Current Events > Capitalism gets brought up in every topic on this board

(+) Yeah! (+)

This place is becoming reddit lite

Maybe if capitalism wasn't complete dogshit it wouldn't be the main thing people complain about everywhere.

Wrong.

ToteAll posted...

It's funny to think you're not even aware just how much capitalism has to do with you being priviledged enough to be on the minority of the world that can complain about capitalism on an electronic device on the Internet, while presumably being fed, sheltered and educated.

Nah, he had it right the first time. Just because things "cOuLD Be wORsE!!" doesn't mean Capitalism isn't still complete dogshit.

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He thinks hes one of the capitalists.

I just checked multiple topics at random and they had no mention of capitalism. This topic is a lie.

It has a big impact on stuff

Nope, my topics are politics free >_>

Edit: Then again its usually only me posting in the long ones lol

Heineken14 posted...

I just checked multiple topics at random and they had no mention of capitalism. This topic is a lie.

My topic on Wonka is the epitome of capitalism.

Heineken14 posted...

I just checked multiple topics at random and they had no mention of capitalism. This topic is a lie.

That's capitalism for ya

I can't wait until like 3 companies own virtually everything and we're all just renting from them on their terms while living through the climate apocalypse and people are still saying "CaPiTaLiSm hAs lIFteD mOrE pEoPlE oUt oF PoVeRTy"

Phoro posted...

That's capitalism for ya

The invisible hand if you will.

ToteAll posted...

Socialism is when no electronics!

You're right. It's getting out of hand. I might have a problem.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/400-current-events/80520899

capitalism or conservatives

its pretty funny the way people work these two things into every topic

ToteAll posted...

It's funny to think you're not even aware just how much capitalism has to do with you being priviledged enough to be on the minority of the world that can complain about capitalism on an electronic device on the Internet, while presumably being fed, sheltered and educated.

Ah, a relative privation fallacy. Classic.

It impacts literally every aspect of our lives

ToteAll posted...

It's funny to think you're not even aware just how much capitalism has to do with you being priviledged enough to be on the minority of the world that can complain about capitalism on an electronic device on the Internet, while presumably being fed, sheltered and educated.

I'm fully aware of the positives of capitalism. I just don't think they outweigh the negatives, particularly in the years to come

It's just the dominant socio-political system that controls your life and the life of damn near everyone on the planet. It's also currently killing the planet and driving us towards fascism. But you're right, I guess we should talk about it less.

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I dont buy that from any of them.

How does anyone look at capitalists country's vs non ones and generally believe it's doing them no favors? And when did a billion $$ become the baseline for success here?

Hell most of those people don't even know how much our current social programs cost. How much debt we're in because of them, and actually believe billionaires could somehow cover the yearly cost.

wow something that pervades literally every element of life in western civilization gets brought up a lot? That is nuts.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Exactly

Prismsblade posted...

Hell most of those people don't even know how much our current social programs cost. How much debt we're in because of them, and actually believe billionaires could somehow cover the yearly cost.

By all means, educate us

Prismsblade posted...

I dont buy that from any of them.

How does anyone look at capitalists country's vs non ones and generally believe it's doing them no favors? And when did a billion $$ become the baseline for success here?

Hell most of those people don't even know how much our current social programs cost. How much debt we're in because of them, and actually believe billionaires could somehow cover the yearly cost.

The non-capitalist countries were/are all some combination of wartorn, sabotaged, colonized, couped, etc. The capitalist countries are prospering at the cost of the planet and the global poor. And it's all temporary because it's killing the planet.

You're touting capitalism, and yet criticizing some of the social programs that have made it even marginally tolerable, you seem to want an even worse version.

ForsakenHermit posted...

Exactly

The capitalism you're talking about only existed for a few decades in some places, in the middle of the 20th century. It was largely funded by colonialism and the even more ruthless exploitation of the global poor than we have now. And it's been slowly rolled back or outright killed since the 70s by the very same people benefitting the most from the current system and they're not giving the power back. There's social democracy to be had when the capital class buys the media, the legislatures, and the courts, and makes it borderline or outright illegal for people to organize to win that social democracy. And again, the structure of capitalism just has that social democracy get eroded, even if you manage to win it.

legendary_zell posted...

The non-capitalist countries were/are all some combination of wartorn, sabotaged, colonized, couped, etc. The capitalist countries are prospering at the cost of the planet and the global poor. And it's all temporary because it's killing the planet.

