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> Can we leave the cynical antiwork comments out? They aren't helpful. This is obviously not the case for a majority of companies and anecdotes don't help. Maj

> Can we leave the cynical antiwork comments out? They aren't helpful. This is obviously not the case for a majority of companies and anecdotes don't help. Major companies are regularly prosecuted for conspiracy to suppress wages. It if weren't for government intervention your wages would be much lower and there wouldn't be anything you can do about it. This blind faith that billion dollar corporations would behave ethically is highly inappropriate https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-tech-jobs-settlement-20150903-story.html https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-tech-jo...

lupusreal 2y ago
Most companies aren't "major companies". I'm for busting up the big monopolies, but I'm not for throwing the baby out with the bath water and imposing communist reforms on all businesses, most of which are small and generally well behaved, just because some big ones with pathological behavior exist.
- specialist 2y ago
  There's A LOT of daylight between liberal capitalism and communist socialism. The social democracies, a middle path, as the Nordic countries have experimented with, seem to have done quite well. And there's now strong evidence that our system (neoliberalism) has stunted economic growth. Regardless... I support simple social reforms, like sovereign wealth funds (Alaska, Norway) and universal healthcare, greatly reducing the tension between labor and capital. Then these labor, employment, and ownership reforms wouldn't be so fraught.
  - lupusreal 2y ago
    This discussion is about the proposal to, by law, force all businesses to be workers cooperatives. That's not the liberal capitalism found in Nordic countries, it's communism.
    - ClumsyPilot 2y ago
      Communism does not have businesses, worker owned or otherwise. It does not even have currency and money at all. Early form of capitalism didn't have limited liability companies. Just because you have to use Unlimited Liability Partnerships, for example, that does not mean it's not capitalism. Once we move beyond capitalism, there are other words too, like mercantilism, imperialism, Neo-feudalism (arguably what we are getting to), schumpeterianism, etc. Expand your vocabulary.
      - shiroiushi 2y ago
        >Communism does not have businesses, worker owned or otherwise. It does not even have currency and money at all. Huh? You seem to know absolutely nothing about how the Soviet Union worked. They certainly did have money and companies. (And don't give me that BS about the CCCP not being "true communists" -- No True Scotsman fallacy)
        nayuki 2y ago
        Why would a communist society need money in the first place? Isn't everyone given some fixed ration of goods? Or that he can take what he needs?
        shiroiushi 2y ago
        A "true" communist society like you're talking about has never existed, outside of possibly Israeli kibbutzes and also tribal hunter-gatherer societies before civilization was invented. In real communist societies like the Soviet Union (which are more accurately labeled "authoritarian socialism"), they need money to control allocation of goods, just like any other modern society. How exactly do you decide how many rolls of toilet paper to give to people? Some people need more than others, so either you have a giant government bureaucracy just to police how much toilet paper people use, how much of every possible type of food to eat, etc., or you just give people money and set prices for stuff, and let them figure it out themselves. These societies were centrally planned, but at some point it's simply impractical to plan everything.
- kerkeslager 2y ago
  So if you acknowledge that pathological behaviors exist, what's the problem with regulating against those pathological behaviors? Given you seem to think most companies are small and well-behaved, it won't affect those companies.
  - lupusreal 2y ago
    I support regulating businesses and never suggested otherwise!
    - kerkeslager 2y ago
      Well, you went straight to bringing up communism at the first hint of criticizing businesses, so...
  - tracker1 2y ago
    Regulation only shifts corruption, it doesn't stop or prevent it. There is plenty of corruption in and around government including the judicial system.
    - kerkeslager 2y ago
      > Regulation only shifts corruption, it doesn't stop or prevent it. This is so obviously, trivially false, I doubt even you believe it. Should we remove the prohibition on murder?
      - tracker1 2y ago
        So you don't believe that murder happens?
        kerkeslager 2y ago
        Obviously murder happens. Does regulation only shift murder, not stop or prevent it?

lupusreal 2y ago

Most companies aren't "major companies". I'm for busting up the big monopolies, but I'm not for throwing the baby out with the bath water and imposing communist reforms on all businesses, most of which are small and generally well behaved, just because some big ones with pathological behavior exist.

specialist 2y ago
There's A LOT of daylight between liberal capitalism and communist socialism. The social democracies, a middle path, as the Nordic countries have experimented with, seem to have done quite well. And there's now strong evidence that our system (neoliberalism) has stunted economic growth. Regardless... I support simple social reforms, like sovereign wealth funds (Alaska, Norway) and universal healthcare, greatly reducing the tension between labor and capital. Then these labor, employment, and ownership reforms wouldn't be so fraught.
- lupusreal 2y ago
  This discussion is about the proposal to, by law, force all businesses to be workers cooperatives. That's not the liberal capitalism found in Nordic countries, it's communism.
  - ClumsyPilot 2y ago
    Communism does not have businesses, worker owned or otherwise. It does not even have currency and money at all. Early form of capitalism didn't have limited liability companies. Just because you have to use Unlimited Liability Partnerships, for example, that does not mean it's not capitalism. Once we move beyond capitalism, there are other words too, like mercantilism, imperialism, Neo-feudalism (arguably what we are getting to), schumpeterianism, etc. Expand your vocabulary.
    - shiroiushi 2y ago
      >Communism does not have businesses, worker owned or otherwise. It does not even have currency and money at all. Huh? You seem to know absolutely nothing about how the Soviet Union worked. They certainly did have money and companies. (And don't give me that BS about the CCCP not being "true communists" -- No True Scotsman fallacy)
      - nayuki 2y ago
        Why would a communist society need money in the first place? Isn't everyone given some fixed ration of goods? Or that he can take what he needs?
        shiroiushi 2y ago
        A "true" communist society like you're talking about has never existed, outside of possibly Israeli kibbutzes and also tribal hunter-gatherer societies before civilization was invented. In real communist societies like the Soviet Union (which are more accurately labeled "authoritarian socialism"), they need money to control allocation of goods, just like any other modern society. How exactly do you decide how many rolls of toilet paper to give to people? Some people need more than others, so either you have a giant government bureaucracy just to police how much toilet paper people use, how much of every possible type of food to eat, etc., or you just give people money and set prices for stuff, and let them figure it out themselves. These societies were centrally planned, but at some point it's simply impractical to plan everything.
kerkeslager 2y ago
So if you acknowledge that pathological behaviors exist, what's the problem with regulating against those pathological behaviors? Given you seem to think most companies are small and well-behaved, it won't affect those companies.
- lupusreal 2y ago
  I support regulating businesses and never suggested otherwise!
  - kerkeslager 2y ago
    Well, you went straight to bringing up communism at the first hint of criticizing businesses, so...
- tracker1 2y ago
  Regulation only shifts corruption, it doesn't stop or prevent it. There is plenty of corruption in and around government including the judicial system.
  - kerkeslager 2y ago
    > Regulation only shifts corruption, it doesn't stop or prevent it. This is so obviously, trivially false, I doubt even you believe it. Should we remove the prohibition on murder?
    - tracker1 2y ago
      So you don't believe that murder happens?
      - kerkeslager 2y ago
        Obviously murder happens. Does regulation only shift murder, not stop or prevent it?