Comments by "DeoMachina" (@DeoMachina) on "Unlearning Economics"
channel.
-
2
-
@alecstewart212 "it certainly beats the alternatives which have to ever be shown to work without being so much more easily corruptible."
This is propaganda, just so you know. Corruption can infect any system, you have no reason to believe that private ownership of industry guards against it.
"A more free market with some regulations to protect people, potentially a few industries being managed by the government, keeping corporate interests out of government, and allowing people to own and control their own property seems to be the best option for the most freedom"
On what planet would handing over even more control to the biggest companies grant us more freedom?
"Because I recognize the flaws, I have to then not be a capitalist?"
Well, yes. If you think otherwise it either means you do not actually know what the flaws of capitalism are, or you think they are acceptable (which makes you a zealot)
"So if you accepted the flaws with socialism, and you're still a socialist, can I then say you're a zealot "
That depends, are the flaws of socialism the deliberate engineering of a ecological disaster that is going to kill tens, possibly hundreds of millions of people?
Because capitalism can take the credit for that one. In no other economic system is there an incentive to melt the polar ice caps.
In no other system does it make sense to watch a virus spread across the world and just..let hundreds of thousands of people die.
Say what you like about socialism and feel free to critique it, but unlike capitalism it isn't inherently self-destructive. Capitalism cannot even sustain itself, we haven't gone a single generation without an economic crash. You can't have a system where everybody depends on everybody else, while also putting them in direct competition with each other. If Marx said as much 150 years ago and nobody has came up with a solution since, you know there's a deep problem.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
This is great and I'm subscribing with bells on, but have I misunderstood the video? Imo nothing here reeaally contradicts what was said on philosophy tube. At most I got "The claim that the market causes the crisis is not fully substantiated"
Which, don't get me wrong, is a good criticism and the additional nuance here is sorely needed...but I now feel more confident that the housing market is causing the housing crisis. I'm not sure this was intended?
The apple example works in favour of that claim, because the supply of apples is so high, it is actually extremely difficult to sell me an apple. In fact the only reason I ever buy Honeycrunch or Royal Gala is because Jazz apples aren't in stock. It's 100% a buyers market, either apple suppliers sell their apples cheaply or they don't sell them at all. Note: This doesn't mean apples don't get sold, this means it is very hard to ensure that your apple is the apple I buy. Make no mistake, if apple suppliers could control sources of vitamin C, they would absolutely restrict availability, drop the volume of supply and raise the prices of apples. They would do this, or they would be bought out by somebody prepared to do it.
In reference to how the housing market works in other countries, I think it is worth pointing out that for cultural reasons, Japanese homes cannot retain value. The expectation is that when you buy a home you will demolish it and build your own, and houses are only designed to last about as long as you expect to live. In this sense there isn't really a "housing market", but a construction one.
Korea bypassed the market with government intervention - which is a good thing - but this only proves that there cannot be a solution to housing allocation within the framework of a market.
Germany was mentioned, but I genuinely can't comment as I don't know anything about that country.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
@jakovvodanovic9165 "I would argue that capitalism had nothing with that"
It would be an argument you would lose.
-Capitalist nations had years to prepare for mutations of various coronaviruses, vaccine research had already started but because there was no immediate financial incentive to finish it...it wasn't finished. Only in capitalism does waiting for a pandemic to happen first before making a vaccine make sense. (The above also goes for mask stockpiles etc)
-Even without a vaccine, lockdown before the infection reached Europe/America was obviously the only chance to contain it. But that would have damaged private profit, so lockdown only occured when the infection rate was high. Thousands, tens of thousands of people would still be alive today if businesses were not given top priority.
-Even now, after every mistake has been made, the demands of capital to do what makes the most money and not what is best for everybody have hamstrung the vaccine rollout. The strategy of selling vaccines to the richest nations only prolongs the pandemic, giving rise to more variants that are more resistant, faster spreading, and more deadly.
-many people, unreasonably, distrusted everything government and the scientific community had to say
And that has nothing to do with capitalism? The privately-owned media companies who only run news that makes them money regardless of accuracy? Nothing to do with capitalism? The social media networks that spent years allowing extremists to fester online because they brought traffic, nothing to do with capitalism?
"The main problem is social and political, not arising from the structure of economy."
Sure would be inconvenient for your position if society and politics didn't wholly hinge on the nature of our economy then, wouldn't it?
"Action of that sort is often dangerous and creates tenfold injustice than it intends to solve."
How serene, I wonder if it will convince somebody who already knows they will die before 'incremental change' comes their way.
"Point to me one revolution that worked as planned"
Uh, Haiti? Russia? Cuba? Ireland? I could go on?
How about you point me to one reformist victory that worked as planned?
Bit of a trick question, since there haven't been any at all.
2
-
@jakovvodanovic9165 "there are innumerable viruses, surely it wouldn't be possible to try and develop vaccines for all of them just in case one of those viruses gets out of control."
