Comments by "Wandering Existence" (@WanderingExistence) on "How Money Works"
channel.
-
11000
-
1500
-
Even wage labor is renting yourself via "self ownership". Employment is literally renting another human being as if they're property. The employer-employee relationship is a very insidious dynamic. Employment is a rental contract, like if you rented capital (say, a chainsaw from Home Depot), you pay rent for the "time preference" (basically the cost of time) for a piece of property. Capitalism is based on a principle of self ownership, which sounds empowering, until you realize that most people don't own enough capital goods to make enough income other than themselves, and must rent out the authority over themselves as pieces of "human capital". This is a process of dehumanization where human beings are valued for their return on investment as capital goods. This is why, at the very least, capitalism needs unions and safety nets (or abolishment), or else the system won't value people for their human value. Importantly we must also think about our sick, elderly, and disabled people, as they can't provide competitive economic return for the investor class to value. We must figure out a way to change this economic system if we wish to value each other.
970
-
937
-
934
-
586
-
578
-
569
-
Employment is literally renting another human being as if they're property. The employer-employee relationship is a very insidious dynamic. Employment is a rental contract, like if you rented capital (say, a chainsaw from Home Depot), you pay rent for the "time preference" (basically the cost of time) for a piece of property. Capitalism is based on a principle of self ownership, which sounds empowering, until you realize that most people don't own capital goods other than themselves, and must rent out the authority over themselves as pieces of "human capital". This is a process of dehumanization where human beings are valued for their return on investment as capital goods. This is why, at the very least, capitalism needs unions and safety nets (or abolishment), or else the system won't value people for their human value. Importantly we must also think about our sick, elderly, and disabled people, as they can't provide competitive economic return for the investor class to value. We must figure out a way to change this economic system if we wish to value each other as human beings.
539
-
412
-
318
-
176
-
156
-
151
-
137
-
134
-
131
-
119
-
119
-
93
-
90
-
86
-
Land is a monopoly price because it has an inelastic supply, basically you can't just make more space. In fact a lot of the price of land is dependent on the surrounding amenities, like closeness to downtown, schools, parks and scenic areas. Increased rental prices go to landlords who didn't even make the amenities that increased the value.
"The rent of land, therefore, considered as the price paid for the use of the land, is naturally a monopoly price. It is not at all proportioned to what the landlord may have laid out upon the improvement of the land, or to what he can afford to take; but to what the farmer can afford to give." — Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Book I, Chapter XI "Of the Rent of Land"
83
-
81
-
67
-
66
-
56
-
56
-
51
-
49
-
47
-
Wage labor is renting yourself via "self ownership". Employment is literally renting another human being as if they're property. The employer-employee relationship is a very insidious dynamic. Employment is a rental contract, like if you rented capital (say, a chainsaw from Home Depot), you pay rent for the "time preference" (basically the cost of time) for a piece of property. Capitalism is based on a principle of self ownership, which sounds empowering, until you realize that most people don't own capital goods other than themselves, and must rent out the authority over themselves as pieces of "human capital". This is a process of dehumanization where human beings are valued for their return on investment as capital goods. This is why, at the very least, capitalism needs unions and safety nets (or abolishment), or else the system won't value people for their human value. Importantly we must also think about our sick, elderly, and disabled people, as they can't provide competitive economic return for the investor class to value. We must figure out a way to change this economic system if we wish to value each other.
39
-
37
-
34
-
Wage labor for a CEO/ boss is renting yourself via "self ownership". Employment is literally renting another human being as if they're property. The employer-employee relationship is a very insidious dynamic. Employment is a rental contract, like if you rented capital (say, a chainsaw from Home Depot), you pay rent for the "time preference" (basically the cost of time) for a piece of property. Capitalism is based on a principle of self ownership, which sounds empowering, until you realize that most people don't own capital goods other than themselves, and must rent out the authority over themselves as pieces of "human capital". This is a process of dehumanization where human beings are valued for their return on investment as capital goods. This is why, at the very least, capitalism needs unions and safety nets (or abolishment), or else the system won't value people for their human value. Importantly we must also think about our sick, elderly, and disabled people, as they can't provide competitive economic return for the investor class to value. We must figure out a way to change this economic system if we wish to value each other.
