Capitalism looks good on paper but it doesn’t work in real life. It’s just human nature. These academics talk about supply and demand curves, but after hundreds of years they still can’t even provide evidence that one exists. I’d love it if markets were free and efficient. It would make society so simple and everyone would get what they needed most. But people aren’t robots, you know? They don’t consume rationally and all the money ends up going to the guys at the top who use it to make themselves more powerful. It’s called tragedy of the commons. Markets can start out efficient, but people steal shit and force people to stop competing, which fucks the markets up even more.

  • GadgeteerZA
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    -43 years ago

    Yep I agree, but funnily enough I also agree on the same point with regards to Communism. Both are actually good ideals in paper, but the way humans used and abused them made both look pretty bad.

    Today I fell we are battling with power hungry politicians more than anything else… There are a few politicians who want to really help society and represent their people etc, but there are a lot of rotten apples out there and once voted in they use their power through advertising etc to corrupt the system.

    In theory there should be checks and balances for any political system, but they were not designed for deliberate corruption from within.

    • @SloppilyFloss
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      43 years ago

      The “commumism is only good on paper” argument is genuinely one of the most frustrating pieces of recent propaganda, especially when it’s followed by some vague capitulation to “human nature”. Anyone can state that and act as if they just made some poignant argument when in reality they haven’t said anything at all. It’s an argument made with no actual understanding of either communism or capitalism, tbh.

      I don’t mean to rag on you in particular, it’s just frustrating hearing the same thing over and over again, especially things that Communists themselves have been addressing for a long time, like in the case of human nature.

      Here’s a past comment of mine on the topic of human nature

      • GadgeteerZA
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        -43 years ago

        I wasn’t picking on Communism at all - I’m highlighting this as I noticed it first with Capitalism that was always held in such high esteem in Western countries. The ideals of Capitalism may be a fine motivating factor but its human greed and corruption now that has dragged it through the mud. So it is more an observation about human nature I was making across the board. It’s not intended to be an argument for or against any political system - more again humans than anything else. Humans have caused more devastation to themselves, animals, the environment, etc than anything else. I’d support an anti-human political system but I’m not sure we have one ;-)

        • @stolenstalinOP
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          13 years ago

          Eco-fascists are a thing. You sound like one too.