Comments by "Michael Mappin" (@michaelmappin1830) on "David Lin "
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@JumpJolpes_23 , ideal capitalism in the United States was back in the days of jpmorgan, carnegie, rockefeller, etcetera. There were nine year old children working 6 to 7 days a week, 14 hours a day, there were no worker safety standards, no old age pensions, no consumer safety standards, no unemployment insurance, Etc. There was widespread poverty with massive profits for the owners of capital. Thousands of people would die from basic food and water contamination because there were no consumer safety standards. Thousands died on the job because there were no occupation regulations. That's the ideal capitalism that the owning class wants to return to. That's why they prefer having production in countries with the fewest regulations.
Capitalism is not about working. It's about accumulating wealth without working. Capitalism is literally the economic system of parasites. The idea is to get Workers to produce as much as possible while paying them as little as possible. And then you take what the workers produce and sell it for as much as possible.
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@JumpJolpes_23 , and what do you mean socialism continues to be envy? What are you talking about? That doesn't even make any sense. Socialism is the collective ownership of the means of production by the workers. Why do so many prefer working at a socialist company rather than a capitalist company? For one, the workers get all of the wealth of their labor produces. Two, they own the product of their labor. 3, they get to make the decisions in regards to what is produced, how things are produced, where things are produced, etcetera. That's why statistically speaking workers at socialist companies are happier, more productive, more creative, there's less incidents of mental illness, workers take fewer sick days, there's less incidence of spousal abuse, suicide, substance abuse, etcetera. But when you work at a capitalist company everything you produce belongs to someone else. The boss gets to decide when you work, how hard you have to work, what you can wear, when you get to eat, when or if you even get a coffee break, they can even tell you when and how long you get to go to the washroom. As a result of workplace stress in the United States and because the United States is number one when it comes to First World countries regarding the number of people working low-wage jobs, over 25% of the population now has a mental illness. It's speculated that 50% of the population at some point in their lifetime will develop a mental illness. United States comes in at number 27 on the social Mobility index. There are more people in the US relying on food stamps than the entire population of canada! 1 and 6 of American children doesn't get enough food to eat. 27 on the social Mobility index! That's even worse than Portugal and lithuania. Things are so bad now in the United States that literally over 54% of the population can't even read or write. Now in the United States the richest 1% has just about as much wealth as the poorest 91% of the American population. The US is basically a third world country for many of its citizens
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@youtuber6185 , this hypocrisy that you're referring to regarding speaking fees, do you have any citations to support what you're saying? As far as I know, Richard wolf, after expenses, donates most of the money he gets from speaking fees and Book Sales.
But regardless, charging money for a service that you're offering doesn't make a person a hypocrite. Under the Socialist system people will still be charging money for their services. Simply charging money for a product that you're producing, that doesn't make a person a capitalist.
And why do you say that socialism is worse than capitalism? What do you base that opinion on? You have these wild opinions but you don't do anything to actually support those opinions.
No, socialism is actually more conducive to free markets and thriving economies. Obviously you can't have an economic system where workers are constantly producing more than they can afford to buy. One of the reasons why capitalism is now dependant upon fractional Reserve banking. In order to have the market expand you have to increase purchasing power. But the goal of capitalism is in direct opposition to the basic principle of equilibrium and increasing purchasing power. It does the exact opposite. The goal of capitalism is to maximize profit. profits are maximized by getting workers to produce as much as possible while paying them as little as possible. So the more successful a capitalist company is, the less purchasing power workers have. You think that's a viable economic system? LOL. Socialism doesn't have that problem because workers own the product of their labour. If they produce a million dollars worth of goods and services, they now have a million dollars worth of purchasing power. When labor-saving technology reduces working hours and increases Prosperity, that wealth goes to the workers who in turn spended into the economy creating more demand. Labor-saving technology under capitalism results in workers being laid off or they have to compete with other unemployed people with drives the value of Labor down and profits up, exacerbating the entire disequilibrium
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@llhll8264 , I don't know why you would think capitalism is the best system. A system that allows the richest members of society to own most of the capital on the planet. Those that own the capital get to decide what is produced, how things are produced, where things are produced, how much workers get paid, Etc. What's the consequence? The richest 1% has almost as much wealth as the poorest 91% of the American population. Most Americans can no longer afford a family on a single income. And most things are made in China.
Capitalism is not conducive to free markets are thriving economies. One of the central goals of Economics is to achieve equilibrium. But the goal of capitalism is to maximize profit. Profit is maximized by getting workers to produce as much as possible while paying them as little as possible. So of course that's going to create an environment where workers producing more things they can actually afford to buy. But if consumption slows down, people get laid off. People to get laid off can't consume. You think that's good economic system?