At this point it is worth reminding you that this century we had already seen several coronavirus outbreaks and long before Covid-19 it was known that this was a matter of not if, but when. We had all the warnings we needed. We knew this was going to happen.
"Croatia, started the lockdown before any serious rise in infections (Australia was also very serious about it). Both are capitalist countries."
That's great, but just because capitalism didn't put a stripmine in my garden doesn't mean stripmines elsewhere aren't a problem. The success of Croatia means nothing if we cannot beat the virus globally.
"I don't know why you included Russia, which was one of the bloodiest revolutions ever, leading to the Red Terror which killed tens of thousands people for political disagreement and also led to Stalin of whose crimes I don't think I need to speak"
Here's the thing:
No matter how bad it was, no matter how many people died...the death toll is still lower than capitalism.
People talk about how violent revolution is, but they never stop to ask why they are always violent. I'll tell you:
The reason is that the people they are revolting against are willing to kill an endless number of people to retain power.
The Tsars were still killing people, Batista was brutally torturing people in Cuba. Going to incrementally change your way out of that?
"More than million people fled Cuba (which was illegal at the time) between 1959 and 1993 (they left because of poverty and hunger, which were especially rampant in the 90s)."
Two things about that:
The first is that people fled Cuba because the state seized their slave-run companies and freed their workers.
The second is about what happened in the 90's: Why do you think it got so bad then?
It's because the USSR stopped existing and the USA would not allow any trade with the island. If capitalism is so great...why weren't companies allowed to sell Cuba food?
China is a good point against reformism IMO. The revolution brought big changes, but after reformism was adopted we saw the communist nation devolve into a capitalist one. China today is more like state-capitalist, and the needs of capital will ruin it the way it does every other nation.
"By the way, I'm not saying people shouldn't fight for their rights, I'm saying they shouldn't consider cutting heads as an optimal solution for their problems."
Capital thinks nothing of cutting millions of heads a year, what else is there left to do? How many more must die before you admit it?
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
@Tespri "They are the ones who come up with the idea and organize the chaos of thousands of workers "
Not true, company directors have a small number of managers who in turn have a small number of managers and supervisors etc. Have you like, had literally any kind of job?
"Which one has biggest and most important role in building a scyscraper. Engineer or a low skill worker?
That depends, who needs to be there every single day working on the skyscraper, and who can afford to visit once a week or so? Ahaha
"it would take him much longer to do so than to hire couple low IQ people such as yourself to do it for him"
Weird how you refer to construction workers as "low IQ", but also compare them to me. Are you trying to say that construction workers are also socialists? Or that they are stupid like I am? Why do you hate the working class so much?
"Not even millions of those manual labor people could ever replace that engineer. But that engineer could easily replace any of those workers."
False, you've never worked on a building site. A lot of workers could learn engineering. My first job was in construction and I went on to learn new skills for another career.
"Also again you would be using threat and breaking the contract"
Cry about it
"Because that worked so well in real life"
You're right, it has actually worked well in worker co-ops.
"It just ends up being popularity contest where biggest and most charismatic moron wins."
Wins? Wins what? Wait, do you think I'm talking about a presidential election or something? You don't actually know what democracy means?
"Revolution is not same as change. It's violent uprising."
Sorry but I'll take the dictionary over your whiny ass, kid
"Keep on lying."
lmaooo, fucking COPE
You can't handle it, you can't even acknowledge the possibility that I'm just some guy with just some job. Imagine somebody telling you that they're nothing special, just pure average, and you're stunned with disbelief. How sheltered.
2
-
2
-
@Tespri "Your chaotic direct democracy wouldn't work"
Accountability isn't chaotic, it is the opposite.
"You can get new job in less than week if you're good worker."
This is a lie, you have resorted to outright lies. Employers looking for employees have no method to determine who is and who is not a good worker, and infact have to turn down the majority of applications before the interview stage.
"It's no where in comparable to live in debt hell for decades or rest of your life for failing your business."
And yet somehow CEO's avoid this, even the ones running failed companies.
"No it doesn't prove their importance. They are all easily replaceable"
You think replacability is the same as unimportance. This is an error.
"Anyone can dug ditch, but not everyone can do what Tesla had. Which is my point."
You are now avoiding the point.
"Actually it's"
By definition it is not, and you knew anything about IQ you would at least know what the 'Q' stood for. It is not a measure of intelligence, or it wouldn't be called what it is. The name literally means not a measurement. How are you this ill-informed?
"talented people to work hard so society produces more than enough to feed most of it."
You think production is allocation, we have been overproducing for quite some time now, and yet somehow people still go without. Why is that?
"Literally born into it and part of it."
I can't help but notice you have chosen not to deny what I said.
"Pretty much."
Again, you are lying. You do not believe what you said.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1