34
-
32
-
32
-
30
-
29
-
29
-
28
-
26
-
Wage labor is renting yourself via "self ownership". Employment is literally renting another human being as if they're property. The employer-employee relationship is a very insidious dynamic. Employment is a rental contract, like if you rented capital (say, a chainsaw from Home Depot), you pay rent for the "time preference" (basically the cost of time) for a piece of property. Capitalism is based on a principle of self ownership, which sounds empowering, until you realize that most people don't own capital goods other than themselves, and must rent out the authority over themselves as pieces of "human capital". This is a process of dehumanization where human beings are valued for their return on investment as capital goods. This is why, at the very least, capitalism needs unions and safety nets (or abolishment), or else the system won't value people for their human value. Importantly we must also think about our sick, elderly, and disabled people, as they can't provide competitive economic return for the investor class to value. We must figure out a way to change this economic system if we wish to value each other.
26
-
Capitalism will commoditize everything! You thought your data was bad, wage labor is renting yourself via "self ownership". Employment is literally renting another human being as if they're property. The employer-employee relationship is a very insidious dynamic. Employment is a rental contract, like if you rented capital (say, a chainsaw from Home Depot), you pay rent for the "time preference" (basically the cost of time) for a piece of property. Capitalism is based on a principle of self ownership, which sounds empowering, until you realize that most people don't own capital goods other than themselves, and must rent out the authority over themselves as pieces of "human capital". This is a process of dehumanization where human beings are valued for their return on investment as capital goods. This is why, at the very least, capitalism needs unions and safety nets (or abolishment), or else the system won't value people for their human value. Importantly we must also think about our sick, elderly, and disabled people, as they can't provide competitive economic return for the investor class to value. We must figure out a way to change this economic system if we wish to value each other.
24
-
24
-
22
-
21
-
Wage labor is renting yourself via "self ownership". Employment is literally renting another human being as if they're property. The insidious dynamic of employment is that it's a rental contract, like if you rented capital (say, a chainsaw from Home Depot), you pay rent for the "time preference" (basically the cost of time) for a piece of property. Capitalism is based on a principle of self ownership, which sounds empowering, until you realize that most people don't own enough capital goods to make enough income other than themselves, and must rent out the authority over themselves as pieces of "human capital". This is a process of dehumanization where human beings are valued for their return on investment as capital goods. This is why, at the very least, capitalism needs unions and safety nets (or abolishment), or else the system won't value people for their human value. Importantly we must also think about our sick, elderly, and disabled people, as they can't provide competitive economic return for the investor class to value. We must figure out a way to change this economic system if we wish to value each other.
21
-
19
-
19
-
I don't think it's a good thing; Wage Labor Is Renting Yourself via "self ownership". Employment is literally renting another human being as if they're property. The employer-employee relationship is a very insidious dynamic. Employment is a rental contract, like if you rented capital (say, a chainsaw from Home Depot), you pay rent for the "time preference" (basically the cost of time) for a piece of property. Capitalism is based on a principle of self ownership, which sounds empowering, until you realize that most people don't own capital goods other than themselves, and must rent out the authority over themselves as pieces of "human capital". This is a process of dehumanization where human beings are valued for their return on investment as capital goods. This is why, at the very least, capitalism needs unions and safety nets (or abolishment), or else the system won't value people for their human value. Importantly we must also think about our sick, elderly, and disabled people, as they can't provide competitive economic return for the investor class to value. We must figure out a way to change this economic system if we wish to value each other.
19
-
18
-
18
-
Wage labor is renting yourself via "self ownership". Employment is literally renting another human being as if they're property. The employer-employee relationship is a very insidious dynamic. Employment is a rental contract, like if you rented capital (say, a chainsaw from Home Depot), you pay rent for the "time preference" (basically the cost of time) for a piece of property. Capitalism is based on a principle of self ownership, which sounds empowering, until you realize that most people don't own capital goods other than themselves, and must rent out the authority over themselves as pieces of "human capital". This is a process of dehumanization where human beings are valued for their return on investment as capital goods. This is why, at the very least, capitalism needs unions and safety nets (or abolishment), or else the system won't value people for their human value. Importantly we must also think about our sick, elderly, and disabled people, as they can't provide competitive economic return for the investor class to value. We must figure out a way to change this economic system if we wish to value each other.
