Your dog is not a capitalist

I don’t claim to be an expert on political philosophy (by any stretch) but I do know this: when we conflate the principles of reinforcement with payment for labor, we miss so so much.

Capitalism is a system that relies on coercion.  Capitalism is built on power hierarchies and state-sanctioned violence.  It is man-made and absolutely not a reflection of the inner mechanics of how creatures learn.

The “fair pay for fair work” analogy can be helpful to those new to the concept of reinforcement.  “Pay” a dog (usually with food) for a behavior and you’ll likely see that behavior increase.  In defense of feeding their dog treats, some people say “you wouldn’t work for free, would you?”  But really: if you took away the threats of homelessness, starvation, poverty, sickness, etc, I probably would work for free.  Money is nice but my “working” behaviors are reinforced by a variety of stimuli.  It is only through coercion that the paycheck becomes worth working for.

When you get a paycheck, what behavior does that reinforce?  It’s messy.  There usually isn’t a clear contingency between behavior and outcome.  There are many reinforcers at play. For me, I send clients e-invoices and then a few days later the number in my bank account increases.  I find that reinforcing because it means I can pay rent and buy some more dog treats.  This outcome isn’t really connected to my actual training or coaching behaviors.

There are usually multiple naturally occurring reinforcers at play.  Any behavior that is maintained is being reinforced somewhere.  I write blog posts because it feels good to get my thoughts on paper/screen, and because generating content probably leads to more clients.  Minnow rolls around in the pile of pillows on the bed because it (probably) feels delightful.  I show up on time to sessions to avoid the aversive consequence of a client thinking I’m disorganized, and so I can take some deep breaths in the car before the hour. 

Behavior is morally neutral.  When we say a dog has earned a reward or payment, we’re getting it backwards.  The dog isn’t earning payment.  We’re manipulating outcomes to increase behavior.  

In a society without capitalism - perhaps an anarchist one - behavior is reinforced by knowing that needs have been met.  People (and dogs and everyone else) are taken care of because that is inherently valuable.  That’s what I want for us and the relationships we have with our dogs.

“Anarchism is a philosophy of seeing ourselves and each other as full humans with legitimate needs, and taking each other’s needs as a part of ourselves when we authentically can. You know, like love.” -Anna Mercury

I made some merch with a slogan about how dogs aren’t capitalists.  You can purchase that here.  The irony is 100% not lost on me.

Thank you to the inimitable Kiki Yablon for chatting with me on this subject and being an inspiration always.