Capitalism is a religion. It's not about working for a living. It's about accumulating capital for the purpose of extracting wealth from labour and resources without having to work. The only problem is, the more successful a capitalist company is at maximizing profit, the less purchasing power workers have. If you want the economy to expand, you have to increase purchasing power. Your overall Central goal can't be to decrease it. So technically speaking, capitalism is an anti economic system. It's basically economic feudalism.
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Why would you say that? We don't need capitalism in order to have businesses, markets, innovation, production, Etc.
Capitalism is about accumulating capital so that you can get an income without having to do any work. Why do you think Bill Gates is now the largest owner of Farmland in the United States? Why do you think he now owns a big chunk of the Canadian Railway system and wants to own the rest of it?
Under the capitalist system the richest members of society own most of the capital. So if you want food, clothing, Medical, housing, you have to pay extra money to people like Bill Gates. Capitalist increase the cost of living and the amount of work the rest of us have to do. If you have to pay an extra $100 to Bill Gates every time you get a blood test, that's $100 you no longer have to spend in the economy.
With socialism you still have businesses, production, markets, Etc, without the parasites! Yeah, that really bums some people out because in that environment if you want something, you actually have to work for! In that environment you just can't simply go out and purchase shares and collect money while you're sleeping.
Thinking that we need a combination of capitalism and socialism is like thinking that hosts need parasite.
Regulated capitalism and faux socialism (progressive taxation/ social programs) within the capitalist framework is just a strategy to maintain a balance between host and parasite. The capitalist class wants to extract as much blood as possible without actually killing the host. That's the trick.
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All forms of capital is a crony. What we have today is late-stage capitalism where economic power has too much control over the government, food, housing, the environment and all other forms of capital. That's the problem.
As soon as you put everything up for sale to the highest bidders, you end up with the richest members of society only most of the world. Those people who own the capital get to decide what is produced, how things are produced, where things are produced, how much workers get paid, Etc. That's why most things are made in China and why the riches 1% now has almost as much wealth as the poorest half of the American population and the 8 richest people have almost as much wealth as the poorest half of the Earth's population.
But all forms of capitalism crony. The goal of capitalist companies is to maximize profit. Profits are maximized by getting workers to produce as much as possible while paying them as little as possible. That creates a situation where workers don't have adequate purchasing power to buy all the goods and services that they produce. For example, if 75% of the wealth goes to the top 1%, then the workers are only going to be able to afford 25% of the goods and services they produce. Workers produce everything while being paid as little as possible. And then they have to go to the capitalist in order to get access to the very goods and services that they produced. The capitalist then charges in the maximum amount of money.
Capitalists are just unnecessary middlemen that increased the cost of living and the amount of work that the rest of us have to do.
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@Lurch685 , you think just because people have TVs and air conditioners that capitalism is good?
Thanks thanks to capitalism the United States has more people on food stamps than the entire population of Canada! Homelessness is rampant. Thanks to capitalism the vast majority of the people on the planet are poor. Even in the United States most Americans can no longer afford a family on a single income. Why? It's not hard to track where the wealth is going. With every passing day more and more of the GDP go to the owners of capital rather than those that actually work to produce it. Now the richest 1% has almost as much wealth as the poorest 91% of the American population.
The United States is basically a third world country for many of its citizens. What good is a TV or air conditioning if you're not getting enough food to eat? Or a statistically speaking you're going to die 20 years earlier because you can't afford healthy food?
United States comes in the number 27 in the social Mobility index. That's even worse than Portugal and Lithuania.
▪ As of 2020, According to the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of U.S. adults 16-74 years old - about 130 million people - lack proficiency in literacy, reading below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level.
▪ USA #1 for mental disorders. about 1 in 4 adults. about 60 million people.
~ (Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005.)
▪ Published studies report that about 25% of all U.S. adults have a mental illness and that nearly 50% of U.S. adults will develop at least one mental illness during their lifetime.
~ cdc gov - mentalhealthsurveillance-fact sheet
▪ Over 40 million Americans receive Food Stamps because they can't afford enough food to eat. ~ The New York Times.
That's more people than the entire population of Canada!
▪︎ The 1% grabbed 82% of all wealth created in 2017
~ CNN
▪ The two richest people—Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates—possess almost the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of the population.
▪ The richest 5% of the population owns 67% of the wealth. The poorest 60% of the population owns 1% of the wealth.
~ Forbes
▪ The richest 1% now owns almost as much wealth as the entire middle class! ~ Forbes
▪ The wealthiest Americans live on average 20 years longer than the poorest Americans.
▪︎ The number of homeless children in the United States is at its highest in more than a decade, according to a recent study by the National Center for Homeless Education. 2019 study
▪︎ 44% of US workforce aged 18-64 makes less than $16 per hour! ~ The Wall Street Journal
30% of the low-wage workers live below 150% of the federal poverty line, or $36,000 per year for a family of four. 26% receive safety net assistance such as food stamps, welfare benefits, federal housing assistance, and other programs, which have been cut back throughout the years by successive Democratic and Republican administrations.
