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Every single thing you touched (And every single thing connected to what you touched) to type that statement was made overseas. Welcome to the international sy

Every single thing you touched (And every single thing connected to what you touched) to type that statement was made overseas. Welcome to the international system of currency and labor arbitrage, a core prerequisite for any democratic experiment. Democracy has ALWAYS and WILL always require slaves.

rm_-rf_slash 10y ago
You are conflating economic neoliberalism (which is neither new nor contemporarily liberal) with social liberalism. They are not the same and nobody is pretending that they are. I still fail to see your connection: 1: Slaves 2: Democracy 3: ???? 4: Profit(?) Could you explain with links or examples how exactly slavery (or economic peonage, depending on your definition), is required to maintain a democracy?
- EekSnakePond 10y ago
  > You are conflating economic neoliberalism with social liberalism. I agree it appears I'm making this conflation. But > nobody is pretending that they are: Is not an honest statement. Any attempt to make cheap brown labor more expensive through legislation (See the Trump protests) or even by IMPROVING their quality of life (See gentrification) is instantly fought off as racist. The powers that be have deeply merged international currency flow with Western liberal morality after the 1940s and use their sacred cows as hostages to stifle any threats to their power.
  - germinalphrase 10y ago
    Gentrification pushes low income people out of their communities by increasing the costs of living there beyond their capacity to absorb those costs. It is also not inherently racist (as it affects anyone who is low income), but is one mechanism through which racial inequities are exacerbated in our country.
  - rm_-rf_slash 10y ago
    >Is not an honest statement. Any attempt to make cheap brown labor more expensive through legislation (See the Trump protests) or even by IMPROVING their quality of life (See gentrification) is instantly fought off as racist. For the third time, I ask for a specific example. A link. Something. Otherwise I think you are either trolling or positing biased statements that are not backed up by facts.
dmritard96 10y ago
To me, I think you are objecting to capitalism more than democracy. That certainly chases labor arbitrage however I do think its a poor mischaracterization to attribute labor arbitrage to slavery. That doesn't mean arbitrarily small amounts of compensation don't effectively become slavery, but instead that pareto optimality is not the only way to prevent slavery.
tim333 10y ago
Trade which is popular these days is not the same as slavery which is thankfully rare. The Chinese who make much of the stuff have done pretty well over the last few decades.

rm_-rf_slash 10y ago

You are conflating economic neoliberalism (which is neither new nor contemporarily liberal) with social liberalism. They are not the same and nobody is pretending that they are. I still fail to see your connection: 1: Slaves 2: Democracy 3: ???? 4: Profit(?) Could you explain with links or examples how exactly slavery (or economic peonage, depending on your definition), is required to maintain a democracy?

EekSnakePond 10y ago
> You are conflating economic neoliberalism with social liberalism. I agree it appears I'm making this conflation. But > nobody is pretending that they are: Is not an honest statement. Any attempt to make cheap brown labor more expensive through legislation (See the Trump protests) or even by IMPROVING their quality of life (See gentrification) is instantly fought off as racist. The powers that be have deeply merged international currency flow with Western liberal morality after the 1940s and use their sacred cows as hostages to stifle any threats to their power.
- germinalphrase 10y ago
  Gentrification pushes low income people out of their communities by increasing the costs of living there beyond their capacity to absorb those costs. It is also not inherently racist (as it affects anyone who is low income), but is one mechanism through which racial inequities are exacerbated in our country.
- rm_-rf_slash 10y ago
  >Is not an honest statement. Any attempt to make cheap brown labor more expensive through legislation (See the Trump protests) or even by IMPROVING their quality of life (See gentrification) is instantly fought off as racist. For the third time, I ask for a specific example. A link. Something. Otherwise I think you are either trolling or positing biased statements that are not backed up by facts.

dmritard96 10y ago

To me, I think you are objecting to capitalism more than democracy. That certainly chases labor arbitrage however I do think its a poor mischaracterization to attribute labor arbitrage to slavery. That doesn't mean arbitrarily small amounts of compensation don't effectively become slavery, but instead that pareto optimality is not the only way to prevent slavery.

tim333 10y ago

Trade which is popular these days is not the same as slavery which is thankfully rare. The Chinese who make much of the stuff have done pretty well over the last few decades.