Comments by "Bob" (@bobs_toys) on "David Pakman Show" channel.

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  8. This is true. To look at it in another way: Every single one of your ancestors was.... If not a winner, then at least not so much of a loser that it couldn't reproduce. And going right back to the beginning, our ancestors were survivors, many of whom definitely did some very horrible things to survive while others died. Thieves, rapists, murderers (at least of potential competition) abounded. And this isn't nice. Now, today there's normally no reason to do this stuff, and plenty of reason not to (we eliminate threats. If we feel genuinely threatened by something, all bets are off) but the competitiveness that underlies it worked. It's worked since the dawn of life, despite the ugliness that goes along with it. So to suddenly pretend that this competitiveness is a bad thing is lunacy. It's nasty, and in many ways, it 100% needs to be channelled into something positive, but it the attitude behind it works. There are lots of failures, but the winners and their positive contribution to society more than pay for that. On top of this, and this is a common attitude I've noticed to technology, is that we only think in very short timescales. Competitiveness (as long as we don't destroy ourselves) is good for the long term. We need to keep improving. Hopefully we'll be around for tens, or even hundreds of thousands of years to come. Maybe longer. During that time, we need to keep moving and improving. Or we might be dead later this year, in which case, whatever's done doesn't really matter anyway, so it's better to assume we're here for the long term. Just in case we do manage to avoid killing ourselves.
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  13.  @TheLastAngryMan01  >>I suggested that Vienna, which has had an unbroken spell of left-wing governance since the 1930s, has the highest standard of living according to many global surveys on that topic.<< You did. Left wing != Socialist or abandonment of Capitalism (Although on that specific issue, it would be. At least in a state that's currently capitalist. No sane person is purely left or right wing). It means that the person is in favour of change. Right wing is conservative (resistant to change) or reactionary (wants a previous status quo) I'm overall fairly left wing. I'm firmly capitalist. >>You implied that this was entirely down to capitalism.<< Not quite. What I pointed out is that Vienna is Capitalist. It's not a case of socialism working. >>I responded that many elements of life in Vienna (where I live, btw) are non-profit based- subsidized transport, subsidized healthcare and childcare, subsidized maternity and paternity leave, laws ensuring work-life balance, high taxes, social housing with non-index linked rents. These are policies more commonly associated with socialism, or at least, social democracy than free market capitalism.<< 'associated with socialism' != Socialist. What you've listed are some of the benefits that socialism is meant to bring (and has epically failed at). But they're not socialist. Socialism = public ownership of the means of production Socialism != nice things that are taxpayer funded. Social Democracy != Socialism, democratic or otherwise. >>You then suggested that capitalism does not prohibit free choice in terms of resource allocation.<< It doesn't. >>Yet, I am suggesting that if you survey the great proponents of capitalism- financial institutions, employers' confederations, right-wing think tanks, national and international economic governance institutions etc.- none of them would campaign for the things that I've listed, which gave ordinary (non-rich) citizens of Vienna a very high standard of living. Indeed, historically they have battled very hard against them.< And? Here you're mistaking what's a good idea for what's covered by the definition. If I own a business, I can do utterly retarded things. I can do very beneficial things. It's still covered by capitalism. All Capitalism means is that the means of production (you've listed things that are more consumption of the wealth created) are privately owned. What you spend the wealth on and how the wealth is created are two entirely different subjects. >>Indeed, if classical free market economics guaranteed a high standard of living for all, it would stand to reason that US cities would dominate the upper echelons of standard of living surveys, given their adherence to free market economic policy. << Which is irrelevant to the definition. >>But yet it's often European cities that dominate the higher placings on these things (with some competition from places like Vancouver and Melbourne, typically). Hope that makes it a little bit easier for you.<< Yes. It did make it easier for me to explain to you that you've mixed up the goals with the mechanics. That you've mixed up definitions with what is a good idea. >>bully380 I’m just amazed that people in this day and age, following one of the largest socialization of private sector gambling losses in world history, still think that socialist policies are the bogeyman we have to be worried about.<< That you yourself don't know what socialism is doesn't change that it's a bad idea. It just means that you're talking about something for which you don't understand the basic definition. It's not unusual. It's the result of people spending decades trying to make the word into something nice. Basically due to the epic failure of actual socialist states.