▪︎ 44% of fully employed people make $18,000 a year or less.
~ brookings_edu/2019
▪︎ Low-Wage Jobs are the New American Normal.
Low-wage workers make up nearly half of the American workforce, and many of them are the sole breadwinners for their families.
~ legalreader.
▪︎ more than one-third of us healthcare costs go to bankruptcy!
~ reuters
▪ over 40% of u.s. households are one paycheck away from poverty.
▪ Banks have foreclosed on over 7 million homes since 2004.
▪ There are 554,000 homeless people on a given night.
▪ The United States, the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, has a larger percentage of low-income workers than any other developed nation. ~ Wall Street Journal
▪ 3% of American adults—6.8 million people—are either in jail or prison or on parole or probation.😮
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@selfsovereign1995 , well the simple fact of the matter is capitalism is a system where the richest members of society own most of the capital. That gives amounts of control advantage over everyone else. But when workers control their own means of production, everything they produce belongs to them and they get to keep all of the wealth their labour produces. Workers don't have to worry about being forced to work in unsafe working conditions. They don't have to worry about being forced to pollute their own environment, Etc. But when someone like Bill Gates owns and controls those things, then he can do what he wants. Why should he care if he pollutes your community?
Not only is Bill Gates the largest owner of Farmland in the United States, even owns a big chunk of the Canadian Railway system. Him and other capitalists are pushing for privatization all over the world. They basically want to own as much as the world as possible. If you have to give Bill Gates an extra hundred dollars in order to get a blood test, that's $100 you no longer get to spend into the economy. That's not conducive to free markets or thriving economies. That's what capitalism is all about. It's not about working, it's about owning Capital so that you can collect wealth without having to work. It is literally the economic system of parasites. One group of people, the largest group, they have to do all of the work and they get the least amount of money and they have to follow all of the orders. The other group of people, the smallest group, they get most of the money, don't have to do any of the work, and get to give the orders. There's been numerous studies that show when people have that much power they generally become corrupt.
Now if you're okay with having a society structured that way, fine by me. Me, I prefer a real economic system where people actually have to work for a living can citizens actually have control over their own labour, resources and means of production.
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@selfsovereign1995 , who's telling you how to live? Yeah, you own your own business, so? You don't need capitalism in order to have a business.
Again, no one's telling you how to live. Richard Wolff is just pointing out some simple facts. Under capitalism most of the capital is owned by the richest members of society. Those who own the capital get to decide what is produced, how things are produced, where things are produced, how much workers get paid, Etc. That's why most things are made in China and why the richest 1% has most of the wealth while Americans can no longer afford to live on a single-income. That's why United States comes in at number 27 on the social Mobility index which is even worse than Portugal in Lithuanian.
Richard wolf is simply pointing out that if you increase the number of worker-owned companies in the country, at the same time increasing the number of things being made at home and the amount of wealth going to workers who spend that money into the economy as opposed to a small Rich minority where the wealth doesn't trickle down.
I don't know where you're getting this idea about people telling you how to live. Dude, if you're happy with the status quo, well, keep it up.
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@JumpJolpes_23 , and if you actually believed in free markets, then you would be anti-capitalist. Capitalism destroys markets. How can you have a free market when most of the wealth producing resources, wealth producing technology and modes of production are privately owned by a small Rich minority?
▪ The 1% grabbed 82% of all wealth created in 2017. ~
Wall Street Journal
▪ During the last 20 years over 90% of newly created wealth went to the top 1%.
The Top 1% of Americans Have Taken $50 Trillion From the Bottom 90%
~ Time Magazine
▪ The two richest people—Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates—possess almost the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of the population.
▪ the richest 1% has almost as much wealth as the poorest 91% of the American population.
▪ The wealthiest Americans live on average 20 years longer than the poorest Americans.
▪The number of homeless children in the United States is at its highest in more than a decade, according to a recent study by the National Center for Homeless Education. ~2017 stat
▪ The United States comes in at number 27 on the social Mobility index! That's even worse than Portugal and Lithuania! Never mind trying to start a business either cooperatively or individually. At 27 a person would be lucky just to be able to retire debt free. There's a reason why most Americans can no longer afford a family on a single income. Anyone can start a business? I think not.
▪ over 40% of u.s. households are one paycheck away from poverty.
▪ Banks have foreclosed on over 7 million homes between 2004 and 2015.
▪ There are 554,000 homeless people on a given night.
▪ The United States, the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, has a larger percentage of low-income workers than any other developed nation.
▪ As of 2020, According to the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of U.S. adults 16-74 years old - about 130 million people - lack proficiency in literacy, reading below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level.
