this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2023
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Hi all,

I'm seeing a lot of hate for capitalism here, and I'm wondering why that is and what the rationale behind it is. I'm pretty pro-capitalism myself, so I want to see the logic on the other side of the fence.

If this isn't the right forum for a political/economic discussion-- I'm happy to take this somewhere else.

Cheers!

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[โ€“] TheRealGChu@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Have you not played Bioshock?

Anyway, any extreme "ism" is inherently unstable without the other side balancing itself. That's cos humans are greedy, selfish fucks. The free market doesn't work because humans are greedy, selfish fucks. Pure capitalism will eventually eat itself. On the flip side, pure socialism doesn't work cos humans are greedy, selfish fucks. Pure socialism will eventually reify itself into complete inertia. Capitalism needs the inherent brakes that socialism provides; while socialism needs to incentives capitalism provides. Pure capitalism causes massive boom/bust cycles. Before the Great Depression, there were the Panics that happened about ever 20-30 years, where, similarly to the Great Recession, banks would overleverage themselves, and go bust. What ended up stopping those kind of panics were the socialistic programs of FDR and the New Deal.

Free markets only work when they're actually free, that means no monopolies. We're in an extreme stage of capitalism right now with monopolizes all over the place. There is no free market. Ppl like to say "late stage capitalism" but it's more more similar to the laissez faire capitalism of the robber-barons of the late 19th century. Monopolies everywhere, wealth concentrated in the <1%, etc. Profits at any cost, including human life. Extreme capitalism is also tied into conservativism. This results in "rules for thee, not for me" circumstances. In other words, capitalists and conservatives believe laws should protect them but not bind them; while poor ppl, minorities and women should have laws binding them, but not protect them. This, of course, leads to massive social inequities and social unrest.

For more context, read the the Wikipedia articles on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, child labor in the Appalachian mines and how many children died from it, the Pinochet regime, etc. And, more recently, the actions at Amazon by not letting their employees evacuate or shelter from the horrific tornadoes that ripped through IL and collapsed a warehouse where 6 employees were killed (Amazon is being sued for it). The maquilladores in northern Mexico (thanks NAFTA!), child slavery in South and SE Asia (don't buy Nike), and the general destruction of the environment. Hope you're enjoying your heatwave!

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[โ€“] MrMonkey@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

edit: You know down voting something doesn't make it untrue? This is true whether you like it or not.

Every time I ask for "capitalism" problems I get answers about what the government does.

"too big to fail"? Government bailouts.

"antitrust"? Government granted monopolies and making the laws so that barriers to entry are too big.

"police shootings" Government gang.

"inflation"? Government monetary policy.

"colonization"? Government expansion

"not enough social programs"? Government policy.

Then you've got the sub-70s who go on about "exploitation" which is rooted entirely in fiction.

Life requires work. All life everywhere. Humans aren't exempt from this; demanding that others do all your work and provide for you or free isn't going to work.

Some of these people would complain that they have to chew their own food.

People forget that capitalism has lifted literally billions of people out of poverty, it's advanced our technology to where it's basically magic. It increased the amount of food we can grow with fewer people allowing people to move past subsistence farming (which many socialist countries reverted to).

Capitalism uses people greed to provide better, cheaper, faster versions of things..

Then the government gets involved and instead of blaming the government they're told to blame capitalism, so they do.

[โ€“] Piecemakers3Dprints@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is what a fundamental lack of comprehension on the topic looks like, folks. Stay in school, and don't be afraid to say "I don't know".

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[โ€“] Andiloor@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Idk people didn't ask for existence so why should they suddenly pay for it

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[โ€“] Kushia@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago

I'd say that unless you are pretty wealthy then you're pro- something designed to optimally exploit you while making you think that it's the greatest system on Earth and that society can't possibly do any better.

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