capitalism

  • Started 15 years ago
  • Last post 9 days ago
  • 1,400 Responses
  • yuekit1

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/b…

    The average net worth of Americans 35 and younger is less than $8,000, down one third vs. 22 years ago.

    During that time the cost of everything (food, education, healthcare, housing) has increased by as much as 65% while income has stayed the same.

    • Yes well 35 year olds better realize their parents aren't dying anytime soon, as well, so they still have a nice place to crash for some years...robotron3k
    • you know all about that, huh?monospaced
    • America's future looks bright.utopian
    • did 22 years ago they have access to what they do now? which is more important measure of success
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    • planned 2% inflation does no favors to savings or costs.
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    • but we do know todays wages seem to buy more than 22 years ago despite the inflation.
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    • as far as healthcare and education those 2 are on gov made inflationary scales that will never work out
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    • The life expectancy curve is dropping. So smartphones and the illusion of healthcare access does not a better people make.imbecile
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  • PhanLo0

  • colin_s1

    i cannot understand in this day and age how money and capitalism are lauded, or even defended.

    yes it is true no -ism, structure or system of government has ever succeeded past a certain epoch - yet to blame the system itself is to blame the tool and not the carpenter.

    to give a single human, or perhaps a small cabal of them, grotesque power over the fates of all others, will introduce god knows what kind of psychological complexes and ideas of self-validation ... that revolting ayn rand piece is a great example of how rich white men pat themselves on the back for their (often un-earned) wealth, because it distances money from negative action or consequence yet still esteems it as a "moral center."

    socialism is not the answer, but it is a step in the right direction - capitalism is a system that promotes greed, corruption, envy... it is inherently divisive for the sake of markets instead of supportive of humanism for the sake of society. it is inherently corrupt and deceitful. there is nothing dignified or honorable about capitalism or those who would support it as a proper ideology.

    yes power does corrupt and at the upper tiers of all systems there exists a leader gone mad. that is the failure of humans to design and maintain systems of government that can keep pace with the size of empire, and our lack of ability to create and keep in check forms of government from local to international.

    the point is that these things take time, and to abandon that effort is the ultimate form of selfish denial; a "take the money and run" mentality that has already lead america to a place of national misery (regardless of political ideology), and the world to the brink of collapse, while the elites will continue to hoard wealth because their capitalist fantasies DO work - just only for them - and the rest obviously are the ones at fault.

    • "has lead america to a place of national misery" and "the world to the brink of collapse" LOLOL OKnb
    • more people are being pulled out of poverty than ever before. So what do you suggest? Until something takes it's place it will continue to evolve like natureIanbolton
    • lots of people at the bottom have more faith in capitalism than socialism to get them out of poverty- it works for a lot of people, not all of whom are the 1%Fax_Benson
    • I highly recommend you to read the book: Sapiens - the history of humankind. It will give you a glimpse how we got to this point.zaq
    • and lots of people see socialism as something that is done to the working class, rather than for them - or more importanly, by them.Fax_Benson
    • people need education and work, I don't care how you call the system but to be sustainable it must be productive, if not just look at Venezuelaernexbcn
    • they managed to ruin a country in just 20 years, money doesn't come from the trees, an economy needs to be productive in order to sustain itself and a societyernexbcn
    • if you could pick and choose policies, it would sell, but it always seems to come with ideological rules and caveats and crazy people attached.Fax_Benson
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    • "in the darkness, we found the light"
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  • NBQ000

    Here he is again

  • PhanLo0

    Lol. Lighten up mate.

    • Can anyone really be that stupid?Gnash
    • Capitalism sucks.imbecile
    • capitalism totally sucks
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  • ********
    -7

    ukit

    You should read the road to serfdom. theres a version with intro by milton friedman. So many academical points in it and one the the most poignant ones to me was hayek concern about writing it. Something along his background wasn't economics, and writing it pissed off even people he respected who declared the book rubbish without reading it. It really challenged some concepts that probably could only be seen by those not involved. It probably is still one of the most valuable insights today into state/vs/individual systems and direct reasons for actions involved.

    it is boring, especially if you know where it is going but also some sections that reminds you he'd love for some social control a better mechanism. in it all some human condition honestly asking for a lil central control. i dont deny that desire i'd love to be taken care of as much as anyone else. i just understand the involvment, and what it entails and the freedoms needed to check for it . Not my thing. I'll live dangerously without the best buy insurance.