▪ 30% of the low-wage workers live below 150% of the federal poverty line, or $36,000 per year for a family of four. 26% receive safety net assistance such as food stamps, welfare benefits, federal housing assistance, and other programs, which have been cut back throughout the years by successive Democratic and Republican administrations.
Millions of workers in “the world’s wealthiest country” are forced to sell their blood in order to survive. The Washington Post featured a 41-year-old teacher with a $50,000 salary who sells plasma twice per week to get by. “I never thought I would be in a position where I would have to sell my plasma to feed my children,” said Christina Seal of Slidell, Louisiana. “I’ve applied for every government program that I can think of. I don’t qualify for food stamps, I don’t qualify for any programs.” The Post explained that plasma donations “have quadrupled since 2006.”
▪ more than one-third of us healthcare costs go to bankruptcy!
▪ A study conducted by researchers at Harvard University found 45,000 Americans die each year from preventable causes because they can’t afford healthcare. But, we do have a $1.5 trillion jet fighter that can’t fly in cloudy weather. Go ‘Murcia!
▪ In 2017 Over 30 million Americans had no health insurance and even more are under-insured with high deductibles and co-payments.
As of May 2018, the numbers of people in the U.S. without health insurance have risen to 15.5%, up from 12.7% two years ago, according to the latest Commonwealth Fund tracking survey. This translates to an increase of four million uninsured people nationwide. ~ forbes.
▪ "the US tops all European countries in terms of the percentage of workers and family members who avoid necessary trips to the doctor because they fear financial ruin from the inflated costs of their private health care." ~
Prof. James Petras (the American Sociological Review, British Journal of Sociology, Social Research, and Journal of Peasant Studies)
▪ Millions of Americans – as many as 25% of the population – are delaying getting medical help because of skyrocketing costs.
▪ more and more Americans are selling their blood for extra money.
over 40 million Americans, many of them full-time workers, require food stamps in order to get enough food to eat. That's more people than the entire population of Canada! When you're desperate enough, you'll even sell your blood!
"With 58% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, corporate America is exploiting poverty through blood and plasma donations while most other countries have banned the practice on ethical and medical grounds."
▪ economic insecurity and workplace stress is destroying the mental health of Americans.
USA #1 for mental disorders. about 1 in 4 adults. about 60 million people. ~
(Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005.)
▪ Published studies report that about 25% of all U.S. adults have a mental illness and that nearly 50% of U.S. adults will develop at least one mental illness during their lifetime. ~
cdc gov - mentalhealthsurveillance-fact sheet
▪ and as people become more desperate we see crime rates increasing.
▪ 3% of American adults—6.8 million people—are either in jail or prison or on parole or probation.
▪ A third of states have a form of debtor’s prison, where the poor are locked up for failure to pay fines or debts.
▪ There are 1.2 million police officers in the US—almost equal to the population of the state of New Hampshire.
▪ The police have killed 15,000 people since 2000.
▪ There are 55,000 children presently in juvenile detention.
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@limitisillusion7 , yes. Capitalism is the problem. It allows the richest members of society to own most of the capital on the planet. That creates a massive power imbalance right there. If I wanted to open a restaurant or a coffee shop tomorrow, I would have to pay about $20,000 a month in rent to some landlord. I can't even buy a cup of coffee or a can of beans without having to pay extortion fees to a capitalist owner and landlord. The capitalist owners. Under capitalism the government and the law are also controlled by the owning class which allows them to maintain control and ownership of their private property.
Sure, workers can organize but you still have the slave / master dynamic. The owners can move production to a different province, state, country, Etc. They can claim bankruptcy under one corporate entity and then re-establish production under a completely different name.
With every passing day we can produce more and more with less and less labor. e.g. A car manufacturing plants can be run by a handful of people, turning out hundreds of thousands of cars a day. Everything produced belongs to Rich shareholders. Citizens have to pay extortion fees in order to gain access to what is produced.
It's kind of like arguing that feudalism isn't really a problem. Or that slavery isn't really a problem because if people organized and they can get Fair treatment.
Capitalism is economic feudalism. That is a serious problem. In order to for people to be free and get the true value of their labor, you have to have economic democracy. And that's what socialism is. Economic democracy. Saying that feudalism an economic feudalism is not a problem as long as workers are organized, well that's just not true. As long as the Masters maintain control over the means of production and the resources necessary for survival, there's always going to be a problem.
And the United States is not between socialism and capitalism. I don't even think of fraction of the GDP come from worker-owned companies. The concentration of wealth and capital ownership is higher today than it is or has been in the history of the world.