18
-
17
-
16
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
14
-
12
-
11
-
Wage labor is renting yourself via "self ownership". Employment is literally renting another human being as if they're property. The employer-employee relationship is a very insidious dynamic. Employment is a rental contract, like if you rented capital (say, a chainsaw from Home Depot), you pay rent for the "time preference" (basically the cost of time) for a piece of property. Capitalism is based on a principle of self ownership, which sounds empowering, until you realize that most people don't own capital goods other than themselves, and must rent out the authority over themselves as pieces of "human capital". This is a process of dehumanization where human beings are valued for their return on investment as capital goods. This is why, at the very least, capitalism needs unions and safety nets (or abolishment), or else the system won't value people for their human value. Importantly we must also think about our sick, elderly, and disabled people, as they can't provide competitive economic return for the investor class to value. We must figure out a way to change this economic system if we wish to value each other.
11
-
10
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
@d33pblu3 You know it's ironic, I'm not currently working right now but I still receive an income, and I'm not on government cash assistance. It's called dividend and interest. You see it's really capitalist that can sit around and do nothing while they watch their money grow. I've been paid dividends recently for doing nothing, my GOOGL is using $70 billion to buy back stock after it laid off 7,000 workers, and my NVDA is up 26% just this week because AI will start taking more jobs. To add to the irony it's the capitalists who are firing people and taking their jobs with automation and then blaming them for not working.
Do you realize people can still do work and retain the full value of their labor without giving it a way to shareholders who literally just sit around the house and talk about socialist ideology (me, lol)? It's called a Cooperative, and the Evergreen Cooperative in Cleveland Ohio has helped people increase their wages as well as share in the profits that they help create. Here's a snippet from an article;
"In the 11 years since then, Evergreen Cooperatives has added three more cooperatives to its ranks, growing from two companies with a total of 18 workers in 2010 to five companies with approximately 320 workers. Those workers are paid 20 to 25 percent higher than employees at the cooperative’s competitors. “Our average pay rate is close to $15,” says John McMicken, CEO of Evergreen Cooperative Initiative. “But when you take profit sharing into account, which could equate to $4 to $5 an hour, we’re hoping that we have a shot at breaking the $20 an hour ‘blended rate,’ if you will.” In 2019, the average compensation at Evergreen Cooperative Laundry was around $18 per hour." - Despite a Rocky Start, Cleveland Model for Worker Co-ops Stands Test of Time, by Brandon Duong
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
Wage labor is renting yourself via "self ownership". Employment is literally renting another human being as if they're property. The employer-employee relationship is a very insidious dynamic. Employment is a rental contract, like if you rented capital (say, a chainsaw from Home Depot), you pay rent for the "time preference" (basically the cost of time) for a piece of property. Capitalism is based on a principle of self ownership, which sounds empowering, until you realize that most people don't own capital goods other than themselves, and must rent out the authority over themselves as pieces of "human capital". This is a process of dehumanization where human beings are valued for their return on investment as capital goods. This is why, at the very least, capitalism needs unions and safety nets (or abolishment), or else the system won't value people for their human value. Importantly we must also think about our sick, elderly, and disabled people, as they can't provide competitive economic return for the investor class to value. We must figure out a way to change this economic system if we wish to value each other.
7
-
7
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
@JosiahTaschuk Totally! Personally, I've been interested in two grassroots groups focused on economic democracy, called the Next System Project and the Democracy Collaborative. They have devised a way to keep production local and contract service to cooperatives, called the Preston Model. They have helped multiple cities struggling with job loss due to factory closures build back their communities, in the US and UK. In addition, trade unions, collectives, public banks, credit unions, community land trusts, CSA's, and many other democratically controlled institutions can work together to create democratic networks outside the market to create an economy that doesn't reduce people, their governments, and the environment to a monetary value. I think this can be a viable strategy to give people the autonomy over their work. I believe economic democracy is the only way people who work for the economy will have the economy work for them, their families, and the planet too.
