this post was submitted on 27 Sep 2024
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The article is actually decently well written good-faith satire meant to address how poverty and hunger are inherent to capitalism as a system. The title was just too bold lol

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[–] whyNotSquirrel@sh.itjust.works 175 points 1 day ago (2 children)

So he's not defending/promoting "world Hunger", just arguing that it's not a bug but a feature developed to have cheap labor, and that the people in power don't want to end it

[–] ShareMySims@sh.itjust.works 68 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (4 children)

Sounds good at a glance, but when you look at the way he reaches that conclusion (that the threat of hunger is the only reason people are willing to work), and his solution (for a class of "intellectuals" like him to take charge) however, are just neoliberal swill..

[–] Dasnap@lemmy.world 23 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Maybe they should build a city in the ocean where these intellectuals have full control. Maybe experiment with some cool drugs.

[–] Rudee@lemmy.ml 12 points 1 day ago

Sounds positively Rapturous

[–] Alexstarfire@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago

Would you kindly come join us?

[–] ShareMySims@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Lmfao, I'd pay to watch them descend in to chaos as they insist on ranking each other by importance or whatever arbitrary measure of superiority they choose, because they simply can't function otherwise, until they all end up dead from refusing to "lower" themselves to cooperate with "inferiors".

[–] jaybone@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

There’s an event coming up in November you’re really going to enjoy.

[–] ShareMySims@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago

If only.. But I suspect whatever happens in November, it isn't going to be pleasing at all (to me as an anarchist, anyway), especially because it isn't themselves they consume, like the hypothetical "intellectuals" on the desert island would, but the rest of us, and those most vulnerable first.

[–] Schmoo@slrpnk.net 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

his solution (for a class of "intellectuals" like him to take charge) however, are just neoliberal swill

This is such a common pitfall that even self-described communists fall into it as well. When you hear people talk about a "dictatorship of the proletariat," what they're describing tends to devolve into "a class of intellectuals needs to guide the working class to the correct decisions" when questioned about what a "dictatorship of the proletariat" actually entails. Often they'll try to justify it by saying it's only temporary, but we all know how that pans out (see the USSR). This is why I consider myself an anarchist rather than a communist and regularly critique marxism-leninism.

[–] fishbone@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 19 hours ago

If i recall correctly, this is basically the entire premise to Animal Farm. Great book.

[–] Arcturus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

I imagine the UN wouldn't let an author publish something that calls for revolution though lol

[–] ShareMySims@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 day ago

Sure, but they shouldn't be publishing this garbage either.

[–] jaybone@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

That would be the first time the UN actually did anything.

[–] abbiistabbii@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Usually most sane people go "Hunger is used to extract labour from people so rich people can make money, so we should change this state of affairs" not "this is good and how we should continue, in an evil usually the preserve of 19th century British Imperial officials."

[–] ShareMySims@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago

How does the saying go? When your only tool is a hammer, every problem is a nail?

The only tool he has is what capitalism gave him - the idea that people will only work if threatened with starvation, homelessness, or other punishment.

The idea that the benefit of a community and society at large, and by direct extension - our own, could motivate people, or to be more precise, the idea that society would benefit everyone not just a "select" few, doesn't even come in to consideration.

[–] abbiistabbii@lemmy.blahaj.zone 21 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Isn't this what Anarchists and other Anti-capitalists have been saying for well over 100 years? That despite having the ability for abundance, we use scarcity to extract labour from people to make rich fuckers money?

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 16 points 1 day ago

Lenin made the clearest case for it in Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. Financial and Industrial Capital is exported directly to the sources of raw materials and lower cost of living, which is then hyper-exploited for super-profits domestically.

Even within Capitalist countries, starvation is kept dangerous because Capitalism requires a "reserve army of labor," as Marx put it. It's the idea of "if you weren't doing this job, someone would kill for it" that suppresses wages.