Finding yourself, your children or friends getting tempted that capitalism = bad? (Page 1/4) 2.5 FEB 24, 11:43 AM Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private property, property rights recognition, voluntary exchange, and wage labor. Ever find yourself or your children or friends getting tempted to think capitalism is a bad thing? Have the courage to view or share with them alternate opinions: A popular idea that people like to try to supplant free enterprise with is Democratic Socialism, about that at 15:50 in the vid (and later): A Video Marathon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_eobnhtCy8 I found the later segments of that vid better than the first few. There is no perfect system, and there is no utopia. The U.S governmental system is a good part of why it was successful, its people are a larger part. Both are being eroded, principles being abandoned. Children indoctrinated with an agenda instead of taught how things work by their parents (who stayed married and raised the kids). "When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic" I've heard Ben Franklin didn't say that, but it doesn't really matter, truth is truth. Capitalism is how entrepreneurs exist, how innovation exists, how freedom exists to pursue happiness, and is a default innate human trait. It encourages freedom, not coercion. Economic exchanges in a capitalistic system are mutually beneficial. When someone buys meat from a butcher he does so because he thinks the meat is as valuable as the money it costs. He buys it willingly. He is not forced to beg for the meat, nor is he forced to buy the meat. He buys it because he sees it gives him a benefit. Capitalism actually encourages generosity. America is the most generous country in the world when it comes to charitable giving. The more the government confiscates the less people give, and the freer the economy, the more people give”. If you have rebuttals go for it. slicknick FEB 24, 02:11 PM Capitalism isn't bad on the surface, but unregulated capitalism is. Everyone on this forum is a lazy do-nothing if everything is fine the way it is. If Musk or Bezos can go out there and make billions a year in the same time most can barely pull $50,000, well that means people do about 20,000 times less work then them. Talk about useless! 2.5 FEB 24, 02:45 PM quote Originally posted by slicknick: Capitalism isn't bad on the surface, but unregulated capitalism is. Everyone on this forum is a lazy do-nothing if everything is fine the way it is. If Musk or Bezos can go out there and make billions a year in the same time most can barely pull $50,000, well that means people do about 20,000 times less work then them. Talk about useless! What actions would you recommend? What would you vote for? Zeb FEB 24, 03:16 PM quote Originally posted by slicknick: Capitalism isn't bad on the surface, but unregulated capitalism is. Everyone on this forum is a lazy do-nothing if everything is fine the way it is. If Musk or Bezos can go out there and make billions a year in the same time most can barely pull $50,000, well that means people do about 20,000 times less work then them. Talk about useless! Unregulated capitalism = bad. I agree, some limits need to be in place. "Everyone on this forum is a lazy do-nothing" Well, okay, you've got my number, but there are many members that absolutely cannot be called that. Maybe we just have different priorities. Most want to go home after 8 hours five days a week and kiss the wife, play with the kids, and pet the dog. Others want to work 24/7/365 to rake in the billions. slicknick FEB 24, 03:20 PM quote Originally posted by 2.5: What actions would you recommend? What would you vote for? Unfortunately, it's likely too late. The neighborhood butcher can't exist anymore, you can't be a grocer and raise your family on that income, etc. Hell, even comparably big things like TV and Radio stations are out of reach for independents these days. Like when Wal*Mart was the big unstoppable lousy corp and Amazon steamrolled them by being even bigger and lousier. You can only get worse. Noone is willing to commit daily to pay higher prices at a mom and pop when they can get it cheaper form the big conglomerate. And they can't afford it either, because the big conglomerate doesn't pay well enough to. That's how they got so big. Wealth DOES need redistributed, it's out of control. There's just no way to do it without suffering. The 0.1% won't give it up out of their pockets. slicknick FEB 24, 03:24 PM quote Originally posted by Zeb: Unregulated capitalism = bad. I agree, some limits need to be in place. "Everyone on this forum is a lazy do-nothing" Well, okay, you've got my number, but there are many members that absolutely cannot be called that. Maybe we just have different priorities. Most want to go home after 8 hours five days a week and kiss the wife, play with the kids, and pet the dog. Others want to work 24/7/365 to rake in the billions. I would say that if someone with the average income of members on this site worked 24/7/365, they wouldn't come close to being a billionaire. So the age old pro capitalism trope of "if you work hard enough you can too" is bull. Once people start realizing that they can't or don't need to, maybe things could improve for the average person. Its not shameful to not be a billionaire. theBDub FEB 24, 03:26 PM quote Originally posted by slicknick: Capitalism isn't bad on the surface, but unregulated capitalism is. Everyone on this forum is a lazy do-nothing if everything is fine the way it is. If Musk or Bezos can go out there and make billions a year in the same time most can barely pull $50,000, well that means people do about 20,000 times less work then them. Talk about useless! Not 20,000 less work, but 20,000 less valuable, with value assigned by the market. The money you make is determined by what someone is willing to pay for it. This is true for Musk's shares, no matter how overinflated in price, and true for your salary or hourly compensation. Fats FEB 24, 03:28 PM Strange. We've got successful neighborhood butchers all around here. Even in Michigan I'd go to A&A Meats and get steak. They are EXTREMELY successful (and good) butchers. We've also got small grocery stores that seem to survive in most of the small towns around here. Are they rich? Not at all. Most are barely making it because it's less expensive to go to Walmart or order from Amazon. But you know why Walmart exploded like they did? Hint: It was during the Clinton Administration, when the Government suddenly decided that China needed propped up, and all of the sudden cheap good started flowing. Bill, Hillary, Tyson, Hudson, and the Walmart kids all went to school together. All of those people had "major capitalism" that exploded when Billary became president.... It wasn't capitalism. Never was, still isn't. 2.5 FEB 24, 03:36 PM quote Originally posted by slicknick: Like when Wal*Mart was the big unstoppable lousy corp and Amazon steamrolled them by being even bigger and lousier. You can only get worse. Noone is willing to commit daily to pay higher prices at a mom and pop when they can get it cheaper form the big conglomerate. I will agree that outsourcing to China = bad. Fats FEB 24, 03:38 PM quote Originally posted by slicknick: I would say that if someone with the average income of members on this site worked 24/7/365, they wouldn't come close to being a billionaire. So the age old pro capitalism trope of "if you work hard enough you can too" is bull. Once people start realizing that they can't or don't need to, maybe things could improve for the average person. Its not shameful to not be a billionaire. Wait.... Do you understand how wealth works at all? You work at the local Subway... I don't care if you work 24/7, you aren't going to get rich. BUT Work at Subway for 30-40 hours a week. THEN Work at something else for another 50+ hours a week growing your own business. Don't make money for years, pour everything you have into that business. Destroy relationships, give up any hope of a regular life, don't sleep. Claw your way up. I've got a friend that is working a full time job and has two separate "jobs" he's been working for years. AND THEN After years of blood sweat and tears, you can have some punk on the internet say you didn't earn it. It's not shameful to not be a Billionaire... It is shameful to not be the best you can be at whatever you are doing.