You don't suppose it's more likely most of those countrys just had a crappy system that peaked early, couldn't compete, fell behind and failed? Or is it just easier to accuse captilsim of sabotaging them?

Also it's people and their demand that's destroying the world, not captilsim. But most can't accept that pill and it's only solution so it's easier to blame captilsim again.

legendary_zell posted...

You're touting capitalism, and yet criticizing some of the social programs that have made it even marginally tolerable, you seem to want an even worse vversion.

Idk what made you think I was criticizing it but I wasn't. Most people are just ignorant of it's cost, want more from it and the elites to pay for it. But it's not that simple.

Id prefer to hear from someone who understands that they arent a capitalist.

I wish there was a different system we could use other than Capitalism...

Prismsblade posted...

You don't suppose it's more likely most of those countrys just had a crappy system that peaked early, couldn't compete, fell behind and failed? Or is it just easier to accuse captilsim of sabotaging them?

Are you denying that they were in fact sabotaged? They made a lot of mistakes to be sure, I'm not a defender of authoritarian communism, that system killed a lot of people. But these were some of the first attempts at an alternative and they were attempted under horrible conditions. And they did some things right. Furthermore, those weren't the only socialist/leftist experiments. The US/West/Capitalist countries also killed all attempts at non-authoritarian experiments in Central America, Africa, Asia, and Europe.

I don't know what would have happened if they'd been allowed to develop without fear and violence, but I do know that sabotage works and support works.

Also it's people and their demand that's destroying the world, not captilsim. But most can't accept that pill and it's only solution so it's easier to blame captilsim again.

Demand is in large part shaped by Capitalism. That's one of the central elements of the system, it relies on endless growth and endless consumption. That's led directly to increased exploitation of natural resources and increased emissions. Additionally, the interests of capital are the exact interests who blocked, falsified, and downplayed the effects of emissions on the climate. The people would want a different world if they knew what was actually being done to it and have always wanted a transition to a more sustainable economy, but current business interests didn't want that, and here we are.

Idk what made you think I was criticizing it but I wasn't. Most people are just ignorant of it's cost, want more from it and the elites to pay for it. But it's not that simple.

Maybe it's the fact that you were focusing on the debt we're in because of them and not the fact that they're necessary and the only thing keeping tens of millions of people out of abject poverty. And that there could have been a lot less debt with higher taxes.

ToteAll posted...

Yes, most people. Most CE socialist warriors do not, they want to burn down the system that allows them to live comfy lives.

capitalism needs an exploited underclass. the wealthiest capitalist nations have outsourced that underclass, to varying extents, to other nations.

so yes, to some extent it does allow them to live comfy lives; but that comfort comes at the expense of millions of other people around the world. it's also deteriorating, and will deteriorate more quickly with climate change

legendary_zell posted...

Are you denying that they were in fact sabotaged? They made a lot of mistakes to be sure, I'm not a defender of authoritarian communism, that system killed a lot of people. But these were some of the first attempts at an alternative and they were attempted under horrible conditions. And they did some things right. Furthermore, those weren't the only socialist/leftist experiments. The US/West/Capitalist countries also killed all attempts at non-authoritarian experiments in Central America, Africa, Asia, and Europe.

"authoritarianism" is a buzzword. it's applicable to basically any functioning state. in order for any society to meaningfully resist western imperialism, they will need to have some sort of authority in place

Capitalism.

I like to be thankful for what I have

But maybe my imagination could use some work

PowerfulSageIRL posted...

"authoritarianism" is a buzzword. it's applicable to basically any functioning state. in order for any society to meaningfully resist western imperialism, they will need to have some sort of authority in place

I agree that most existing states are authoritarian and that the word can be used as a cudgel. But that doesn't mean there aren't degrees to it. The US is authoritarian in some respects, especially if you don't live a life useful to capital, but I can call Joe Biden or even Trump or Bush a poopyhead while they're in power. I can relatively openly be a leftist. I could even call for revolution, as long as I don't take any violent acts towards it. In Stalinist Russia, or current NK, or Maoist China, that....wouldn't go well. Those states crushed any and all dissent, individual or organized, and had the power to kill millions or make uncheckable decisions that did so. In contrast, this state mostly focuses on violent dissent and dissent that gets a little too well organized, or controls through poverty and incarceration.

