231–240 of 309 posts
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Sounds like you want a consumption tax, and not a wealth tax then?
A little of both.
And if you do... A lot of public pensions are worth 2+ million. Are public pensions supposed to be excluded? How does that get explained to the voters?
>After the 2008 recession, President Obama and the Democrats effectively saved capitalism from itself; a more radical leadership would fight to replace it with a better system. This time around there may be far more pressure from below to do just that, especially with a more organized left and more class conscious young people. As a former soviet occupied country citizen, I am amazed that westerners would want to ove…
There were many differences between the Soviet Union and the US. Nominal socialism vs. nominal capitalism was only one, and many would argue not the biggest. Personally, I'm amazed that so many people who suffered under deeply authoritarian regimes seem to support the authoritarian party in current US politics. Members of exclusive clubs colluding with each other outside of the market or public view tends to work out…
Can you elaborate on this? What, in your opinion, is more significant difference than political/ideological system? I am actually curious because I cannot think of any?
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Occupy Wallstreet did happen but it was torpedoed by identity politics, the establishment only permits fervent discussion about gender and skin color.
> the establishment only permits fervent discussion about gender and skin color. Do they? Try making a case that we don't need more than two sets of gendered pronouns in your tech job.
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There were many differences between the Soviet Union and the US. Nominal socialism vs. nominal capitalism was only one, and many would argue not the biggest. Personally, I'm amazed that so many people who suffered under deeply authoritarian regimes seem to support the authoritarian party in current US politics. Members of exclusive clubs colluding with each other outside of the market or public view tends to work out…
> Nominal socialism vs. nominal capitalism was only one, and many would argue not the biggest. Can you elaborate on this? What, in your opinion, is more significant difference than political/ideological system? I am actually curious because I cannot think of any?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nolan_Chart [2] https://www.politicalcompass.org/
Wait until this soft gentle wave of climate activism fails...
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> Nominal socialism vs. nominal capitalism was only one, and many would argue not the biggest. Can you elaborate on this? What, in your opinion, is more significant difference than political/ideological system? I am actually curious because I cannot think of any?
Many people, including myself, believe that the most significant difference was the authoritarian nature of the Soviet State. Soviet citizens had no privacy, no safety, no protected rights, no recourse to an impartial judicial system, and that's all pretty orthogonal to socialism vs. capitalism. The Nolan Chart[1] is a pretty handy way to conceptualize this, as is Political Compass[2]. Be careful, though, because the…
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> We have absolutely no incentive to work hard when doing so doesn't materially affect income. And you think that would improve under socialism or communism?
Lambasting abstract economic theories is meaningless. The U.S. economy already implements some socialized policies and moving further in that direction for some aspects of our economy isn't necessarily bad. For example, a single-payer healthcare system is obviously superior to our current one, even if it is "socialized", but having socialized healthcare doesn't mean the U.S. is "socialist" any more than the existence…
Yes, people are proposing "bestowing collective ownership of private capital to the proletariat", or something very close to it.
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> 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.
What if you are a garbage man and an artist? What if you collect garbage for, say, three days a week? How much of your labor is absolutely necessary, and how much of it consists in generating surplus wealth for the benefit of your capitalist overlords?
Do you need broadband, the new mobile, or a car and insurance? Will 3 days working as a garbageman make you reasonably happy?
If so, please go ahead and do that and spend the rest of your time doing art.
If you really feel as though you need amazon prime and new shoes every 3 months, you better to out and make that money.
You have no right demanding that other people work to make things you're entitled to. Instead, you have to get it yourself. Learn to be a RN and figure out how to get the money, or stop complaining.
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> but one is an economic policy and a result of the other I don't see that unfettered immigration need be linked to capitalism, just the belief people can move around freely being OK. > increase competition and lower their wages (immigration), whilst railing against capitalism I'd guess they are railing not against immigrants that undercut their £8/hour bar work but the executives at the top of companies that can ear…
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A little of both.
Ok, so another wealth tax question - do pensions and other such instruments count? If not, what's preventing someone from buying a large annuity and avoiding the tax? And if you do... A lot of public pensions are worth 2+ million. Are public pensions supposed to be excluded? How does that get explained to the voters?
Keep in mind, the problem isn't people with single digit millions of wealth, the problem is those with tens, hundreds of millions, and billions of dollars.