This way of revitalizing communities by building community wealth has helped many communities all over the globe, and it is utilized by the UK labor party and touted by Jeremy Corbyn. Preston, Lancashire became the most improved city in the UK because of community wealth building. https://youtu.be/MObfh_VNqs4 Not to mention, much of the progress in labor rights has been due to union's collective power. The thing that draws my conviction to the movement is that I can see it now, helping empower people to live happier, healthier, and wealthier lives.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
If you love that, you'll love this... Did you know that wage labor is renting yourself via "self ownership". Employment is literally renting another human being as if they're property. The employer-employee relationship is a very insidious dynamic. Employment is a rental contract, like if you rented capital (say, a chainsaw from Home Depot), you pay rent for the "time preference" (basically the cost of time) for a piece of property. Capitalism is based on a principle of self ownership, which sounds empowering, until you realize that most people don't own capital goods other than themselves, and must rent out the authority over themselves as pieces of "human capital". This is a process of dehumanization where human beings are valued for their return on investment as capital goods. This is why, at the very least, capitalism needs unions and safety nets (or abolishment), or else the system won't value people for their human value. Importantly we must also think about our sick, elderly, and disabled people, as they can't provide competitive economic return for the investor class to value. We must figure out a way to change this economic system if we wish to value each other.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
@DeltaGreenA You guys realize there are other ways, right?? Cooperatives are economic democracy, if you want more money you can't just rent yourself you deserve to own the profits as well;
"In the 11 years since then, Evergreen Cooperatives has added three more cooperatives to its ranks, growing from two companies with a total of 18 workers in 2010 to five companies with approximately 320 workers. Those workers are paid 20 to 25 percent higher than employees at the cooperative’s competitors. “Our average pay rate is close to $15,” says John McMicken, CEO of Evergreen Cooperative Initiative. “But when you take profit sharing into account, which could equate to $4 to $5 an hour, we’re hoping that we have a shot at breaking the $20 an hour ‘blended rate,’ if you will.” In 2019, the average compensation at Evergreen Cooperative Laundry was around $18 per hour." - Despite a Rocky Start, Cleveland Model for Worker Co-ops Stands Test of Time, by Brandon Duong
2
-
2
-
@me-myself-i787 Lmao! Trust me I know how simple it is to plug in numbers into a compound calculator.... I used to set out rather realistic projections for my investments all the time. But the one thing that makes it really hard to keep investing and building wealth to a point where one feels secure enough to take off from work voluntarily, is to be forced out of a job because you're literally unable to fulfill the requirements of nearly any job because of disabling health issues.
I started working and investing at 13. Some of the first stocks that I bought are Home Depot and Google. I've saved and invested and put myself in quite a good position... But I was lucky enough to hear about investing at a young age and lucky enough to have the math brain to understand why compounding was so important. All that said and done, I'm still unemployable due to my health issues, and while I do rely on family and my stock account many things would be much more difficult without state assistance. It's easy to make plans, and it's a bit harder to stick to them... I was able to do both for awhile and set myself up in a good way for the position that I'm in currently, but even though I'm young, and even my health is quite fragile, and that can quickly make you have to scrap your little table to a $1M, just like I had to.
I'm not disagreeing with the math because the math is just the math, but I am speaking from the standpoint of life experience as well as an understanding of economics and finance. One of those economics/ finance lessons is that the understanding that sometimes the economy doesn't make the math work out for most people. Investing $10K/yr is rough when 64% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and most of them can't afford a $1,500 emergency. That would indicate that they don't need to spend money on investments, they should put money into their emergency funds. When people's education, health care, insurance, and housing costs all rise higher than inflation but their wages barely keep up with inflation... That's a deficit that's not going to be magically funded. CEOs and shareholders dividend pay/ buybacks have drastically increased at the expense of workers. I speak as a $GOOG shareholder who is getting a portion of capital appreciation due to $100B in buybacks, meanwhile 7,000 Alphabet employees got laid off. Home Depot loves to give me 8-20% dividend increases annually... But would totally hesitate to increase their wages 8 to 20% annually, and I've literally never done any work other than scan something at the self checkout at Home Depot.
