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There is not a "problem of capitalism" at all. There is no reason to throw the baby out with the bath water. Capitalism if by far the best tool the world has ev

There is not a "problem of capitalism" at all. There is no reason to throw the baby out with the bath water. Capitalism if by far the best tool the world has ever seen for lifting massive amounts of people out of poverty and giving people the most amount of freedom. PERIOD. All other forms of government are more tyrannical and more corrupt than capitalism, without exception. You can absolutely have capitalism and a higher/better functioning government. Fist stop spending INSANE amounts of the budget on the military and "defense", instead spend it on helping your own people. Second, institute a VAT and an UBI. Third, actually support capitalism by updating and enforcing anti-trust laws. Problem solved.

Klinky 5y ago
I don't think I was prescribing throwing it all out, but implementing UBI or needing heavy antitrust laws to enforce behavior suggests capitalism alone is not a solution by itself, it must be heavily regulated, and maybe supplemented with socialist/welfare policies. The problem is that capitalism often leads to regulatory capture, so we're left with crony capitalism.
munificent 5y ago
> Fist stop spending INSANE amounts of the budget on the military and "defense", instead spend it on helping your own people. Take a step back here. Why do you think a government ends up spending insane amounts of the budget on the military? Where do you think that money goes? What you're seeing is the result of giant capitalist corporations producing weapons, logistics, etc. that have enough power to parasitize the government. You can argue that it's a failure of government that it is able to be captured, or a failure of capitalism (or corporatism) that it does so. I don't find either argument particularly illuminating. I think a better way to look at it is that we live in a capitalism+democratic system and that combined system clearly has some significant structural flaws. If we don't look at our government and private sector systems holistically and fix those flaws relatively soon, we won't have to, because they will have made the world uninhabitable for most humans.
- hitpointdrew 5y ago
  >Why do you think a government ends up spending insane amounts of the budget on the military? Honestly? To maintain the value of our currency. The threat of Countries (looking at you Saudi Arabia) bailing on the so called "petro dollar" have caused our leaders to make terrible choices (like bombing the hell out of Yemen for decades). We are so scared of what would happen to our currency if the petro dollar went away we are basically a mercenary force to foreign countries. > What you're seeing is the result of giant capitalist corporations producing weapons, logistics, etc. that have enough power to parasitize the government. This is the symptom, not the disease. The problem isn't "giant capitalists" are producing weapons, it is that a market even exits for them. >I think a better way to look at it is that we live in a capitalism+democratic system and that combined system clearly has some significant structural flaws. If we don't look at our government and private sector systems holistically and fix those flaws relatively soon, we won't have to, because they will have made the world uninhabitable for most humans. I agree wit you on this.
  - s1artibartfast 5y ago
    You might be Interested in re reading about the 2018 congressional report on costs. There are a few HN articles on the topic. Here is an article to get started. https://www.google.com/amp/s/nymag.com/intelligencer/amp/2019/07/why-we-cant-figure-out-why-infrastructure-is-so-expensive.html https://www.google.com/amp/s/nymag.com/intelligencer/amp/201...
- s1artibartfast 5y ago
  >You can argue that it's a failure of government that it is able to be captured, or a failure of capitalism (or corporatism) that it does so. I don't find either argument particularly illuminating. I think a better way to look at it is that we live in a capitalism+democratic system and that combined system clearly has some significant structural flaws. If we don't look at our government and private sector systems holistically and fix those flaws relatively soon, we won't have to, because they will have made the world uninhabitable for most humans I couldn't agree with more and as a libertarian leaning centrist I wish I could blast this into every voter's mind. As long as we have a corporate capture of the government, increased intervention and micromanagement of private markets will only exacerbate the problem (via regulatory capture, too big to fail, command economy, ect). There is no workable alternative to capitalism, but there is clear alternative to corrupt government. Every problem with the system has a simple market solution which could be implemented with a government less susceptible to corporate influence. Military budget too large > pass lower spending bills Healthcare too expensive > allow Medicare to set prices based on health benefit. Climate change > require goods & corporations to include costs of carbon remediation As long as corporations exist, they will have incentives misaligned with the general public. Aligning corporate interest with that of society is impossible, so the only solution is to firewall government
passivate 5y ago
You're conflating capitalism with systems of governance. As such, it is extremely difficult to untangle your argument. Can we please get a re-do?