TLDR: there are levels to this shit.

Okay, TC. I want you to link to a post mentioning capitalism in literally every topic on this board. Every single one. Do it.

The current system really isn't what capitalism was meant to be. It's more cronyism/plutocracy

The thing that really doesn't make sense though is middle/lower class people simping for billionaires.

Like every topic complaining about some unethical thing a rich person did or making fun of Elon Musks latest boneheaded move, there's always at least one or two people in there hardcore simping and defending the poor billionaires from criticism.

ToteAll posted...

It's funny to think you're not even aware just how much capitalism has to do with you being priviledged enough to be on the minority of the world that can complain about capitalism on an electronic device on the Internet, while presumably being fed, sheltered and educated.

Youre giving capitalism credit for the good and stability of secular liberal democracy.

Many of poor developing countries you are comparing the US to are also the product of capitalism, too, but they are the exploited rather than the exploiter.

ToteAll posted...

Alternatively, tell me what system would be better,

Don't need to. That doesn't make criticism of capitalism invalid. As said above, most people want regulation, not "burning the whole thing down." Very few people are advocating for socialism or communism, just like how very few people are actually calling for the abolition of police. We just want accountability.

You sound like the kind of person who, upon hearing anything even remotely critical of the rich, start yelling "damn commie traitors!" Because you think it's still the Cold War and your national identity (which you've tied to capitalism = our freedom and socialism = those dirty Russians/Chinese) is being threatened.

BunkerBoy posted...

The current system really isn't what capitalism was meant to be. It's more cronyism/plutocracy

The thing that really doesn't make sense though is middle/lower class people simping for billionaires.

Like every topic complaining about some unethical thing a rich person did or making fun of Elon Musks latest boneheaded move, there's always at least one or two people in there hardcore simping and defending the poor billionaires from criticism.

"Cronyism" is the eventual and inevitable endgame of capitalism though. Economic and political power are deeply intertwined.

ToteAll posted...

CE should really start printing this on sweat/stain resistant T-shirts.

But no, you're, again, thinking of neoliberalism.

Alternatively, tell me what system would be better, without rampant poverty, forced birth control, hunger, etc. By all means, I'm all ears.

Your defenses are inherently contradictory. You're ascribing all of the negative aspects of capitalism to neoliberalism. But that's exactly the system we have. That's been the dominant economic system for decades now. That IS capitalism as we know it. But then you're also saying it's brought unprecedented riches. It can't be one or the other, the best case for you is that it's both.

All forms of capitalism, including whatever mythical, ahistorical version you're thinking of has a domestic underclass, a foreign underclass, or both. The creation of any version of capitalism that treats people better domestically will itself be the catalyst for a bigger foreign underclass. That's already happened and we're living in that world.

An example of a better system would be one in which ordinary people directly made the economic and political decisions that affect their lives. That means democracy in the workplace, democracy in the economy, and that trickles down to democracy in the public sphere. A system in which maybe we have less relentless growth (maybe the same, maybe more, I dunno), but that growth is sustainable and rationally spread, rather than hoarded and planet killing. There's no reason why such a system is impossible or why it wouldn't be orders of magnitude better than what we have, which I can't stress this enough is killing us.

BunkerBoy posted...

The current system really isn't what capitalism was meant to be. It's more cronyism/plutocracy

The thing that really doesn't make sense though is middle/lower class people simping for billionaires.

Like every topic complaining about some unethical thing a rich person did or making fun of Elon Musks latest boneheaded move, there's always at least one or two people in there hardcore simping and defending the poor billionaires from criticism.

Because they're the "temporarily embarrassed millionaire" type.
Or they believe the "capitalism = freedom, socialism/communism = oppression" Cold War propaganda.

the reason 3rd world countries are in such bad shape is because of captalism in the name of profit they get exploited and have stable governments over thrown

if not for capitalism edison would not have been able to screw over teslas inventions

we would have had wifi decades before we got it if we had used teslas technology

AceMos posted...

the reason 3rd world countries are in such bad shape is because of captalism in the name of profit they get exploited and have stable governments over thrown

if not for capitalism edison would not have been able to screw over teslas inventions

we would have had wifi decades before we got it if we had used teslas technology

A lot of people just refuse to acknowledge that capitalist interests almost always come into conflict with societal good.