C'mon, I'm a shareholder and even I understand how unfair it is. I hope this wasn't too long for you to read, but I just want you to know the real world example of how those projections sometimes turns out.... It's all a probability curve ;)
P.S. The ACA and Medicaid have saved my life.... Literally.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
@elbarto4069 Why is that the false dichotomy? Personally, I've been interested in two grassroots groups focused on economic democracy, called the Next System Project and the Democracy Collaborative. They have devised a way to keep production local and contract service to cooperatives, called the Preston Model. They have helped multiple cities struggling with job loss due to factory closures build back their communities, in the US and UK. In addition, trade unions, collectives, public banks, credit unions, community land trusts, CSA's, and many other democratically controlled institutions can work together to create democratic networks outside the market to create an economy that doesn't reduce people, their governments, and the environment to a monetary value. I think this can be a viable strategy to give people the autonomy over their work. I believe economic democracy is the only way people who work for the economy will have the economy work for them, their families, and the planet too.
This way of revitalizing communities by building community wealth has helped many communities all over the globe, and it is utilized by the UK labor party and touted by Jeremy Corbyn. Preston, Lancashire became the most improved city in the UK because of community wealth building. https://youtu.be/MObfh_VNqs4
Not to mention, much of the progress in labor rights has been due to union's collective power. The thing that draws my conviction to the movement is that I can see it now, helping empower people to live happier, healthier, and wealthier lives.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
@d33pblu3 What free market? All I see is markets rigged by capitalists from literally before the genocidal inception of the Homestead acts. Capitalism has always used government violence to create and protect private property. The point of cooperatives is to change ownership from private to social, by switching to social ownership it changes the coordinating environment and incentives to disengage from being debased by markets. By democratizing ownership through cooperatives and other institutions, more democratic ways of allocating resources can be developed that don't use market forces.
Personally, I've been interested in two grassroots groups focused on economic democracy, called the Next System Project and the Democracy Collaborative. They have devised a way to keep production local and contract service to cooperatives, called the Preston Model. They have helped multiple cities struggling with job loss due to factory closures build back their communities, in the US and UK. In addition, trade unions, collectives, public banks, credit unions, community land trusts, CSA's, and many other democratically controlled institutions can work together to create democratic networks outside the market to create an economy that doesn't reduce people, their governments, and the environment to a monetary value (which market forces naturally do). I think this can be a viable strategy to give people the autonomy over their work. I believe economic democracy is the only way people who work for the economy will have the economy work for them, their families, and the planet too.
This way of revitalizing communities by building community wealth has helped many communities all over the globe, and it is utilized by the UK labor party and touted by Jeremy Corbyn. Preston, Lancashire became the most improved city in the UK because of community wealth building. https://youtu.be/MObfh_VNqs4 Not to mention, much of the progress in labor rights has been due to union's collective power. The thing that draws my conviction to the movement is that I can see it now, helping empower people to live happier, healthier, and wealthier lives.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
@thetapheonix What on Earth are you talking about with confiscation or buying oil land? Dude, it's a tax 🤦
The government doesn't have to buy the land/ resources or confiscate the land/ resources they just tax the value of the land/ resources, which leads to private stewardship and development, as well as socializing the value of land. Dude, this should have been obvious. Do you understand what Georgism is?
It really looks like you ignored the whole part of my comment about increasing cooperative equity... I talked about democratizing asset inflation. UBI can help people take extra risks to start their own business or buy equity into a cooperative. You straightforwardly deny the fact that diverting money from corporations to the people would affect income inequality... It literally democratized income. Then you bring it up as if I didn't know about it or didn't spend time writing about it decreasing CPI inflation by allowing more people to benefit from asset inflation (that's a feature not a bug, not all inflation is bad). The question isn't about nominal inflation, it's about whether real wages and real asset inflation are growing. Alaska and Norway are very remote areas, this leads to high transaction costs which get passed on, it's weird disingenuous that you would ignore such an obvious aspect. I also think it's weird that you're ignoring the fact that Norway has one of the highest standards of living and happiness, which raises the question how much value do you place on happiness?
You really couldn't google "taxes that decrease inflation"? Progressive income tax removes excess buying pressure from higher incomes, progressive consumption taxes can also do a similar thing. Land Value Tax puts extra pressure on speculators to develop it into something useful or put land on the market, this puts some more supply onto the market and increases the competitive forces within the real estate market.