Klinky 5y ago

I don't think I was prescribing throwing it all out, but implementing UBI or needing heavy antitrust laws to enforce behavior suggests capitalism alone is not a solution by itself, it must be heavily regulated, and maybe supplemented with socialist/welfare policies. The problem is that capitalism often leads to regulatory capture, so we're left with crony capitalism.

munificent 5y ago

> Fist stop spending INSANE amounts of the budget on the military and "defense", instead spend it on helping your own people. Take a step back here. Why do you think a government ends up spending insane amounts of the budget on the military? Where do you think that money goes? What you're seeing is the result of giant capitalist corporations producing weapons, logistics, etc. that have enough power to parasitize the government. You can argue that it's a failure of government that it is able to be captured, or a failure of capitalism (or corporatism) that it does so. I don't find either argument particularly illuminating. I think a better way to look at it is that we live in a capitalism+democratic system and that combined system clearly has some significant structural flaws. If we don't look at our government and private sector systems holistically and fix those flaws relatively soon, we won't have to, because they will have made the world uninhabitable for most humans.

hitpointdrew 5y ago
>Why do you think a government ends up spending insane amounts of the budget on the military? Honestly? To maintain the value of our currency. The threat of Countries (looking at you Saudi Arabia) bailing on the so called "petro dollar" have caused our leaders to make terrible choices (like bombing the hell out of Yemen for decades). We are so scared of what would happen to our currency if the petro dollar went away we are basically a mercenary force to foreign countries. > What you're seeing is the result of giant capitalist corporations producing weapons, logistics, etc. that have enough power to parasitize the government. This is the symptom, not the disease. The problem isn't "giant capitalists" are producing weapons, it is that a market even exits for them. >I think a better way to look at it is that we live in a capitalism+democratic system and that combined system clearly has some significant structural flaws. If we don't look at our government and private sector systems holistically and fix those flaws relatively soon, we won't have to, because they will have made the world uninhabitable for most humans. I agree wit you on this.
- s1artibartfast 5y ago
  You might be Interested in re reading about the 2018 congressional report on costs. There are a few HN articles on the topic. Here is an article to get started. https://www.google.com/amp/s/nymag.com/intelligencer/amp/2019/07/why-we-cant-figure-out-why-infrastructure-is-so-expensive.html https://www.google.com/amp/s/nymag.com/intelligencer/amp/201...
s1artibartfast 5y ago
>You can argue that it's a failure of government that it is able to be captured, or a failure of capitalism (or corporatism) that it does so. I don't find either argument particularly illuminating. I think a better way to look at it is that we live in a capitalism+democratic system and that combined system clearly has some significant structural flaws. If we don't look at our government and private sector systems holistically and fix those flaws relatively soon, we won't have to, because they will have made the world uninhabitable for most humans I couldn't agree with more and as a libertarian leaning centrist I wish I could blast this into every voter's mind. As long as we have a corporate capture of the government, increased intervention and micromanagement of private markets will only exacerbate the problem (via regulatory capture, too big to fail, command economy, ect). There is no workable alternative to capitalism, but there is clear alternative to corrupt government. Every problem with the system has a simple market solution which could be implemented with a government less susceptible to corporate influence. Military budget too large > pass lower spending bills Healthcare too expensive > allow Medicare to set prices based on health benefit. Climate change > require goods & corporations to include costs of carbon remediation As long as corporations exist, they will have incentives misaligned with the general public. Aligning corporate interest with that of society is impossible, so the only solution is to firewall government

passivate 5y ago

You're conflating capitalism with systems of governance. As such, it is extremely difficult to untangle your argument. Can we please get a re-do?