Capitalism, rivalry and solidarity

A welfare state can be interpreted as an institution that tries to materialize the idea of solidarity. To get a better understanding of the functioning of a welfare state and its competitiveness, this article discusses the concept of "solidarity" and its counterpart "rivalry". In orthodox ethics solidarity is interpreted as a moral imperative; in orthodox economics eventual transfers are costs that must be justified by utilities derived from it (through the avoidance of social unrest for instance). By applying the usual investment formula to decide whether an investment would be profitable, this article shows that decisions about solidarity transfers are influenced by morality, mentality, rationality and the apparent belief systems of the decision takers. Because "modern" sociology does not pay adequate attention to the sources of human rivalry, the contributions of the linguist and anthropologist Girard are discussed to see whether this offers a valuable approach.