    I also think you have to read it to have real understanding of the situation. Well can read and not relate, but its up there with should be mandatory 5th grade stuff.

    • You seem to share the same belief with people on the left that just because something is written down in a book or in an academic paper that it proves somethingyuekit
    • only if it makes sense.
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    • which is the
      big difference.
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    • but have you read the book?
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    • the whole hayek vs keynes economic approach in which best supports middleclass
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    • its wort really looking into if you continue to choose your flavor of belief
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    • but your approach to written down bullshit is on par to what i think of human climate change. fools write shit your idiots believe it
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    • OMG man made climate change is gonna ruin world, says sponsored academics in academic journals... you see the joke right when ignoring the substance
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  • utopian1

    World economy ‘one step away from global recession'

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u…

    • a much larger issue than trump. in the scheme of things trump is b string
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    • Capitalism in a nutshell
      https://en.wikipedia…
      utopian
    • Lol every time I see this pic. This is the exact face my son made as a bday when he was pooping. I know I have a pic somewhereGnash
    • *babyGnash
    • haha has nothing to do with capitalism utopian. more a huge mess of gov and monetary policy
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  • ********
    -6

    I wonder how many people who are not really on board with capitalism is due to a survivor guilt type thing. They have never experienced any hardships, like real hardships not being able to afford a spendy purse doesn't count. Like needing to make your own cloths. 15k for a trailer as super spendy. skipping meals. They just really hop not to experience such things and want to support things that allow them never to have to experience such things.

    Without a doubt all these politicians in the big league have never lived in any such fashion. immigrants still see more to this country than its inhabitants trying to change shit.

    How many have truely been poor? what did u learn from it? and how did capitalism effect your thinking and life? Lets get some real life home examples of things.

    • why the fuck do you associate capitalism with being poor? it's about means of control, compensation for labor and power against privatizationcolin_s
    • it isn't about the poor not getting rich it's about the rich using various means of oppression and violence to keep things in their favorcolin_s
    • and it's about the fact we're all people and equal and if you think a system should be for creating inequality, then honestly, go fuck yourself.colin_s
    • Rich people don't care much about politics, other than taxes etc. True fanatics of captalism/libertaria... who really burn for the ideology, are all bumsdrgs
    • poor as a church mouse, A true fact, from which sociologists have yet to find an exception.drgs
    • libertarianism/capit... is a cargo cult, ie. if you pretend to be rich, behave the same way, have the same ideology as rich peopledrgs
    • and all the things that bums think rich people do, they think they will get closer to the source of money, so to speakdrgs
    • i associate it because I find those who have been poor and done well are more likely to be free market capitalists.
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    I feel there's great semantic dissonance in this here thread, people arguing for or against different things using the same term; which is usually a waste of time.

    1. capitalism as the concept in the marxist sense, including class theory, materialism according to marx, engels and all its derivatives of the last 150 years

    vs.

    2. capitalism as a concept in a strictly economical sense, politically neutral

    3. capitalism as the libertarian concept, socio-economically

    vs.

    3. capitalism as pedestrian substitute for the [free market economy] vs [centrally planned economy] binary

    vs.

    4. capitalism as the assumed political antagonist of democracy and policies of social welfare, redistribution, equality of opportunity (see marxism)

    vs.

