To be honest, I don’t think most people understand what the definitions of capitalism or communism or socialism are any more.
It’s all just idpol now. Capitalists are on the “America Good” Team and Socialists/Communists are on the “America Bad” Team. No deeper analysis needed.
People will complain about “capitalism” because they don’t have health care or their in too much debt or their single and lonely or they’re LGBTQ or PoC or obviously poor while getting wailed on by a police officer. And they’ll say “damn this shit sucks, must be the capitalism” when a lot of it just boils down to your neighbors and leaders being bigot pedophile freaks.
Like, you think Communism is so great? Explain Boris Yeltsin. He was a fucking Commie. And look what happened.
humans are shit to each other under every system ever imagined
Humans are a very mixed bag. But Americans are a special breed of narcissistic, consumerist, sociopaths. And not because of some kind of genetics thing, either. The country attracts these freaks like a magnet.
From Ayn Rand to Wernher von Braun to Benjamin Netanyahu to Elon Musk, the world’s worst human beings are drawn to this place. They pilgrimage here and export their awfulness abroad. Or they take root and fester. Either way, America prints the worst humans imaginable.
InputZero@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Kids, please listen to the adult in the room.
That’s a defeatist argument, it set’s the goal post wayy too far, and doesn’t propose a solution or at the very least point to an obstruction without a solution. I get it, I’m tired too. It’s easier to say nothing will work and watch the decline than it is try to make a better future. It reads of “Capitalism is the worst form of economy, except for all the other forms we’ve tried.” A dumb quote wrapped up in a lazy joke to make it more palatable if there ever was one.
Not to mention that saying that the only system that’s worth having is one where no one has a complaint is an absurd thing to say. Be real. Nothing is perfect, but don’t let perfect be the enemy of good enough. There are many places in the world where people are happy, usually in the countries with strong support of labor. Most are still capitalist but people live much easier, happier and fulfilling lives. Sure they have complaints but you can’t please everyone.
GreenShimada@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Look, I’ll admit I didn’t realize I wasn’t in a community I didn’t subscribe to, and accidentally hit it from the front page before I had logged in. That’s on me for throwing an obviously unpopular comment out here. I didn’t mean to show up and stir shit on purpose. For what that’s worth. And, also for what it’s worth, I do support work reform. FFS the minimum wage hasn’t changed for most of my adult life, and things are generally untenable for a lot of people.
With that out of the way, I’m not saying “well, it’s the only system we got! Might as well keep it!” Not at all. What I am saying is to be cautious about a Grass is Greener scenario where you’ve built up an incredibly lofty goal of large-scale economic reforms, as if it’s some panacea. It’s not. Every economic system sucks, and every one is hard work to protect rights and be good to humans. It’s equally possible under pure, unrestrained capitalism to be socially just and rights-respecting as it is under any other system.
For those entirely consumed by the idea that only shifting to full on socialism is the key, and that the only reason things are bad anywhere is due to capitalism, swapping out economic systems will accomplish little more than pain and suffering for the poorest among us during the transition phase. That’s how it always works, and has always worked in the past. We’re not so advanced as to skip that part.
So what? So I’m saying that people’s minds, attitudes, and hearts are the core of the problem. Greed, not limited by governments of any sort, is the problem. Idolizing abusers and sociopaths is a problem. Focus on material wealth is a problem - and one that every single Soviet or socialist government faced as well. A command economy can’t command people to change what their brain stem says.
Again, sorry for showing up here and shitting the bed. I’m just asking people to consider reforms within the system that most people know to see what’s possible. Regardless of what that system is. North Korea should try the same. China did exactly that, and liberalizing their economy is why they’ve seen such success over the last 15-20 years. They adapted within their own system, they didn’t scrap it all, let millions starve, and start from scratch because people alive today remember the last time they did that, and it was miserable.
Anyway, just my opinion. Enjoy your angry downvote and banning me from the community.