And again, when you work for an employee, you can never get the full value of your labor. It's not possible. You're going to lose time off of your life producing profit for other people. Human beings are not livestock. If a person Works 8 hours they should be paid for 8 hours. The full 8 hours. Why should anyone have to work extra hours in order to pay for some landlord's lifestyle, some capitalists Factory? When you have a system where one group of people, the capitalists, are living off of other people's labor, you're going to have a situation where workers could not get the full value of their labor. It's not possible. They can organize so that they can reduce their exploitation to it's barest minimum, But ultimately it's the wealth produced by the workers that have to pay for the landlord's lifestyle, the factory and the tools of the capitalists, Etc. That all amounts to unpaid labor. Why would any human being give up decades off of their life pay for someone else's Factory or tenement?
When the new deal was proposed, the working class was divided. Half wanted to accept the deal and the other half wanted to take control of the capital. People such as Emma goldman, big Bill haywood, Eugene Victor debs, and many others, they know that if we didn't go all of the way and take control of the capital, it would only be a matter of time before the ruling class was able to roll back any Privileges and protections under the law that the workers had gained under the New Deal. Under capitalism unionizing and regulating or only temporary measures.
We should have transitioned away from capitalism a long time ago. It's extremely undemocratic. Doesn't matter what kind of privileges workers can obtain for themselves. They are still in a Master / Slave situation where are one side gets to dictate the orders and owns everything that's produced and the other side has to follow orders and owns nothing of what is produced.
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@limitisillusion7 , you see, capitalism is not about working. It's about the maximization of capital accumulation for the purpose of extracting wealth from labor. Capitalists buy apartment buildings, houses, grocery stores, Electric companies, railroads, and then try to maximize their profit. That increases the cost of living and the amount of work that the rest of us have to do.
That's why so many people turn to socialism and communism, even in the United states. Here's an example of Communism at the micro level.
https://youtu.be/wBJADlN2Bic
that community pays for electricity at cost because they own their own means of production. The workers get paid top dollar and no expense is spared on quality, infrastructure and safety. But when you buy electricity from capitalist companies you're not just paying for the infrastructure and the labor, there's a huge amount of money going to people like Bill Gates and Donald Trump. And there's lots of examples of tragic incidents that have resulted because they cut corners on safety in order to maximize profit.
For example, in Norway if there's an explosion or fire that breaks out on an oil platform in the ocean, there's acoustic shut-off valves that will prevent the oil from leaking into the water. Just prior to the major oil disaster in the United States, the oil company went on records stating that they didn't spend money on acoustic shut-off valves because they weren't necessary and very expensive. And look at all the people that froze to death in Texas because they didn't upgrade their electrical infrastructure to compensate for the increasing colder temperatures during the winter.
When you need water, food, medicine, you shouldn't have to pay extortion fees to someone like Bill gates. When you want a job you shouldn't have to constantly be increasing your human capital in order to increase your volume to someone like Bill Gates and compete with other workers.
Capitalism is economic feudalism.
Sure, if you're in prison, you can organize with your fellow inmates in order to gain more privileges, better treatment, improved laws and regulations, but you're still under their thumb! Likewise, everything you produce at a capitalist Company still belongs to someone else. And the portion of wealth that they extract, even at its minimum, still represents unpaid labor. Who in the right mind wants to constantly be working in a Master Slave environment? Where one group of people get to give the orders and extract as much profit as possible while the other group has to do all of the work and only gets a portion of the wealth they create? It's crazy.
It's far better to have an economic system were people actually have to work for a living. This whole notion of living off of other people's labor should have been overthrown a long time ago. If you want something, work for it! Don't buy a McDonald's or a grocery store and then get an army of poor desperate workers to produce as much wealth as possible. One of the reasons groceries are costing so much now it's because capitalist by food products and then resell them at the highest price possible! 😀 there's one grocery store chain where I live we decided to double the price of olive oil, selling it at $20 a bottle. The openly admitted that they just wanted to see how many bottles they could sell at that price. And then they reduced the price by $5 calling it a sale. They put out a flyer with all these amazing price rollbacks, that's what they called them. But technically speaking, olive oil didn't decrease by 5.00. It increased by $5. It's like something out of 1984. 😀 the other day I talked to the landlord and I asked him why he literally doubled rent over the last 2 years. He said he's going to charge as much as he can get away with.
