Think young people are hostile to capitalism now? Wait for the next recession

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Oct 22, 2019, 3:45 PM UTC

douglaswlance wrote: post #91

KirinDave wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To even have such a conversation you'd have to define value, and I think you'll have a tough time doing this. You're also essentially defining an economic aristocracy. Folks with more resources can contribute more value, which in common worldviews associated with what you said suggests they deserve more profit. That's the crassest form of economic attachment, and it's silly to pretend that it's efficient or fair.

Software engineers contribute more value to society than do McDonald's fry cooks. A McDonald's fry cook could be a software engineer, but they choose not to. McDonald's fry cooks protest for $15 minimum wage; instead of spending that time studying programming. If we protested about not fully utilizing our lower contributing members of society, instead of condemning the highest contributing mebers; we'd have a healthi…

Post by MildlySerious » Tue, Oct 22, 2019, 3:46 PM UTC

mtbcoder wrote: post #173

MildlySerious wrote: post #100

This whole "capitalism bad" debate feels incredibly black and white. I think what most people are really against is the one way street that capitalism established. It's a broken system, and it wouldn't matter if we had any other system as long as it would still be broken and abused. On a global level, there are tax loopholes that allow multi billion corporations and individuals to pay essentially no taxes. This money…

> the one way street that capitalism established. > It has nothing to do with capitalism > But if we moved towards actual, functional capitalism What you are making is the classic "it's the fault of faux-capitalism and not my idealized version of capitalism" argument.

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Oct 22, 2019, 3:46 PM UTC

douglaswlance wrote: post #5

jahaja wrote: post #2

Imagine if the current protests against inequality (and thereabouts) going on all around the world would be reported, scrutinized, and debated as much as when any of the established "enemies" have civil unrest. How quickly would things change?

Imagine if instead of people protesting against income inequality, they protested against value contribution inequality...

Post by SolaceQuantum » Tue, Oct 22, 2019, 3:50 PM UTC

SlowRobotAhead wrote: post #159

aazaa wrote: post #97

> ... The last economic crisis contributed directly to the rise of populism over the following decade, but the next crisis will come squarely within the age of populism. ... Although the article doesn't mention it, the next recession will also likely come during a powerful wave of job losses tied to automation. Mixing popular resentment over the last debacle in which had few consequences for those responsible with th…

I don’t know about anyone else but I’m tired of the “automation” doomsday predictions that don’t understand we don’t lose jobs, they just transfer with new technology. Did the cottongin end slavery? No. It make it more efficient. Did the rail system go away with national highways? No. We have much better last mile access. Have robots replaced union workers? Union membership has decreased since the 80s, but unemployme…

Post by tangent128 » Tue, Oct 22, 2019, 3:51 PM UTC

jimmywanger wrote: post #174

toomuchtodo wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would likely improve under democratic socialism (which is not the same model as communism or socialism). Especially if we disconnect healthcare from employment allowing workers more freedom to pick employers or entrepreneurship. People want purpose, but they also need their basic needs met. They have to have hope they won't spend their lives on an economic treadmill where one slip will cause their demise. This is…

> People want purpose, but they also need their basic needs met. That means our garbage would never get collected or our toilets cleaned, because I don't think anybody's intended purpose is doing sanitation. If you're just assigning jobs to give a purpose, you're forcing labor. If not you have dirty living quarters and a glut of artists.