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Eat the Rich

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
I have a feeling we'd agree on the policy but disagree in the definitions.
For me "free market" is the naïve idea that "the invisible hand" will regulate markets, a basic tenet of capitalist economic theory.
I think we can agree that that notion is debunked, can we?
Yours is an extreme view. I see free markets with
regulation that benefits capitalism by preventing
monopolies, curbing fraud, & ensuring competence
in critical fields, eg, medicine, real estate, law.

"Free" shouldn't be seen as singularly some extreme
doctrinaire thing, ie, without any limitation...total anarchy.
I see it as including "mostly", "good enuf", "more than the
realistic possible alternatives". I don't do purity.
 
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Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
This is wrong, IMO. We shouldn't let our government do this. The government should not support the rights of one group over the other.

The Congress's main job is the budget. Makes it hard to remove the influence money has on our government.

One thing I didn't understand is how socialism is supposed to fix this?

I agree that it's wrong when government supports the rights of one group (or one class) over another.

I'm not sure how much influence money has on our government, unless we're assuming some level of corruption or conspiracy. Theoretically, money should have no influence over government at all, since no one working in government would be allowed to keep any money for themselves (other than their salary). But if that's not the case, then that would be a good argument for tighter controls on government, but in my experience, I've observed that any proposals for real government reform fall on deaf ears. The primary reason for this has to do with the fact that tighter government controls would entail greater citizen and voter power, which many people are afraid of.

Socialism can fix some of these problems. Ideally, they would ensure a more equitable distribution of resources. From each, according to their abilities; to each, according to their needs.

The main trouble seems to come in when people feel they deserve more than what can be rationally and logically proven. This was a key point I raised in a thread I started a while back called "A challenge to capitalists," specifically addressing the compensation packages received by CEOs and other giants of capitalism - even in companies which were driven into the ground (such as Sears). How do they justify this? I asked if anyone could cite a specific mathematical formula or some logical, rational justification for paying someone such an obscenely high salary when they showed nothing but abject failure. No one could really rise to the challenge, which was somewhat disappointing, but not surprising. It confirmed what I've known all along, that the ways and means of capitalism are decided more through whimsy and frivolity, not through any actual logic or science (even though capitalists seem to view economics as a hard science, as they don't seem to know that economics is actually a social science).
 

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
If people understood capitalism, we wouldn't have it.

One thing that capitalists don't seem to understand about economics is that it's a social science, not a hard science like physics or chemistry. Their lack of understanding on this point is the reason why there is so much misunderstanding and misinformation.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Yes. The people own the means of production. Not. Try again. (Hint: totalitarian dictatorship).

No wonder some Americans see socialism everywhere.
The dictatorship is "the people". Countries will have governments,
be they democratic, monarchic, or dictatorships. All attempts at
socialism have resulted in such authoritarian regimes, eg, China,
Cuba, USSR. They go hand in hand historically & theoretically.
The latter is due to the necessity of an authoritarian government
to enforce socialism & prevent free economic association. This
naturally devolves to social authoritarianism...historically.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
No. That's like saying "heaven would be lovely and hell would be awful" is a double standard. Just two different opinions on two different things.
That misses my point. Judge different systems by the
same standard....not the best of one, & worst of the other.
 

Nakosis

Non-Binary Physicalist
Premium Member
I agree that it's wrong when government supports the rights of one group (or one class) over another.

I'm not sure how much influence money has on our government, unless we're assuming some level of corruption or conspiracy. Theoretically, money should have no influence over government at all, since no one working in government would be allowed to keep any money for themselves (other than their salary). But if that's not the case, then that would be a good argument for tighter controls on government, but in my experience, I've observed that any proposals for real government reform fall on deaf ears. The primary reason for this has to do with the fact that tighter government controls would entail greater citizen and voter power, which many people are afraid of.

Socialism can fix some of these problems. Ideally, they would ensure a more equitable distribution of resources. From each, according to their abilities; to each, according to their needs.

But, I think you'd use the same government that caused the problem in the first place. Socialism may change the mechanism slightly but not the people.