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@limitisillusion7 , like I said, people can get organized in order to get a greater portion of the wealth that they produced. What workers should be able to get all of the wealth that they produced. Not just a portion of it. Those who own and control the mean of subsistence along with the government and police to protect that private property, they're going to have a huge advantage over the general population. But when workers own their own means of production, that makes them less dependent upon capitalist corporations and the government when it comes to jobs and consumer goods. We need economic democracy. Why would you want to continue living under Democratic feudalism with constant contention between the owning class and the wage slaves? Why would you want to maintain such an archaic system that's based on exploitation? If you don't own the product of your labor, then you're nothing more than human livestock. Doesn't matter how much the cows organize and negotiate. The fact is the cow should own the milk that they produce. Not some farmer. Human beings are not cows. 😀
Every time the working class is able to organize and erect regulations and extend the floor of the cage by getting more privileges, each and every time, over and over again, the ruling class ends up circumventing those gains all the while living in extreme opulence while the workers have to do all of the fighting, all of the working, all of the organizing, etc. Over and over and over again. How long do you want this to continue? how many times do you want to repeat the cycle? Emma Goldman and Eugene Victor debs, and many others, pointed out before accepting the New Deal that if we don't take control of the capital so that we can be independent, if we leave control of the capital in the hands of the ruling class, it's only going to be a matter of time before they roll back all the progress that we made. They were right! Why the hell should you have to pay someone like Bill Gates extra money to get a blood test or buy an apple? To hell with fighting for more privileges. We don't need capitalists. Capitalists are unnecessary middlemen that just increase the cost of living and the amount of work the rest of us have to do. You should have had a 20 hour work week a long time ago. But people need to work 40 hours for longer because the cost of living is so high and wages are so low. What drives up the cost of living? What drives wages downward?
You do not need capitalism in order to have a business, have a market, have innovation, have people selling and trading with one another, etc. So what's the point of leaving the ruling class in control of the means of subsistence?
Your argument is that we should maintain the capitalist system because if workers are more effective at networking than they can get more privileges? What the hell are you talking about? 😀 you should be trying to end slavery, not talking about how much power the slaves have to increase their Privileges and protections under the law. You should be addressing why they are slaves in the first place
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@limitisillusion7 , of course we need more class organization. Until the capitalist system has been relegated to the trash bin of History we need to keep fighting for Privileges and protections under the law. More regulations that protect workers and the environment. Electoral reform such as getting rid of first pass the post and implementing more democratic systems such as instant runoff voting and proportional representation. We need to make it easier for people to get funding for the purpose of starting worker cooperatives. We need to increase education availability regarding worker cooperatives, how they work, how they can be formed, operated, etc. But this time we can't make the same mistakes like we did with the new deal. This time we need to go all the way with the complete abolition of capitalism.
economic democracy n.
Economic democracy means that the participants in economic institutions (e.g. factories, stores and universities) decide on the policy of the institution.
Economic democracy is a socioeconomic philosophy that proposes to shift decision-making power from corporate managers and corporate shareholders to a larger group of public stakeholders that includes workers, customers, suppliers, neighbours and the broader public.
What Richard Wolff is saying is not new concept in the United States.
"Socialism is merely an extension of the ideal of democracy into the economic field."
~ Eugene Victor Debs, 1893.
https://youtu.be/-VdbFzwe8fQ
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@ExPwner , competition -> winners -> competition between winners -> stronger winners -> ..
Capitalism gravitates toward monopoly for many reasons:
1. Economies of Scale: In many industries, larger companies can produce goods or services more efficiently and at a lower cost per unit. This makes it difficult for smaller competitors to compete, leading to the consolidation of market power in the hands of a few large firms.
2. Barriers to Entry: Monopolies or oligopolies arise when there are significant barriers to entry in an industry, such as high startup costs, access to distribution channels, or intellectual property protection. These barriers can discourage new competitors from entering the market.
3. Network Effects: Some industries, like social media or telecommunications, exhibit network effects. The more users a platform or network has, the more valuable it becomes. This creates a winner-takes-all scenario, where a single dominant player emerges.
4. Mergers and Acquisitions: Large companies acquire or merge with smaller competitors, further concentrating market power.
5. Regulatory Capture: Powerful corporations can influence or capture regulatory agencies, shaping regulations in their favor. This allows them to stifle competition or maintain their dominant position in the market.
6. Innovation and Patents: Companies with significant resources can invest in research and development and secure patents, protecting their innovations from competition for a certain period. This leads to monopolistic advantages in technology-driven industries.
And the list goes on and on. Can you imagine how bad things would be if we didn't have antitrust laws and regulations?
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@AbAb-th5qe ," so the ones who stand most to gain would have you believe." That makes absolutely no sense at all. If someone asks you to vote for them, if someone asks you to give them dictatorial powers, if someone asks you to remove checks and balances from your government, then that's moving in the opposite direction of communism. That's moving right to the right. I might as well be asking you to give me ownership of your possessions, promising you that I'm going to give you a million dollars or something. It doesn't matter what system of organization you're dealing with. If you get rid of checks and balances within the government, if you give someone dictatorial powers, then you're asking for problems. Communism doesn't have anything to do with dictators or giving people dictatorial power. That's absolutely ridiculous. Like what the hell are you talking about? Socialism is on the left side of the political spectrum. If you continue to move to the left, then you're moving toward communism. Eventually, in theory, you end up with a classless, stateless and moneyless society. If you move in the other direction, then you're moving away from socialism and communism. You end up on the right side of the political spectrum. If you continue to move to the right you end up with fascism. And of course I'm referring to the political Spectrum that evolved out of the seating arrangement in the French Parliament after the revolution. "Oli" means few. "Mono" means one. "archy" means rule. "An" means "not" or "without". Anarchy means without rulers. Anarchy does not mean dictatorship. They're polar opposites. That's why communism and anarchism overlap and are on the same side of the political spectrum. Fascism and it's advocates, they believe that human beings are not rational and cannot govern themselves. They need an all-powerful state to do it for them. Anarchists / Communists believe that people are rational and can govern themselves. That's the point! That's the main point of contention.
