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.
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Every single fucking time: THIS IS THE FUTURE UNDER COMMUSOCIALMARXISM!
endless pictures of current capitalism conditions, usually centered around homeless people
Yeah, it sure is a good thing we have capitalism to make sure that every person is taken care of and nobody gets fed to the orphan grinding machine.
I knew this die-hard conservative MAGA guy, and we kept having this argument. He would constantly point out the homeless camps in California, blaming it on their "Socialist policies". I kept pointing out that California has more billionaires than any other state, has the 5th largest economy in the world, and if that's not the model of a successful Capitalist state, then what is? His answer was Texas. I felt like bashing my head against a brick wall.
That dude was nuts, but at one point I wore him down and got him to admit that CEOs are useless at best, and evil at worst. And I swear to God, he said "yeah, companies should just get rid of CEOs and be owned by the workers who vote on how to run the company." My jaw hit the fucking floor. When I pulled up the Wikipedia page for Socialism, he completely reversed course. CEOs were suddenly very necessary and good again.
He was so close.
I would never let him live that admission down.
Every day I'd be reminding him about what cognitive dissonance is, and that he was all for a policy change until he learned that the belief he held and was ACTIVELY ADVOCATING FOR aligns with an ideology that someone who makes a lot more money than he does told him to hate.
I reminded him quite a bit, but I cut him off during the pandemic. He's also an antivax moron (big shocker, I know), and while I can't prove it, I firmly believe he passed his Covid to a friend of mine who had a compromised immune system, and she subsequently died.
Pathetic how most commenters are arguing why communism is bad and not why capitalism is bad, when you live literally in late stage capitalism / fascism.
Every horrific thing happening under capitalism / fascism never seems to matter.
A good way to view fascism is as Capitalism donning its alter-ego to protect its image while it resorts to brutal means to protect itself. It's Capitalism in different circumstances, not a unique economic system, which is why its riddled with contradictory mechanisms. Its always there as a tool for Capitalism to employ, it's Capitalism in decay.
The USSR was the prime example for what happens when communism fails. The USA is the prime example of what happens when capitalism fails. Many of their mistakes are mirror images of each other.
There’s a whole social psychology regarding perception management. If you want this idea to catch and snag more people, then substitute “the working class” for communism.
This also sets home the correct idea that we are in a class war right now. Most rules that don’t favor working class are intended to funnel more money up instead of to the people making the work happen.
Pure versions of each have their flaws. Mixed-economics yields the highest quality of life according to the top ranking nations on the World Happiness Report. Nordic nations have the blueprint. We just need to adopt it.
There are a few problems here.
All economies are "mixed," ergo it isn't a meaningful distinction. What is more useful is recognizing which aspect of the economy is the principle, ie which has the real dominant power, over large firms and key industries. Socialism is when the public sector is the principle aspect, Capitalism is when private ownership is the principle aspect. That's why the PRC is Socialist, and the Nordic countries are Capitalist.
Judging which system is correct purely by looking to which countries have the highest happiness scores is myopic. We could use the same logic to say that Jeff Bezos has the most comfortable life, so we should all copy him. The problem is that we can't. The Nordics fund their safety nets through Imperialism, ie super-exploiting the Global South, and because Private Ownership has domination over the state, worker protections and safety nets have been gradually sliding.
This is why having a good knowledge of theory and taking everything within a large context, rather than with harsh boundaries, is important to draw correct conclusions.
I'll never understand people who insist China is 'State Capitalism' but Nordic countries are ideal socialism, somehow.
There are a few different reasons that give rise to these (false) conclusions, and different reasons manifest in different degrees. Ie, not everyone will have all of these reasons, but most have at least one.
Chauvanism. Intentionally or not, there is often a superstructural element to western thought derived from being a beneficiary of Imperialism that discredits the achievements of non-Western Leftists. The fact that a western revolution has failed to materialize leads to some westerners being defensive and thus discrediting the achievements of the PRC.
A lack of real analysis at what the PRC is economically structured as. It's easy to not understand the makeup of the PRC's economy if you don't engage with it.
A lack of reading Marxist theory, and thus not being able to properly analyze structures from a Dialectical Materialist perspective.
In my opinion, those are the main 3 reasons for such conclusions.
I imagine the next deflection is something like 'but china has the second largest number of billionares', but as soon as you sort that list by per-capita it suddenly tells a very different story.
Especially since that number is decreasing in recent years while GDP growth is still solidly positive.
I'll give you a hint: it's about race.
May I ask an honest question? Is your account run by 5 people? How do you find time to write thorough, well written responses to so many posts? We don't always agree ideologically, but I really respect your methods.
Haha, it's nothing like that. My job works more in spurts and waiting periods, so it largely depends on what's going on in my work life. Plus, not every comment is bespoke, I usually draw from prior comments I've written if applicable and tweak if needed.
Thanks for the kind words!
Nordic nations have the blueprint.
They may be doing certain things right but do other totally wrong like forced conscription. Keep also in mind that they exploit third world countries like everyone else, their goods are made in china.
It isn't the boogyman you need to worry about, it's the bougie man.
Y'all have brainwashed me over the last decade. I'm thankful TBH.
I used to be a staunch ancap libertarian and now I'm a hardcore socialist bordering on communist.
I mean, Trump's first term also had a lot to do with it. That was a shit show.
It's crazy how much a grown ass man can change deeply held beliefs when forced to re-evaluate reality.
Kirby would never say that!
He would say poyo
