3 ms·
I like to think of capitalism we have today like a football game where you can deflate the ball, punch the opponent, have 20 men on the field, etc. with a ref t
by temsk 8y ago
I like to think of capitalism we have today like a football game where you can deflate the ball, punch the opponent, have 20 men on the field, etc. with a ref that turns a blind eye.
It's odd that we as a society get so riled up over the smallest allegation of cheating in a sports game or get upset when a ref does not see the smallest thing that should be flagged, thus potentially changing the outcome of the game, but we live in a society where cheating, gaming, deflating, etc. happens all day every day and we don't bat an eye.
- skybrian 8y agoThis is structural. I'm reminded of what Matt Levine often says about insider trading rules: they are not about fairness, they are about theft. Apparently our legal system is better at protecting property than at fairness (which isn't even well defined).
- ineedasername 8y agoThere's a great book on pretty much this topic in political philosophy, called Justice as Fairness by John Rawls. [0] In the vein of this conversation, he does not argue against inequality, and breaks out of the capitalism/communist spectrum. Instead he proposed the strictures under which inequality should be allowed to persist in what he calls the Difference Principle: Social and economic inequalities should be arranged so that they are both (a) to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged persons, and (b) attached to offices and positions open to all under conditions of equality of opportunity. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_as_Fairness:_A_Restatement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_as_Fairness:_A_Restate...