The main trouble seems to come in when people feel they deserve more than what can be rationally and logically proven. This was a key point I raised in a thread I started a while back called "A challenge to capitalists," specifically addressing the compensation packages received by CEOs and other giants of capitalism - even in companies which were driven into the ground (such as Sears). How do they justify this? I asked if anyone could cite a specific mathematical formula or some logical, rational justification for paying someone such an obscenely high salary when they showed nothing but abject failure. No one could really rise to the challenge, which was somewhat disappointing, but not surprising. It confirmed what I've known all along, that the ways and means of capitalism are decided more through whimsy and frivolity, not through any actual logic or science (even though capitalists seem to view economics as a hard science, as they don't seem to know that economics is actually a social science).

They only get what they can get other people to agree to give them. Why these other people agree? :shrug:
The Art of the Deal.

giphy.gif


I make what I make now because I was able to get someone else to agree to pay me this much.

Actually I did research and asked for the average being made for my job.

Why these CEOs get offered so much? IDK, something not within the realm of my understanding.
 

Guitar's Cry

Disciple of Pan
See post #139.

Yeah, ok, I can see it being "socialistic" rather than full-fledged socialism, since that would involve the whole state.

For what it's worth, I think mixing the economy and politics TOO much leads to similar outcomes as mixing religion and politics. I approve of the state having Democratic influence on economic welfare and regulatory power to maintain the general welfare, but having too much economic interest as a politician and political influence as an economic actor is a major problem in my opinion.

This is why I typically support some of the concepts behind Democratic socialism, whether it is really socialism or not.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Yeah, ok, I can see it being "socialistic" rather than full-fledged socialism, since that would involve the whole state.

For what it's worth, I think mixing the economy and politics TOO much leads to similar outcomes as mixing religion and politics. I approve of the state having Democratic influence on economic welfare and regulatory power to maintain the general welfare, but having too much economic interest as a politician and political influence as an economic actor is a major problem in my opinion.

This is why I typically support some of the concepts behind Democratic socialism, whether it is really socialism or not.
A social welfare system financed by capitalism?
 

F1fan

Veteran Member
How many times do people have to remind you that those countries are not socialist? Even back from 2015


Denmark Tells Bernie Sanders It's Had Enough Of His 'Socialist' Slurs


Sweden Isn't Socialist
Hey man, that's OK, because that's what Democrats want to copy, not the Soviets, not venezuela, not Cuba. But conservatives can't win that debate. They have to pin "Socialism" in all it's communism hysteria onto Democrats and explain how horrible it is, and how great the greed that's ruining America is awesome Capitalism.

Conservatives NEVER refer to Sweden or Denmark when the goals of democrats are being discussed as "socialist". Just look through this thread. It's all straw man agruments from conservatives, and totally inaccurate and misrepresented.
 

lewisnotmiller

Grand Hat
Staff member
Premium Member
For not so smart, not so skilled, & not so ambitious people,
capitalism is indeed rough these days. Automation is causing
low skill jobs to disappear. But for the rest, there's much high
paying work available.

It's worth noting that automation (and in a different way, off-shoring) impact on far more than just 'low-skill' jobs.
 

lewisnotmiller

Grand Hat
Staff member
Premium Member
Maybe it is a lame degree, but one has to wonder why colleges and universities would even offer such utterly pointless and useless degrees. I mean, if it's purely for the sake of scholarly research, then it would only have value within academia or perhaps for government research. But even then, such positions would presumably be limited in number.

If people are willing to pay for it, why wouldn't they offer it?
 

Heyo

Veteran Member
One thing that capitalists don't seem to understand about economics is that it's a social science, not a hard science like physics or chemistry. Their lack of understanding on this point is the reason why there is so much misunderstanding and misinformation.
I have a suspicion that the capitalists understand economics - they just lie about it so that we don't.
 

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
But, I think you'd use the same government that caused the problem in the first place. Socialism may change the mechanism slightly but not the people.

Well, ultimately, it'll be up to the people to decide. If the millennials and generation z are moving more towards socialism, then "the people" may be of a different mold in the next generation or two. It's not just political or generational changes either, but also demographic and cultural changes. This doesn't have anything to do with socialism or capitalism, but more just a matter of the people themselves in a state of transition.

Sometimes, change doesn't always come easily, and this seems to be a root cause of much internal dissension of late. I think the key thing is to have a political and economic system which is flexible and adaptable enough to be able to adjust to the changes which are happening both within America and around the world.

They only get what they can get other people to agree to give them. Why these other people agree? :shrug:
The Art of the Deal.

giphy.gif


I make what I make now because I was able to get someone else to agree to pay me this much.

Actually I did research and asked for the average being made for my job.

