9 ms·

The incentives of capitalism means that the ideal goal for pharmaceutical companies is Amazon Prime, but you need to subscribe to stay alive. We need to change

The incentives of capitalism means that the ideal goal for pharmaceutical companies is Amazon Prime, but you need to subscribe to stay alive. We need to change the incentives because this is a bad outcome for society.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
The ideal goal for everyone is getting paid (in increasing amounts) on a regular basis, regardless of “-ism”. The purpose of patents is to allow for a period to earn an ROI and then release it to everyone. Alternative could be taxpayers paying for it and it going into the public domain immediately.
- pasquinelli 5y ago
  > The ideal goal for everyone is getting paid (in increasing amounts) on a regular basis, regardless of “-ism”. no, that parenthesis, (in increasing amounts), is a feature of capitalism, not inherent to all human motivation. the need for ever increasing income stems from the need to provide capital investors with a return.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    I would wager the ideal goal of the vast majority of people would be increasing income due to wanting to consume more and more, for various reasons, but at its most basic, for the reason of attracting mates.
    - wittycardio 5y ago
      This is a complete straw man with no scientific basis at all. Desire for constantly increasing consumption could just easily be an artifact of culture. There's no reason to believe it's biological
      - lotsofpulp 5y ago
        The biological part is seeking out a desirable mate (per my amateur understanding of biology - it could be completely wrong). Desirable for many animals includes ability to procure resources (and defend them). Being able to consume displays this (and not necessarily plastic things). Consuming leisure time and activities are a signal that you have the power to do more of what you want to do or obtain it. But I do not claim this is a scientific conclusion, I simply landed on this model as it seemed to match up with my reality.
    - sudosysgen 5y ago
      Sorry, that's bullshit. Most sexual behaviors are culturally conditioned and empirically money doesnt make men or women linearly and indefinitely more attracted. What is attractive is social status - in capitalism this is linked mostly to wealth but that's not a given at all. Another thing that's attractive is stability, but that doesn't have anything to do with consumption, in today's world it means having stable access to housing, ideally owning it, mainly.
      - lotsofpulp 5y ago
        >means having stable access to housing, ideally owning it, mainly Having access to shelter in a desirable place is currently one of the best signals about one's ability to procure resources and I would categorize it as consumption. You can have stable access to housing where few people want to live, but it will not help you in attracting from a larger pool of mates (if that is your goal).
        sudosysgen 5y ago
        No, it simply isn't. The valuable part of housing is land and land cannot be consumed by housing. Its not a signal of the ability to procure resources, it's that housing is the single most major cost and homelessness is the most major financial risk. What's attractive about it isn't that you can consume endless amounts of plastic and steel by proxy, it is that you eliminate risk.
        lotsofpulp 5y ago
        >Its not a signal of the ability to procure resources, it's that housing is the single most major cost and homelessness is the most major financial risk. In my opinion, that one can afford the single most major cost and avoid the most major financial risk is a possible signal of the ability to procure (or defend) resources. >What's attractive about it isn't that you can consume endless amounts of plastic and steel by proxy, it is that you eliminate risk. I agree. But I choose to define the word "consume" in this context to refer to being able to walk away with a contested resource. The more contested the resource, and the more you obtain of it, the more you signal your ability to procure and defend it. That is why I distinguished access to housing in places with high demand versus access to housing in places with low demand in my previous post.

lotsofpulp 5y ago

The ideal goal for everyone is getting paid (in increasing amounts) on a regular basis, regardless of “-ism”. The purpose of patents is to allow for a period to earn an ROI and then release it to everyone. Alternative could be taxpayers paying for it and it going into the public domain immediately.

pasquinelli 5y ago
> The ideal goal for everyone is getting paid (in increasing amounts) on a regular basis, regardless of “-ism”. no, that parenthesis, (in increasing amounts), is a feature of capitalism, not inherent to all human motivation. the need for ever increasing income stems from the need to provide capital investors with a return.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  I would wager the ideal goal of the vast majority of people would be increasing income due to wanting to consume more and more, for various reasons, but at its most basic, for the reason of attracting mates.
  - wittycardio 5y ago
    This is a complete straw man with no scientific basis at all. Desire for constantly increasing consumption could just easily be an artifact of culture. There's no reason to believe it's biological
    - lotsofpulp 5y ago
      The biological part is seeking out a desirable mate (per my amateur understanding of biology - it could be completely wrong). Desirable for many animals includes ability to procure resources (and defend them). Being able to consume displays this (and not necessarily plastic things). Consuming leisure time and activities are a signal that you have the power to do more of what you want to do or obtain it. But I do not claim this is a scientific conclusion, I simply landed on this model as it seemed to match up with my reality.
  - sudosysgen 5y ago
    Sorry, that's bullshit. Most sexual behaviors are culturally conditioned and empirically money doesnt make men or women linearly and indefinitely more attracted. What is attractive is social status - in capitalism this is linked mostly to wealth but that's not a given at all. Another thing that's attractive is stability, but that doesn't have anything to do with consumption, in today's world it means having stable access to housing, ideally owning it, mainly.
    - lotsofpulp 5y ago
      >means having stable access to housing, ideally owning it, mainly Having access to shelter in a desirable place is currently one of the best signals about one's ability to procure resources and I would categorize it as consumption. You can have stable access to housing where few people want to live, but it will not help you in attracting from a larger pool of mates (if that is your goal).
      - sudosysgen 5y ago
        No, it simply isn't. The valuable part of housing is land and land cannot be consumed by housing. Its not a signal of the ability to procure resources, it's that housing is the single most major cost and homelessness is the most major financial risk. What's attractive about it isn't that you can consume endless amounts of plastic and steel by proxy, it is that you eliminate risk.
        lotsofpulp 5y ago
        >Its not a signal of the ability to procure resources, it's that housing is the single most major cost and homelessness is the most major financial risk. In my opinion, that one can afford the single most major cost and avoid the most major financial risk is a possible signal of the ability to procure (or defend) resources. >What's attractive about it isn't that you can consume endless amounts of plastic and steel by proxy, it is that you eliminate risk. I agree. But I choose to define the word "consume" in this context to refer to being able to walk away with a contested resource. The more contested the resource, and the more you obtain of it, the more you signal your ability to procure and defend it. That is why I distinguished access to housing in places with high demand versus access to housing in places with low demand in my previous post.