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Blame Cronyism, Not Capitalism

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Re: Blame Cronyism, Not Capitalism

#71

Post by jklinger410 »

ansc wrote: post #15
amtamt wrote: post #6

Why not blame human nature's shortcomings, instead of any *ism... Capitalism, Communism, Socialism and what not.

It's not very constructive, is it? "It's human nature to be exploited" Then again, not a lot seem to happen when pointing at short-comings or issues of prioritizing profit and growth above all else in society either.

It is very constructive because it points to the actual root of the problem so we can begin to solve it.

Laws and regulation that prevent cronyism are the solution.

Re: Blame Cronyism, Not Capitalism

#73

Post by [deleted] »

Zenst wrote: post #62
dbsmith83 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more complex and doesn't always go like that. If X' is a superior product objectively, then company B can find investors willing to back them and take on company A. Company A could itself be an investor in company B

Yes way more complex as a recent article outlined regarding a very relevant story. "$35BN Match Group file multiple lawsuits against muzmatch following repeated failed acquisition offers" - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29860034

[deleted]

Re: Blame Cronyism, Not Capitalism

#74

Post by umvi »

jacknews wrote: post #60

"...that some government interventions to address the apparent shortcomings of capitalism invite cronyism" LOL, so yet again, govermint is the problem! It should be increasingly clear by now that capitalism itself is the problem. It naturally leads to the rich getting richer, and despoils everything in the name of profit, unless it is reigned in by government, taming it for the benefit of society, not just profit and…

Pretty much every form of government/economy has cronyism problems. Crony capitalism, crony socialism, crony communism, crony dictatorships, etc. all exist.

It's human nature to want to help your friends before helping strangers, but that attitude leads to corruption when people in positions of power practice it repeatedly.

Re: Blame Cronyism, Not Capitalism

#75

Post by dimitrios1 »

usrbinbash wrote: post #26

[flagged]

Any system is not devoid of a system of morals and ethics.

The issue we have today is one where the elite are completely devoid of any morals, or they have convinced themselves that they are acting morally in some fashion.

This is the issue with any system, whether it be capitalism, socialism, fascism, or communism. A select group of individuals eventually rise to the top, and they work to manipulate the system to their advantage -- just look at the conspiracies that were occurring immediately after Hitler and Stalin's deaths. Watch closely when Kim Jong inevitably passes, and there is a power void in North Korea. History repeats itself time and time again.

We, in general, are a morally bankrupt people, and everyone has been conditioned to act in one own's best interest. "I'm gonna get mine" because everyone believes the system is corrupt and that's how you have to behave to survive, but what people don't understand is it is the people that are corrupt, and this behavior simply perpetuates the corruption.

Too many people think it's a system issue. This place too much faith in structures created by man. This is an issue of hearts and minds. Always has been.

Re: Blame Cronyism, Not Capitalism

#76

Post by shove »

lanevorockz wrote: post #32
ericls wrote: post #17

Capitalism describes Capitalism doesn't prescribe We should praise Capitalism for describing humanity better than other *ism

Capitalism is the ultimate democracy, everyone votes with their labour and their purchases. The more regulation, the less power the individual has. Of course, some regulation is necessary to avoid abuses. Discussions should be on the level of what rules allow society to reach a better result, not just try to artificially fix problems because it leads to even bigger problems.

Are you trolling?

a) One dollar one vote? That's "ultimate democracy"? Really?

b) how much labour would you say the average ceo does compared to the average low level worker? The ceo works 200-500 times as hard? Really?

Re: Blame Cronyism, Not Capitalism

#78

Post by fennecfoxen »

jacknews wrote: post #60

"...that some government interventions to address the apparent shortcomings of capitalism invite cronyism" LOL, so yet again, govermint is the problem! It should be increasingly clear by now that capitalism itself is the problem. It naturally leads to the rich getting richer, and despoils everything in the name of profit, unless it is reigned in by government, taming it for the benefit of society, not just profit and…

Don't worry! Cronyism can be a symptom of too much public power, too! Did you think that Chinese firms thrive on merit, or access to cheaper-than-free capital supplied by political connections?

Re: Blame Cronyism, Not Capitalism

#79

Post by boringg »

Corruption (Cronyism) is the route of issues in ALL economic systems (much worse in other systems such as autocracies, socialism, authoritarian socialism, etc). So let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater (see US scientific accomplishments in the last decade).

What needs to happen in the US to help right the ship is that the legal system needs to be tightened up and money needs to be significantly taken out of politics, the K street rotating door between government needs to be severed, and public wages (i.e. being a judge or public attorney) need to be competitive to private wages to ensure we have talent working to uphold the lack of corruption.

This wave of pro socialism is (a) greatly misunderstood by the majority of the people peddling it and (b) is a vote against the current situation without understanding what the situation they are about to jump into looks like (always thinking their are greener pastures).

Re: Blame Cronyism, Not Capitalism

#80

Post by dwallin »

woile wrote: post #28
episode0x01 wrote: post #9

Not a shocker that corruption ruins things. I guess then the question is how you can design a broadly distributed system that removes the incentives for corruption and minimizes its impact. My guess is that such a system won't be found in capitalism

IIRC "the dictators handbook" mentions that the more people in a power position, the harder to corrupt, because it becomes more expensive. Of course this brings a slower process, so it's like a trade-off. Link: https://www.mr-sustainability.com/stories/2020/dictators-han... .

A great book, but I would love to see additional studies really breaking it down. My gut feeling is that this effect curves. At a certain size of selectorate you switch from direct influence, with linear costs, to indirect methods of influence, with much better scaling properties (eg. Uber and California Proposition 22).

While it becomes expensive to outright buy people, it also becomes prohibitively expensive to educate, and an ability to outspend with emotional appeals becomes more important than having a cogent argument.

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