I know this place is festering with greedy capitalists. And I know the first response is going to be 'Shut up socialist!' or 'Communists are just as bad' or any weak deflection...I mean, deflection of the weak. Here's what we know: Capitalism is full force right now. There's no magic 'extra level' of capitalism that we haven't achieved. There's no rainbow at the end of the race to the bottom. There's only haves, slaves and dead people. As capitalism moves forward, slaves become more and more and their upward mobility into the haves class diminishes exponentially. Only when capitalism is challenged do we get something closer to a system that truly is free for everyone, not just a few. For instance, when slavery was abolished from legality in the US, that was a huge economic moment. Much of the south was about to lose ALL of that FREE labor, all of that time they used to have to enjoy their own life due to reliance on forced labor which they gained all the benefits from...it was economic as well as racial, but pointing to people of a different persuasion gives capitalism fangs and it bites...a lot. That said, it's pretty apparent that capitalism is completely unstable, has never been stable, and will continue to be unstable, if not crash down around us completely at some point, especially with climate change threatening droughts that wil disrupt food for millions of people in the near future. It's my opinion, if we don't have a discussion about what to do with capitalism and instead continue to hold it up as a false prophet of unity, all that (*)(*)(*)(*) people wanted Trump in office to fix here will continue, we'll see more radicalism, even from the left and right, as capitalism eats away at the socieities around the world we as groups of people, as countries put together...international corporations have been and will continue to erode and manipulate these governments to suit their owners, and thus will own you...if you do not run your government, you are not free. The US doesn't run it's own government, we are not free and capitalism has been the enabler... Let's do something about this.
Oh for pity sake, Capitalism is running full bore the way my 90 year old mother plays 18 holes of golf every day. (Shes been dead for 2 years now) You can't have full bore capitalism and be spending half of GDP on government. To believe other wise is to engage in fantasy.
Nope. He was right. Capitalism is not static. It evolves and changes while still being capitalism. It rewards fewer and fewer capitalists as it evolves because every businessman seeks to eliminate competition. It's the truth. Live with it.
I rather be fed then "free", as though there has ever been a time when we were "free". Also your time has come and gone you Communist lunatic , sorry to be redundant.
It isn't capitalism when the state is essentially running it. State Capitalism is a contradiction in terms, a fig leaf designed to cover the fact that government is utterly incapable of running a self sustaining economy over the long haul.
Capitalism isn't the problem. Capitalism has risen the standard of living beyond anything in human history. Croney capitalism is an actual problem where the state picks winners and losers. Those that a are against capitalism want to inflate the states power thereby exacerbating the problem.
I'd rather be free first.... THEN fed. - - - Updated - - - So far, the biggest problem in this thread is education and knowledge.
Capitalism works best with Free Markets, which are virtually non-existent in the US. Move the US toward a Free Market Economy and we'll see how Capitalism works then.
As long as we have some form of capitalism and some form of competition we will have some form of freedom. The proof of the pudding is in the eating -- look at the number of people who move here and look at the number of people who move from here. It ain't perfect but it's the best around.
There are equally as many stuck up Communists and social democrats who think they're hot sh**, that they've got all the answers, and that nobody else is worth listening to and must be shouted down at every opportunity. There are stubborn people on all sides. I like numbered points. 1. The idea that we live under anything comparable to full-force Capitalism is a joke. Our system is more like one wherein the state asserts ownership and leases things out under numerous conditions. You don't have control of your body (an issue on which I am sure we agree), let alone your property. Try selling raw milk. Try doing anything whatsoever with your property without the permission of the state. Control of the means of production is crucial, I agree - which is why we have a Capitalist rather than a Communist economy, but there's more to it than that. Property implies rights which are not being respected. 2. What would you call a society where private individuals "own" the means of production, but 100% of all income is seized by the state and allocated according to the will of the democracy? Still "Capitalism in full force"? 3. The main problem we are facing (in terms of what brought Trump to power) is not Capitalism, but the a) price floors, and/or b) the lack of protectionism. Both the doing of the state. There is a good which can only be purchased internationally: labor under $7.25/hr. 4. Both Communism and anarcho-Capitalism are great ideas, but neither take into account the fact that politics is power relations + ethics, not just ethics. Both are unstable power structures which a strongman can easily exploit. Communism has existed - the Paris Commune, the Catalonia Revolutionaries, Russia in 1917, etc. Say what you want about Capitalism, it's a stable power structure. Similar to the Democratic peace.