I honestly don't know if you understand, or are even reading, anything in my comments, because you seemed to talk right past me. If it looks like you're doing that again I'm just going to peace out.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
@rogerbartlet5720 I did some research... And you're right. $1Billion in corporate bonds!
"New issues: Issuer Norfolk Southern Corp released international bonds (US655844CM86, US655844CN69) in the amount of USD 600, USD 400 mln maturing in 2032, 2053 respectively.
February 17, 2022 Cbonds
On February 15, 2022 issuer Norfolk Southern Corp released international bonds (US655844CM86, US655844CN69).
• In the amount of USD 600 mln with the coupon rate of 3% maturing in 2032. The issues were sold at the price of 99.999% at par. The bookrunners of the placement were Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, U.S. Bancorp.
• In the amount of USD 400 mln with the coupon rate of 3.7% maturing in 2053. The issues were sold at the price of 99.412% at par. The bookrunners of the placement were Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, U.S. Bancorp." - CBonds
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
@MondoChow777 I understand the importance of owning the means of production... Hence why I'm a dirty Lefty. Started working and investing when I was 13. I opened my first high interest savings account at 10 and my Roth IRA at 20. Frugality only gets you so far because there's a baseline to your needs, investing in LLCs has limited downsides and unlimited upside that earns you more than just pinching pennies, those pennies pinched have to be invested. I'm not going to brag about my tech returns because it's distasteful and honestly it makes me sad that in order to get ahead most people can't rely on just wages, they need to own appreciating assets that subjugate other workers and debtors like they are subjugated themselves. Since we have few and slim safety nets in this country investing is very important for a base level of financial security. Ironically as a leftist I do in fact preach investing, but only because I know there is power in owning capital and I want more lower/ middle class people to benefit.
Personally, my largest criticism of a lot of socialists / communists is that many eschew and don't understand finance/ economics, like using price controls that only foster a lack of supply. Understanding capitalism from the inside out has helped me identify specific inherent pieces of capitalism that should be critiqued, like systematic fiduciary and voting rights bias towards Capital. While also understanding important aspects of financial/ economic allocations and production that are necessary to contend with when thinking about the next system, like risk diversification and marginal utility. I hope that's enough examples for ya', cuz I ain't going to show ya' my portfolio, lol.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
@perenoel657 Do you think freedom is renting people? Can't imagine what you thought about southern freedom pre-1865, lol. Wage labor is renting yourself via "self ownership". Employment is literally renting another human being as if they're property. The employer-employee relationship is a very insidious dynamic. Employment is a rental contract, like if you rented capital (say, a chainsaw from Home Depot), you pay rent for the "time preference" (basically the cost of time) for a piece of property. Capitalism is based on a principle of self ownership, which sounds empowering, until you realize that most people don't own capital goods other than themselves, and must rent out the authority over themselves as pieces of "human capital". This is a process of dehumanization where human beings are valued for their return on investment as capital goods. This is why, at the very least, capitalism needs unions and safety nets (or abolishment), or else the system won't value people for their human value. Importantly we must also think about our sick, elderly, and disabled people, as they can't provide competitive economic return for the investor class to value. We must figure out a way to change this economic system if we wish to value each other.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
@DangRenBo What makes you think I don't have actionable solutions? Personally, I've been interested in two grassroots groups focused on economic democracy, called the Next System Project and the Democracy Collaborative. They have devised a way to keep production local and contract service to cooperatives, called the Preston Model. They have helped multiple cities struggling with job loss due to factory closures build back their communities, in the US and UK. In addition, trade unions, collectives, public banks, credit unions, community land trusts, CSA's, and many other democratically controlled institutions can work together to create democratic networks outside the market to create an economy that doesn't reduce people, their governments, and the environment to a monetary value. I think this can be a viable strategy to give people the autonomy over their work. I believe economic democracy is the only way people who work for the economy will have the economy work for them, their families, and the planet too.
This way of revitalizing communities by building community wealth has helped many communities all over the globe, and it is utilized by the UK labor party and touted by Jeremy Corbyn. Preston, Lancashire became the most improved city in the UK because of community wealth building. Not to mention, much of the progress in labor rights has been due to union's collective power. The thing that draws my conviction to the movement is that I can see it now, helping empower people to live happier, healthier, and wealthier lives.
