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Increasing peoples' standing in life decreases the birth rate. And no, there is no such thing as a "healthy capitalist economy", capitalism is by definition ba

Increasing peoples' standing in life decreases the birth rate. And no, there is no such thing as a "healthy capitalist economy", capitalism is by definition based on exploitation of the less fortunate. Saying such things is obviously heresy to the Silicon Valley set and capitalists in general, but it's the uncomfortable truth.

sgjohnson 8y ago
Capitalism by definition is private property rights and voluntary exchanges between individuals/businesses. It's the very antithesis to exploitation. You might say that it's immoral to pay $1 an hour to people Africa to produce Nike shoes for the US market, except it isn't. It's simply the market rate. Could they afford to pay more? Yes. But it's in no means exploitation. That $1 an hour they make boosts the local economy, driving the quality of life up. Make it $10/h, and nobody would work for local companies there anymore. And do you have any metric that proves that peoples' standing in life decreases the birth rate? For example, there hasn't been a noticable decrease in Nigeria. https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/nigeria-population/ https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/nigeria-popul... https://tradingeconomics.com/nigeria/gdp-growth https://tradingeconomics.com/nigeria/gdp-growth
- vidarh 8y ago
  > It's the very antithesis to exploitation. Only if you believe in the fantasy of an equal exchange between people with vastly different economic positions. This is such a fantasy that hardly a country in the world does not confer additional legal protections to the worker to try to at least to some extent level the playing-field. Historically, it took people dying to secure even basic protections, Like example stopping employers from locking people in, like what caused 146 deaths at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. It took nearly a century, and dozens of people killed in demonstrations and strikes to get reasonably widespread application of the 8 hour working day. When people worldwide march on May 1st, they do so in part in memory of the Haymarket Massacre [2] and the AFL's subsequent move to resume the fight for the 8 hour day. Nothing in the history of the labor movement suggests there is anything like an equal exchange for most people. Some of us are privileged enough to be in positions where we have something resembling an equal exchange that is truly voluntary in am meaningful way, but for most their economic position is weak enough that the employer always has more power. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fi... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_affair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_affair

sgjohnson 8y ago

Capitalism by definition is private property rights and voluntary exchanges between individuals/businesses. It's the very antithesis to exploitation. You might say that it's immoral to pay $1 an hour to people Africa to produce Nike shoes for the US market, except it isn't. It's simply the market rate. Could they afford to pay more? Yes. But it's in no means exploitation. That $1 an hour they make boosts the local economy, driving the quality of life up. Make it $10/h, and nobody would work for local companies there anymore. And do you have any metric that proves that peoples' standing in life decreases the birth rate? For example, there hasn't been a noticable decrease in Nigeria. https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/nigeria-population/ https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/nigeria-popul... https://tradingeconomics.com/nigeria/gdp-growth https://tradingeconomics.com/nigeria/gdp-growth

vidarh 8y ago
> It's the very antithesis to exploitation. Only if you believe in the fantasy of an equal exchange between people with vastly different economic positions. This is such a fantasy that hardly a country in the world does not confer additional legal protections to the worker to try to at least to some extent level the playing-field. Historically, it took people dying to secure even basic protections, Like example stopping employers from locking people in, like what caused 146 deaths at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. It took nearly a century, and dozens of people killed in demonstrations and strikes to get reasonably widespread application of the 8 hour working day. When people worldwide march on May 1st, they do so in part in memory of the Haymarket Massacre [2] and the AFL's subsequent move to resume the fight for the 8 hour day. Nothing in the history of the labor movement suggests there is anything like an equal exchange for most people. Some of us are privileged enough to be in positions where we have something resembling an equal exchange that is truly voluntary in am meaningful way, but for most their economic position is weak enough that the employer always has more power. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fi... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_affair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_affair