    5. capitalism as simplified and assumed cause of all kinds of selective immoral/excessive exploitations of the economic and political systems by individual or group actors in assumed positions of power (see marxism)

    "the rich", kinda assumes poor people are more equal than others

    • Agreed!T-Dawg
    • arnt those just all different perceptions of capitalism ends. not capitslism
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    • an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.
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  • ********
    1

    I can't really relate stuff like this to capitalism:

    "it's about means of control, compensation for labor and power against privatization, it isn't about the poor not getting rich it's about the rich using various means of oppression and violence to keep things in their favor"

    this can basically be said about any political or economic system that has ever been and has ever been imagined. like way way back to pre-sapiens time really. doesn't matter what theory system you apply.

    corruption is inherent in the human condition. doesn't mean it can't be adressed in a systematic way, but definitely not by calling it a name ("capitalism", "the devil"). shit's more complex than that.

    • It annoys me when idealisms entirely forget the realities of human nature.Nairn
    • Well that description is mostly opinion. Far from textbook definition. People tend to add their bias and blame things that have nothing to do with anything
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    • it inherently can't be faulted for anything unlike other systems. It is a system of freedom where everyone gets to decide the value.
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    • Peopel make dumb decisions but the self correcting chasing self interests finds corrections. Other systems are collective. Meaning no equality. Some are going
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    • to decide for others. and knowing how fallible humans are without spreading that risk wide you are bound to fail. Society shouldnt be though of as a trump busin
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    • ess or some non profit charity church. Where everyone works for someone else.
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  • colin_s0
  • colin_s0

    ugh

    • "So the comparison is not exactly meaningful"colin_s
    • haha, fantastic journalism. $248.5 billion is not more than $0, okayy.kingsteven
    • if you adjusted or debt it would be actually what? 66%, 75% of the poorest have wealth of the top 3??kingsteven
    • valued wealth is hardly liquid. donating shares make more sense than donating money.
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    • voluntarily collectivisation of the means of production? that's the spirit deathboy!kingsteven
    • I had a wee look at this report last night, it seems it does take in to consideration that 1/5 american households have no wealth...kingsteven
    • and plucks figures from all over the place, but does seem to be quite conservative in its estimations...kingsteven
    • to come up with the "3 people have more wealth than the bottom half" soundbite. wp seems to be invalidating it on behalf of the rich on the basis of "yeah, butkingsteven
  • hotroddy-3

    <thread>socialism cannot exist without capitalism. </thread>

    • Oversimplification does quite well on its own, however.MrT
    • simplicity is the beauty of it.hotroddy
    • because you wants to hear me argue 28 side notes?hotroddy
    • no, I wouldn't last that long. It's OK for us to disagree.MrT
    • socialism without capitalism is communism you nutjob... i think you mean 'fascism cannot exist without capitalism'kingsteven
    • If your claim is that socialism without capitalism is no longer socialism then you are confirming hotroddy's statement.deadsperm
    • as far as i'm aware there are no communists on qbn, the thread is 'capitalism' most of the posts relate to inequality within a capitalist systemkingsteven
    • some folks advocate social democratic ideas (which is not socialism, not even inherently anti-liberal) and the brainwashed anti-communists chime in with theirkingsteven
  • NBQ000

  • kingsteven15

    • lol. The cubans and venezuelans are the ones burning woodsticks for fuel. the peasants in the USA are driving a 2019 ford focus.hotroddy
    • https://i.ibb.co/c2k…pango
    • how about forget all the ism and just take care of people?pango
    • https://i.imgur.com/…kingsteven
    • https://is.gd/NxA1Kv…kingsteven
    • < the original of this cartoon is much better tbf, feel bad for modifying it.kingsteven
    • norway.. a country that wouldn't exist today without the USAhotroddy
    • the soviets liberated Norway you fucking spoon.kingsteven
  • i_monk-2

    • http://reductress.co…imbecile
    • well.. in venezuela you can't find any insulin after pharmacies were expropriated by gov't to reduce the prices on medicine.hotroddy
    • and now it doesn't matter whether or not you cannot afford bc you cannot find.hotroddy
    • Freedom Fighters!utopian
    • thats socialism perfectionism. its not in the interests of the town to subsidize one woman. but collectively they could cover her funeral costs for the bigger
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    • ACE socialism example!
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    • all for one for the greater good!
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    • i mean reductress is satirecolin_s
  • PhanLo3
  • colin_s3