Capitalism Doesn’t Work

[ICantSpellDawg]

As always, Capitalism only "doesn't work" relative to the problem that it is meant to solve. If the goal was to harvest workers for decreasing amounts of pay and to re-institute indentured servitude, further entrenching oligarchy, voila.

The American worker is like a Turkey. The American Capitalist is like a farmer.
Every day, when the Farmer comes in to feed the Turkey, the Turkey is further cemented into the belief that farming exists to support Turkeys and feed them so that they can grow. They realize on the day before Thanksgiving that their ideas couldn't have been further from the truth.

I have always viewed financial crisis as the culling time of capitalism. Not an unexpected occurrence that is anomalous to the system, but the culmination of greed and crushing boot-on-neck that the system is built for. A bank robber could notice that nobody would put their money in a bank if they robbed it daily, which would also be a tremendous workload and personal peril for the robber. Better for the robber to encourage stability for a long time to consolidate all of the efforts of people so that, maybe just once per year they could come in for the harvest.

People are the chaff; that their byproducts exist at all is the reason, like the proliferation of cows, that our masters allow us to exist all all. The day that robots can produce at a level that adequately serves the obermench, is the day that they will begin to purge us off of this earth.

So, yea - Capitalism works just fine.

[Montmorency]

People are the chaff; that their byproducts exist at all is the reason, like the proliferation of cows, that our masters allow us to exist all all. The day that robots can produce at a level that adequately serves the obermench, is the day that they will begin to purge us off of this earth.

How melodramatic.

But there's no reason to suspect this level of conspiracy, or even the capacity to fulfill it were it to exist.

[ICantSpellDawg]

How melodramatic.

But there's no reason to suspect this level of conspiracy, or even the capacity to fulfill it were it to exist.

No conspiracy alleged. That would be like saying that there is a conspiracy of gravity to hold you down. What I'm alleging is a force of nature. What is the value of individuals, how is it valued and why? The answer is more subjective than is comfortable.

[Strike For The South]

The problem is we've spent the last half century perfecting production to the point where we have massively cut the number of hours of labor (both physical and mental) requried. Less labor=more profit which general doesn't (to use a cliche) trickle down. I don't think this is some grand conspiracy, no one is that smart or that organized. I do, however, think it's at least partially for the reason of the 1% and the breaking of regulations built up during the industrial age.

People with money realize they can increase their profits without having to rely on labor like they once did so they mobilize to make labor cheaper and less intrusive on their business model. I think some of them truly beilvie they will be able to "create jobs" while others are thinking about their bottom line (understandable).

The fact is we may very well be looking at a world with simply less labor to go around. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. People today (in the west) have much more stuff and live eaiser lives than their forefathers. Now, granted, the concentration of wealth (mainly property) is continuig to fall into fewer and fewer hands but on the whole I have more than my father and grandfather did before.

The problem is I have "stuff" while they had "wealth" Things like property and resources are outpacing real dollars while the price of stuff continues to fall, perhaps giving us the illusion of plenty

IDK this is cutting into beer time

As always, kill the rich

[Strike For The South]

The social problem is that we still peddle this American dream to people, who by their 20's are either hopelessly misled or totally disillusioned, depending on their level of cynicism. We need to elect people who understand that there is a psychological component to all this, and that the morale of the people is the most precious resource a country has. I don't think you need to "kill the rich" or even redistribute wealth (too much) to achieve that. We just need to give people a sense of purpose that isn't dependent on stuff or false ideals of limitless meritocratic advancement that they will never be able to live up to.

The economic problem is actually a lot easier than the morale problem in the short term, IMO. Just raise the minimum wage. But that's the other thread.

I can't agree with that. Every mainstream media outlet has been peddling the "lost generation thing" since the crash. I think many young Americans are quite aware of what is happening and are simply dealing with it. I don't think we are where we are due to some shawdoy cabal. This the pinch of rapid technological advancement and deindustrialization. The "labor" is simply shrinking.

[ICantSpellDawg]

We need to elect people who understand that there is a psychological component to all this, and that the morale of the people is the most precious resource a country has.

This is only important if the labor and productivity of people are important. If their labor and productivity have become unnecessary relics of the past, then so has the value of their morale or any interest in securing or protecting it or our lives.

[ICantSpellDawg]

Monetarily, perhaps. Its not that easy to do away with the poor, if they're backed into a corner. I don't think the situation is quite that dire, though--this recession is prolonged by bad ideology that takes trickle-down to an extreme. Bad economic policy is something we've internalized as a nation, at least in the middle-class. Things are bad, but fixable. IMO.

History has shown us that it is remarkably easy for powerful people to do away with people en-mass

[ICantSpellDawg]

Only when the middle-class is complicit.

Or when we refuse to punish the use of chemical weapons on civilian populations.