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  29. >>Well I didn't find any blogs searching on Google, because I don't support Google's Monopoly. I search on Ecosia.org. This blog, http://blog.peerform.com/top-ten-most-socialist-countries-in-the-world/ was about the sixth entry<< Ok, then I've seen the blog that's the sixth entry on ecosia.org >>What I find with opponents of Socialism, is that their thinking remains very black and white -- like the fundamentalist believer who asks, "Just show me ONE example of a 'missing link...'" (transitional fossil), and then they won't accept the examples you provide. They still believe that a "species" is something frozen in time, when in fact all species (excepting one) are in a continuous state of change. Likewise, even as the human species has almost certainly stopped evolving, individuals within the species don't believe that social evolution is possible.<< Funny, what I find with Socialist is that they put much effort into redefining the word. Kind of like how evolution is supposed to include what came before the big bang because reasons. A redefinition that would have 100% not been necessary if it had worked as advertised. A redefinition that's, frankly, only necessary because the alternative is actively supporting a truly horrendous system. 100 million dead with nothing to show for it. The CCP did a similar redefinition with 'Socialism with Chinese characteristics' - If I'd killed 60 million in pursuit of the one goal my organisation had been created to achieve, then openly admitted to giving up on that goal, I hate to think of what would happen next. I mean... What was the point? What was it all for? What possible reason could I give to not be brutally murdered myself? >>You do make a good point, Robert, that nothing says Capitalism can't be regulated. It's just that there are all these purists out there who insist that all regulation of Capitalism is a bad thing; in fact, FDR claimed that his life's greatest achievement was saving Capitalism through implementation of the New Deal, almost all of which has been undone by the 1/10 of 1% through their buying off the government apparatus and the mainstream media. << This is true. There are people who say that. But that doesn't make any of those states Socialist. Nor does it mean that Socialism has succeeded. >>If you are okay with a healthy, Keynesian approach to stopping the morbidly wealthy and powerful from screwing over the 99%, then just know that I am okay with the blending of Capitalism with Socialist programs<< 'Socialist Programs' -ne Socialism. They're more things that are compatible with it. That the nice things produced by that economic system are supposed to provide (but fail at) At its core, Socialism's an economic system. You can't base an economy on handing out free stuff. It's about who owns what creates the wealth. >>especially where the rich (not the Middle Class) are taxed heavily to pay for the military and all other social programs, and where the People are no longer silenced through the Party Duopoly that currently reigns, and are instead able to realize the serving of their collective interests throughout all levels of government.<< Which we're largely in agreement on (Although as a net taxpayer, I've got to say I'm a touch sick of being turned into the enemy. Fortunately, if things get too annoying, I can leave very easily)
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  30. I'll put it this way: For someone who supports actual Socialism. As it was intended before we found out how things really went down whenever it was tried. Obviously, we all condemn neo-Nazis. For good reasons (Although people have massively stretched what we apply that term to. I've been called one for supporting the right of people I disagree with to speak without being assaulted. Because Hitler was totally in favour of free speech). What reason that we use to condemn neo-Nazis shouldn't we use against those who support Socialism? About the only thing that changes is the target.They're both ideologies of hate. One against non-Aryans. One against the economically successful. (After seeing how the USSR, China, the Khmer Rouge, North Korea, etc etc went down, you can't both be a Socialist AND want to help the disadvantaged.) The human rights records of states that implement both are abysmal. Between being in the Gulag system vs being in a Konzentrationslager. There wasn't a hell of a lot of difference. As any Pole will tell you, Socialist countries are pretty damn happy to be expansionist when the opportunity arises. They speak out against Imperialism, but are happy to engage in it. Now, someone who simply thinks that Socialism is providing taxpayer funded services and taxing the wealthy more, I'll simply say he doesn't know what he's actually supporting and move on. But someone who does know what it is, what its history is, yet still supports it? I really don't see the difference. Actually, there is one difference. Your legitimate Neo Nazi today has basically no support (outside of Russia shit-stirring) - He's a joke. Today's Socialist has lots of support. Ask any Hong Konger.
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