in the morning for some emotional support before i start the day

so, monetize the higher needs will bring us a brighter future? sounds for me more like a nightmare.

This is what happens when you go to Dragon School, Harrow, and Cambridge.... You don't actually know most of the common people...no matter how good your intentions are.

1. I enjoy reading the comments of others. It's clear De Botton has touched a nerve and the response is thoughtful and considerate (by and large). My own two bits: Everything Capitalism builds crumbles, rotts, dissipates, (ages or becomes dated) breaks down or is consumed (and then pooped!). But that's true of all our products no matter what system produces them. The point being, things can't fill the hole in your soul but having basic needs met is a pre-requisite for living a satisfying life. The work we do must produce that much: provide a basic but good quality of habitat, food, education (culture), HEALTH CARE, clothing. Then we can give ourselves the "extras": snowmobiles, infinity pools, second and third homes, a luxury car for each member of the family! Right? Oh, have I missed something? Like how are we supposed to get those "extras" when we're still paying for the very basics? Oh well, THAT'S WHY PEOPLE HATE CAPITALISM.

I have difficulties getting past the fact that he is independently wealthy. I suppose that is how he was able to spend so much time reading, thinking philosophising, which I would love to do, but as a 'worker ' have to spend most of my time slaving and recovering from said slaving.

a lot of people there have a face of "this is not what i signed up for"

He missed the whole point. You can't sell human experience, the higher needs. Those need to be experienced, be genuine. People don't hate capitalism because they are not as happy as the people they saw in an add. Or how many different things you can buy. They could be hating it because maybe they can't afford the necessities, they can't experience genuine human needs because they are overworked or worried about how they are going to get those basic ones. The problem of capitalism is not how it treats it's customers, but how it treats it's workers.

If he thinks facebook is an example of modern capitalism solving our psychological needs he obviously hasn't used it. Social media is a disaster for mental health.

I don't agree that most companies target the bottom of Maslow's pyramid. Premium brands like Mercedes, Patek-Philippe and many others help customers increase their authority which is above basic needs. But companies cannot meet higher-order needs. You can't pay money to get self-realisation. Money can't buy you happiness. This is so valuable because only limited number of people can achieve that through dedication, hard work, sweat, blood and tears. There's no workaround (product) for that.

Isn't he adorable. I could listen to him for hours. Also what great sense of humor.

Facebook is not to combat loneliness but for public exhibition (showing off). The bonfire of vanities.

Totally misses the point, that's for sure not why people dislike capitalism.

This video somehow made me more anti-capitalist

Tatjana P. Rava,

listen- his beauty is in how he speaks, it is amazing

I like Alain very much and have read his books and seen countless videos with him. But he is a good philosopher, not a good economist. He was born in wealthy Switzerland, comes from a middle upper class family and did an ivy league university (not to study economics), basically has eaten the best fruit from the capitalist tree, he would never advocate to cut it down. He's ill equipped to tackle economic theory and practice for humanity. It's like a biologist taking on astronomy. If you're interested in capitalism listen to Piketty or read books and magazines written by the Economist if you're more conservative. If you love philosophy like me stick with Alain.

I do appreciate Alain's push for a better world. But I think he is mixing things that don't work together. First, that there is a clear dichotomy between what capitalism does that would be to serve the material and physical world and the need for a more spiritual and emotional understanding of the world. Capitalism by design is made to create more needs that we actually already have. Spiritual and emotional intelligence is about having fewer needs and rather a better focus on the important things in life. I think we should go the opposite way, have fewer machines helping us create relationships and more real world talking and hanging out. The same example he made can be used as an argument: Facebook. It was built to make us closer and happier when actually it hasn't changed anything, in fact, it has probably made things worse. By design, capitalism is about the individual, and this makes us feel more lonely. Instead of having machines trying to tell us how to be happy. I think we need a new spiritual and cultural reference that is separate from religions, but that has its same objectives (how to live a happy and purposeful life). As Nice one said "God is dead" and that is true, spirituality is dead, and capitalism has replaced it. Yes, machines can help us with making things easier. But they just cannot solve the problem of us having breakfast and fighting with our spouse or us having an unhappy travel. That is up to us, our perspective and approach on life. This has to be embedded in our culture and upbringing. Capitalism can numb the pain for a while but can't solve the underlying contradictions of human nature. In fact, often by numbing them they grow and end up making the problem bigger than when it started.

I'll believe that for-profit businesses can / want to fulfill eudaemonic happiness when I see it. In fact, I see the trend going in just the opposite direction. I see them creating addictive products, and delivering those addictive products with as few employees as possible. Result: a society full of addicted, unemployed people.

Alain de Botton is such a helpful human being!