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There is this fixation on “the dollar” or even “capitalism”, but in reality both of those are essentially just abstractions for the underlying human behaviors,

There is this fixation on “the dollar” or even “capitalism”, but in reality both of those are essentially just abstractions for the underlying human behaviors, which is mostly greed and the lying and deception used to obfuscate greed. Neither the dollar as the object of transaction nor the system of accounting (accounting for resource allocation) called capitalism, have any real connection to the underlying drivers. The same problems existed in many other means of transacting (currency) and economic systems (communism notoriously being a sprint towards corruption). Unfortunately, people have forgotten or have intentionally been misled from realizing the tacit type of self-regulating controls of a system like actual capitalism (you lose money when making bad decisions, you aren’t rewarded by thieving friends in government) and even aristocracy, where you had to maintain a certain balance of relationships even with the peasants in order to prevent being made a foot shorter. Ironically, the rather tyrannical caste that has we emerged on Mt Davos is forgetting that sometimes the dumb and easily manipulated peasantry the technocrats see themselves as being benevolent demigod leaders of, don’t take so kindly to their shenanigans, with dire consequences for all. I mean what are you, a bigot, racist, sexism homophobe for questioning the beneficent and glorious, exhaled rule of the Ruling Gods over your life and limitations on what you can do, say, and think? You better. Don’t get any ideas or your gods on Mt Davos will strike you down with ban hammers.

giraffe_lady 4y ago
> Neither the dollar as the object of transaction nor the system of accounting (accounting for resource allocation) called capitalism, have any real connection to the underlying drivers. The same problems existed in many other means of transacting (currency) and economic systems (communism notoriously being a sprint towards corruption). Capitalism provides a moral justification for the actions of greed, it makes responding to those incentives seem inevitable and necessary and so not the responsibility of the person actually doing it. Neither of those is necessarily inherent to capitalism, I guess, but they are certainly part of the structure of the capitalism we live with so shouldn't be dismissed either.
edgyquant 4y ago
Capitalism isn’t a form of accounting it’s a mode of production
- frankfrankfrank 4y ago
  That is absolutely false and at the core of the rather schizophrenic mentality towards the world today. Capitalism has absolutely nothing to do with the means of production beyond it being a method for accounting for resources and allocating then based on a value assigned, ideally in a kind of double blind manner, which is the part that has been broken by cheating through things like corruption and “money printing”, i.e., fraud. You may be referring to the favorite alternative method for accounting under the inherently fraudulent system that fraudulently calls itself communism, while hating and having nothing at all to do with community, which allocates resources, i.e., means of production, by central committee that sees itself as some kind of contemporary gods on earth. The means of production are a separate thing and are generally separate from gore they are accounted for and allocated for some purpose. To simplify, you having the skill, told, and wood to create a bookshelf are the means of production; your method and decision making that lands you on making a bookshelf instead of book ends or something else, is where you could use capitalist or “communist” practices to determine that, Party of which is accounting for the resources and drawing a conclusion as to what to do.

giraffe_lady 4y ago

> Neither the dollar as the object of transaction nor the system of accounting (accounting for resource allocation) called capitalism, have any real connection to the underlying drivers. The same problems existed in many other means of transacting (currency) and economic systems (communism notoriously being a sprint towards corruption). Capitalism provides a moral justification for the actions of greed, it makes responding to those incentives seem inevitable and necessary and so not the responsibility of the person actually doing it. Neither of those is necessarily inherent to capitalism, I guess, but they are certainly part of the structure of the capitalism we live with so shouldn't be dismissed either.

edgyquant 4y ago

Capitalism isn’t a form of accounting it’s a mode of production

frankfrankfrank 4y ago
That is absolutely false and at the core of the rather schizophrenic mentality towards the world today. Capitalism has absolutely nothing to do with the means of production beyond it being a method for accounting for resources and allocating then based on a value assigned, ideally in a kind of double blind manner, which is the part that has been broken by cheating through things like corruption and “money printing”, i.e., fraud. You may be referring to the favorite alternative method for accounting under the inherently fraudulent system that fraudulently calls itself communism, while hating and having nothing at all to do with community, which allocates resources, i.e., means of production, by central committee that sees itself as some kind of contemporary gods on earth. The means of production are a separate thing and are generally separate from gore they are accounted for and allocated for some purpose. To simplify, you having the skill, told, and wood to create a bookshelf are the means of production; your method and decision making that lands you on making a bookshelf instead of book ends or something else, is where you could use capitalist or “communist” practices to determine that, Party of which is accounting for the resources and drawing a conclusion as to what to do.