Here's an example of socialism at the micro level in the United States https://youtu.be/-VdbFzwe8fQ the workers own their own means of production. They own the product of their labor. They're doing their own work. They're not utilizing other people's labor for profit, which would be capitalism. The workers have sovereignty. They are their own boss. They get all of the wealth that their labor produces. If most of the GDP were coming from worker-owned modes of production, then we would have a socialist economy. A capitalist economy is when most of the GDP comes from privately owned companies that utilize wage labor for profit. The workers do not have sovereignty and do not own the product of their labor. The workers and the community do not get to decide what is produced, how things are produced, where things are produced, how much workers get paid, etc. That's why most things are made in China and why the richest 1% now has almost as much wealth as the poorest in 91% of the American population. Capitalism is freedom for the capitalist class. Markets are free for the capitalist class. And the more money you have, the Freer you are.
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@AbAb-th5qe , ," so the ones who stand most to gain would have you believe." That makes absolutely no sense at all. If someone asks you to vote for them, if someone asks you to give them dictatorial powers, if someone asks you to remove checks and balances from your government, then that's moving in the opposite direction of communism. That's moving right to the right. I might as well be asking you to give me ownership of your possessions, promising you that I'm going to give you a million dollars or something. It doesn't matter what system of organization you're dealing with. If you get rid of checks and balances within the government, if you give someone dictatorial powers, then you're asking for problems. Communism doesn't have anything to do with dictators or giving people dictatorial power. That's absolutely ridiculous. Like what the hell are you talking about? Socialism is on the left side of the political spectrum. If you continue to move to the left, then you're moving toward communism. Eventually, in theory, you end up with a classless, stateless and moneyless society. If you move in the other direction, then you're moving away from socialism and communism. You end up on the right side of the political spectrum. If you continue to move to the right you end up with fascism. And of course I'm referring to the political Spectrum that evolved out of the seating arrangement in the French Parliament after the revolution. "Oli" means few. "Mono" means one. "archy" means rule. "An" means "not" or "without". Anarchy means without rulers. Anarchy does not mean dictatorship. They're polar opposites. Communism in anarchism overlap. That's why they're both on the left side of the political spectrum.
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Of course capitalism is the problem. Capitalism gives a small minority extreme power over the majority. Anytime you have that type of situation you're going to have corruption, greed, exploitation, Etc.
Under capitalism the richest members of society own most of the capital. Those who own the capital get to decide what is produced, how things are produced, where things are produced, how much workers get paid, Etc. That's why most things are made in China and why wages are so low and why the riches 1% now has almost as much wealth as the poorest 91% of the population.
The capitals company the boss gets to decide when you work, how hard you work, what you can wear, when you get to eat, whether or not you get a coffee break. They can't even decide when and how long you get to go to the washroom. The boss wants to replace you with one of his family members or his new girlfriend, he can do it. If you worked your ass off for years and he wants to give a raise and bonus to the newest worker just because he's his best friend, he can do it.
If you think greed and Corruption is a problem, then you definitely don't want an economic system that gives the richest members of society extreme control over other people and resources.
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@ExPwner , of course capitalism allows the richest members of society own most of the capital. How could you not know this? 😃 what do you think capitalism is all about? It's about the maximization of capital accumulation. Why do you think it is that Bill Gates bought up as much of the Canadian Railway system as he could? Why do you think Bill Gates is the largest owner of Farmland in the United States?
Something like 86% of world stocks are owned by the richest 1%.
If you have an auction, if you privatize resources, who's going to be able to afford to buy the most? Those with the most money!
Why do you think it is the people like Bill Gates push for privatization in countries such as Canada, Russia, and everywhere else in the world?
You claim to have a master's degree in economics but yet it appears that you don't even have a great 12 education. It's not too hard to track where most of the money is going. There's a reason why the richest 1% has almost as much wealth as the poorest 91% of the population.