Why these CEOs get offered so much? IDK, something not within the realm of my understanding.

I understand the basic Capitalism 101 answer. There are many answers one could give to that question, but ultimately, it as you say, someone agreed to pay that much. But as I said earlier, economics is a social science, and as such, it's intricately tied in with political science, philosophy, sociology, and psychology. What people do, what choices they make and why - that can be difficult to predict at any given time.

Economics is really not all that much different from politics, when you really think about it. When people talk about "capitalism vs. socialism," they're really talking about political systems, not really "economic systems."

I don't think that anyone has to worry about "socialism" in the same sense as China or North Korea, at least not in the U.S. I mentioned earlier (either in this thread or another thread) that the US and other Western liberal democracies were spared communist revolutions precisely because the capitalists were willing to make compromises and allow for better wages and working conditions. Things got much better for working people after WW2, as the period is considered one of huge economic growth and an overall increase in standard of living across the board. When people think of all the great things about capitalism, it's this period and beyond which they'll mainly look at.

Nixon and Khrushchev had their famous "kitchen debate" where they were comparing the two systems, and that seems to be the crux of the entire issue between capitalism and socialism. In the end, it usually comes down to "well, we just have more stuff than they do." And that may be true overall, but then there are some who have no stuff at all. That, coupled with the knowledge that much of the "stuff" we have comes from overseas by people working in sweatshops and other such low-wage facilities under horrid conditions, then the question becomes even more complicated.

So, sure, it does work for many people here in America, because...well, we're America, and it just seems to work out well for us, as well as a few other countries closely linked to our economy. That is, it works out for the upper classes, but it never really trickles down as much as one might expect. But overall, it really isn't that bad here.

I just think it would be wise to mindful of the overall situation, both within America and around the world where we do business. As I mentioned earlier, we need to have a system which is flexible and adaptable to a changing world.
 

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
If people are willing to pay for it, why wouldn't they offer it?

I don't know. @Revoltingest was relating an account about a woman whose degree was in international diversity studies, and she was saying that she was trying for hundreds of jobs and getting nowhere. Why no one was offering her a job with that degree is unclear, although it seems that it didn't fit in with whatever skill set employers are seeking. But I don't know what was going on with this person or why she couldn't find a job.

Such a degree is probably similar to what some people would get when I was in college, but usually called "general studies," or some might call it "liberal arts." I think there may have been a time when a college degree in itself (regardless of what major it was in) was a sign of intelligence and refinement which would be an asset to any organization - and someone young enough who can be trained and molded into what they might call "executive material." Even better if they come from the right families.

But it's not really like that anymore, and employers are looking for more specialized skills than just "general studies."
 

Heyo

Veteran Member
It's not capitalism that's failed, it's globalism and corrupt, crony money worship that has failed. Neoliberalism and neoconservatism are both failed ideologies, just like Marxism. The post-WWII order has apparently fallen apart. :shrug:
Globalism and corruption are inevitable results of capitalism and crony money worship is its mantra.
 

ADigitalArtist

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
I don't know. @Revoltingest was relating an account about a woman whose degree was in international diversity studies, and she was saying that she was trying for hundreds of jobs and getting nowhere. Why no one was offering her a job with that degree is unclear, although it seems that it didn't fit in with whatever skill set employers are seeking. But I don't know what was going on with this person or why she couldn't find a job.

Such a degree is probably similar to what some people would get when I was in college, but usually called "general studies," or some might call it "liberal arts." I think there may have been a time when a college degree in itself (regardless of what major it was in) was a sign of intelligence and refinement which would be an asset to any organization - and someone young enough who can be trained and molded into what they might call "executive material." Even better if they come from the right families.

But it's not really like that anymore, and employers are looking for more specialized skills than just "general studies."
In fairness to liberal arts or social studies degree holders, millenials grew up being told by their parents that they had to have a degree, any degree to get by. The college experience is what counts.

Now that classified ads call for a masters degree and two years experience for pretty much anything paying over $10 an hour, the narrative has shifted to 'oh you should have gotten a trade degree or something practical'

The real problem is that wages aren't keeping up with inflation, so higher education won't land you a high paying job or help pay your student loan (which has grown to ridiculous proportions since gen x and Boomers were in school.)

Thus leading to more millennials and genz sticking with generational homes and and refusing to work the abusive service industry very long. To them it's just part of the scam.
 
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