Preston was based on The Evergreen Cooperative, here how that's been; "In the 11 years since then, Evergreen Cooperatives has added three more cooperatives to its ranks, growing from two companies with a total of 18 workers in 2010 to five companies with approximately 320 workers. Those workers are paid 20 to 25 percent higher than employees at the cooperative’s competitors. “Our average pay rate is close to $15,” says John McMicken, CEO of Evergreen Cooperative Initiative. “But when you take profit sharing into account, which could equate to $4 to $5 an hour, we’re hoping that we have a shot at breaking the $20 an hour ‘blended rate,’ if you will.” In 2019, the average compensation at Evergreen Cooperative Laundry was around $18 per hour." - Despite a Rocky Start, Cleveland Model for Worker Co-ops Stands Test of Time, by Brandon Duong
1
-
@Marqan Even somebody who's self-employed, I was for 8 years, is still dehumanized by the market. People are commoditized by the market which means that they are treated as if they're humanness expendable- working directly for your customers for cash is still hyperrationalized and constrained by market forces.
I'll give you two instances of how organizations can deal with downturns by caring about people or treating them as expendable. Firstly, cooperatives are a type of democratic business structure where everybody gets paid a wage but they are also entitled to the profits that they help produce and they have a say in how their workplace is run. Because cooperatives are run for the benefit of their members, they don't go and fire a bunch of people when a downturn happens; they look to take care of their fellow workers. When cooperatives democratically cooperate together they can more easily ride out downturns. Now on the flip side, while I wait for Social Security Disability, I have to live off of stocks. I own some GOOGL that's up almost 300%, with a recent boost to the share price being caused by them laying off 7,000 workers and then doing a $70 billion stock buyback. I mean, that's literally kicking out workers to pay shareholders. I don't know about you but the cooperative model seems like it values taking care of people more than taking care of capital.
My perspective is that we, as a species, made a huge moral leap in the 1800's by pushing to start the abolishment of owning other people as property. The morally better option was to give people the right to self-ownership. Unfortunately ownership within capitalism still sets up power structures that allowed one group of people to rent another group of people. Humans within capitalism will be valued for their profit making input as human capital, not for their human spirit or the cheer that they bring to others- through the lens of a balance sheet a human is just a piece of property to be exploited like all other capital resources. In this we have succeeded in abolishing slavery, but we haven't succeeded in not treating people as property to be commoditized. The next step to becoming a more caring and conscientious species is to abolish the ability to rent humans, and instead legalizing cooperative determination as a standard in the socioeconomic sphere. Democratic self-determination is an economic Right just as it is a political Right. In fact, political democracy will be perverted without economic democracy to fund its integrity.
1
-
1
-
@HH-le1vi Even co-ops have profits/ surplus, it's just shared;
"In the 11 years since then, Evergreen Cooperatives has added three more cooperatives to its ranks, growing from two companies with a total of 18 workers in 2010 to five companies with approximately 320 workers. Those workers are paid 20 to 25 percent higher than employees at the cooperative’s competitors. “Our average pay rate is close to $15,” says John McMicken, CEO of Evergreen Cooperative Initiative. “But when you take profit sharing into account, which could equate to $4 to $5 an hour, we’re hoping that we have a shot at breaking the $20 an hour ‘blended rate,’ if you will.” In 2019, the average compensation at Evergreen Cooperative Laundry was around $18 per hour." - Despite a Rocky Start, Cleveland Model for Worker Co-ops Stands Test of Time, by Brandon Duong
1
-
1
-
1
-
@CantoniaCustoms Yeah, capitalism sucks even if you put a happy face on it.
“Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all God’s children.”
– MLK, Speech to the Negro American Labor Council, 1961.
“We must recognize that we can’t solve our problem now until there is a radical redistribution of economic and political power… this means a revolution of values and other things. We must see now that the evils of racism, economic exploitation and militarism are all tied together… you can’t really get rid of one without getting rid of the others… the whole structure of American life must be changed. America is a hypocritical nation and [we] must put [our] own house in order.”
- MLK, Report to SCLC Staff, May 1967.
“The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and evils of racism.”
– MLK, Speech to SCLC Board, March 30, 1967.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1