And I love how you're not even aware that capitalism causes inflation. Yeah, in the apartment building that I live in the landlord has doubled the rent over the last three years. At the grocery store I go to the owner increase the price of olive oil from $10 to $20. Then after seeing how much he could sell at that price, he reduced it to $15 a bottle calling it up price rollback. 😀 but yeah, you're correct. Capitalism doesn't increase prices. One of my good friends had to shut down or coffee shop when the landlord increase rent from ten to fifteen thousand a month. But no, that's not an example of inflation. Not at all. You ignorant uneducated twit.
"A significant portion of the wealth is owned and controlled by the richest 1% of the population. Income and wealth inequality in the United States have increased over the past few decades, with a disproportionate share of the country's wealth concentrated among a small percentage of individuals and families. This has been a subject of considerable debate and concern."
"The information about income and wealth inequality in the United States, specifically the concentration of wealth among the richest 1% of the population, is well-documented and widely discussed in various reputable sources:
1. Academic Journals: Economic and sociological journals publish research on income and wealth inequality. Notable journals include the American Economic Review, Journal of Economic Inequality, and Social Forces, etc.
2. Government Agencies: Reports and data from agencies like the U.S. Census Bureau, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Federal Reserve are valuable sources of information on income and wealth distribution.
3. Organizations such as the Pew Research Center, the Brookings Institution, and the Economic Policy Institute conduct and publish research on income inequality and related topics.
4. Text Books: Many books by economists, sociologists, and other experts delve into the topic of income and wealth inequality. Notable authors include Thomas Piketty ("Capital in the Twenty-First Century") and Joseph Stiglitz ("The Price of Inequality").
5. Reputable news organizations, such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Economist, often report on and analyze income and wealth inequality using data from various sources."
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What are you talking about? Your comment makes no sense. Is English not your first language? Can you not comprehend what Richard Wolff is saying? Poison frogs? Dude, what Richard Wolff is saying is very very very very very very simple. When the rich people control the capital and the means of production then they get to decide what is produced, how things are produced, where things are produced, how much workers get paid, etcetera. They get most of the wealth produced by labor. That's why most things are made in China and why the richest 1% now has almost as much wealth as the poorest 91% of the American population. The 8 richest people almost as much wealth as the poorest half of the Earth's population.
Workers cannot afford to buy factories, grocery stores, apartment buildings, railroads, etc. So if they work together collectively, socially, then they can own their own means of production. When you own your own means of production, then you're free. You have a source of wealth and independence. You own the product of your labor. You get to keep all of the wealth of your labor produces. That makes you less dependent upon governments and capitals corporations when it comes to jobs and consumer goods. Do you understand? Can you comprehend? Is that clear enough? Fuc. Pay closer attention and take notes if you have to.
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@carbonfibercrypto2919 , what does Albania have to do with worker-owned companies?
Dude, statistically speaking, macaron companies are more productive, more durable, more Innovative, workers are happier, there's less incidence of mental illness, substance abuse, workers take fewer sick days, there's less illness, Etc.
Yeah, when workers get the wealth produced by their labour they spend that money into the economy which creates more demand. People can afford to buy more stuff. People can afford to buy more beer, pizza, coffee, Etc. But when profits are maximized by capitalist companies, workers can afford less. We're talking basic economics here.
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@sten260 , the capitalist Market drives value of Labor downward. There are more workers than jobs. Workers have to compete for those jobs. Whoever has the most education and is willing to do the most work for the least amount of money, that's the person that gets the job.
The goal of capital is companies is to maximize profit. profits are maximize by keeping wages as low as possible while getting workers to Bruce as much as possible.
Thanks to the capitalist Market, wages are extremely low. That's why profits are so huge. That's why the riches 1% now has almost as much wealth is of course ninety-one percent of the American population.
However, when workers own their own means of production, then they get to keep all of the wealth that their labour produces. That's the point that Richard Wolff is making.
Also, because worker-owned companies are tied to the community, if most of the GDP were coming from those types of companies, then most things we made it home rather than China. And with most of the wealth going to the worker instead of a small Rich minority, workers would have greater purchasing power. That's money they would spend into the economy creating more demand, making it easier for people to start their own businesses.
With every passing day we can produce more and more with less and less labour. For a very long time now we've had the ability to produce far more than we're capable of consuming. People shouldn't need to work 40 hours a week. But under capitalism everything produced by workers belongs to someone else. That's why labor-saving technology led to the Advent of the billionaire class rather than reducing working hours and increasing prosperity for everyone.
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The thing is that under socialism greed has very little power because it's a democratic, non-hierarchical system of organization. Capitalism gives massive power to greedy and corrupt individuals. Capitalist have massive power over the economy, the government and workers. They get to decide what is produced, how things are produced, where things are produced, how much workers get paid, Etc. That's why most things are made in China and why the riches 1% now has almost as much wealth as the poorest 91% of the American population. The capitalist gets to decide when you work, how hard you have to work, what you can wear, when you get to eat, when or if you get a coffee break, they can even tell you when and how long you get to go to the washroom.
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