cross-posted from: https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/35986695
this post was submitted on 09 May 2025
738 points (90.3% liked)
Late Stage Capitalism
1725 readers
168 users here now
A place for for news, discussion, memes, and links criticizing capitalism and advancing viewpoints that challenge liberal capitalist ideology. That means any support for any liberal capitalist political party (like the Democrats) is strictly prohibited.
A zero-tolerance policy for bigotry of any kind. Failure to respect this will result in a ban.
RULES:
1 Understand the left starts at anti-capitalism.
2 No Trolling
3 No capitalist apologia, anti-socialism, or liberalism, liberalism is in direct conflict with the left. Support for capitalism or for the parties or ideologies that uphold it are not welcome or tolerated.
4 No imperialism, conservatism, reactionism or Zionism, lessor evil rhetoric. Dismissing 3rd party votes or 'wasted votes on 3rd party' is lessor evil rhetoric.
5 No bigotry, no racism, sexism, antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, or any type of prejudice.
6 Be civil in comments and no accusations of being a bot, 'paid by Putin,' Tankie, etc.
founded 8 months ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Capitalism is slavery with PR and programming to convince us to be helpless to change anything for the better and to look at various distractions instead of the reality.
I am not just talking about first-world exploitation, I am talking about literal slavery and child slavery, which our economies rely on — which we unknowingly rely on for many of our goods.
If you factor in 40% (or more) of US agricultural workers being undocumented immigrants, you don't really have to look hard to see that slavery is literally everywhere. It may not be the chattel slavery of past, but it's still modern slavery.
Almost all employment revolves around exploitation, hard hours, asking you to give more than you have for the sake of the business, and so forth, all the while many participating individuals are unable to afford health care or housing. I still liken that dynamic to be modern slavery, even if the individuals reside in the first-world.
We can rise above this, but we must identify what is blocking or stagnating progress to be able to change — such as accepting the reality at hand instead of turning our gaze away.
Doesn't mean we have to play the blame game or reduce nuanced issues down to word-play and labels. A new system is likely the best solution.
I agree. And any plan to move forward has to confront the fact that humans are obstreperous ignoramuses. So, what do we do? One strategy is to leverage democracy, which has already led to unbelievable moral progress over the last century. Another option is to leverage a populist outreach. Any other ideas?
There's a reason people are chronically misinformed or uninformed - here's a comment I wrote the other day:
https://slrpnk.net/post/21939259/15608857
So, besides an entirely new system, human rights for all, and direct democracy, I'm calling for a rise of decentralized media (like the fediverse) and holding "news" organizations accountable for their propaganda, misinformation, suppression of opposing/critical perspectives, and omission of key facts. If they mess up too much, they can no longer peddle themselves as a news organization.
When we are misinformed or uninformed to this degree and are simultaneously subjected to this level of propaganda and tribalism, we inevitably become very polarized against each other. We stop making sense. We aren't focusing on anything productive. We can resort to hate and violence. The key is to recognizing this manipulation and recognizing the kind of world we want to live in.
Do you want to hate or fear your neighbor? Do you want to live in a community or country that is disconnected, where many are dehumanized and suffering to extreme degrees? Do you want to be oppressed or tolerate the oppression of others? Or do you want the opposite?
That clarity and focus is the light at the end of the tunnel. What kind of world do we want to live in?
I want to live in a kind world, that has human rights, freedom, and a system that works for human benefit - instead of against it. I want to focus on solutions and help others to do the same. I want to thrive and to thrive alongside the planet and every living being on it!