4 ms·

"It's natural" is a lie we tell to shift profit from the masses to the rich. There is nothing uncontrollable about the human behavior we call economics.

lukan 1y ago
"There is nothing uncontrollable about the human behavior we call economics." Indeed. All it takes is a world government and tight surveillance and enforcement and for sure human behavior can be controlled. Still, who controlls the controller?
- monknomo 1y ago
  Are you sure it is government that is doing the surveillance and enforcement?
- Dylan16807 1y ago
  If the thing you want to change is the percent of money that the rich have, you mostly need to adjust taxes, not elaborately micromanage the world.
  - lukan 1y ago
    There are also other ways, printing money is one of them. (Yes, means inflation, but a bias towards existing riches)
- xg15 1y ago
  Good old TINA, because no other economic theory exists in the universe than laissez faire capitalism... I'd at least have expected some more original retorts than just canned slogans though.
  - palmotea 1y ago
    > Good old TINA There Is No Alternative
    - xg15 1y ago
      Exactly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_is_no_alternative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_is_no_alternative
  - lukan 1y ago
    Are you constructing a strawmen here? I merely replied to the very orignal and never tried out approach of "controlling the economy" indeed with the standard response. If you are willing to debate alternatives for real, I am all ear. But yes, totalitarian approaches I will not like.
- hackthemack 1y ago
  I do not know what to make of this comment. It is so much of what you see on social media that derails constructive conversation. There is nothing terribly wrong with the comment but it feels adjacent to low effort. To make your point, you have constructed a scenario that may or may not happen, but, to me, it lacks introspection and "arguing in good faith". I am not even disputing what you have stated as a possibility. It is just, there are other possibilities. Maybe the Government Pension Fund of Norway is a good counter example to what you propose? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Pension_Fund_of_Norway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Pension_Fund_of_Nor... Governments influence economics all the time in subtle and not so subtle ways.
  - lukan 1y ago
    "Governments influence economics all the time in subtle and not so subtle ways." They do. Influence, but not control. So .. au contraire. The demand to just "control" the market is a really low effort populistic approach to me, that refuses to analyse deeper. Economy is made up of people. Who have a free will and act out of various motives. So if one instance is controlling the economy it means this instance is controlling all the free will of those people. History shows it can be done, but for a hefty price and I was born into such an experiment I consider failed all in all. So I am not a free market fanatic, but I see the growing authorian tendencies very critical. Btw. next time you come to criticize me, maybe check the guidelines yourself first. "When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. "That is idiotic; 1 + 1 is 2, not 3" can be shortened to "1 + 1 is 2, not 3."
- loa_in_ 1y ago
  But it's us who wrote current laws, not some magical entity.
  - lukan 1y ago
    Hm. The way laws are written in reality, it might as well be some (dark) magic entity to me. The process of giving input there is not made easy. But if your point was, it is in our hands to change anything and also that, then yes.
keanb 1y ago
So since “big tech” told kids to code now they have to hire them and keep them in an office twiddling their thumbs?
fluoridation 1y ago
Human behavior is only one half of economics. There are real, physical limitations that make it so not absolutely everyone can live like a king.
anovikov 1y ago
We saw how they tried to implement this in the Soviet Union. Sure there were almost no rich. Everyone was poor af. And there was no escape from it unless you willing to hijack a plane.

lukan 1y ago

"There is nothing uncontrollable about the human behavior we call economics." Indeed. All it takes is a world government and tight surveillance and enforcement and for sure human behavior can be controlled. Still, who controlls the controller?

monknomo 1y ago
Are you sure it is government that is doing the surveillance and enforcement?
Dylan16807 1y ago
If the thing you want to change is the percent of money that the rich have, you mostly need to adjust taxes, not elaborately micromanage the world.
- lukan 1y ago
  There are also other ways, printing money is one of them. (Yes, means inflation, but a bias towards existing riches)
xg15 1y ago
Good old TINA, because no other economic theory exists in the universe than laissez faire capitalism... I'd at least have expected some more original retorts than just canned slogans though.
- palmotea 1y ago
  > Good old TINA There Is No Alternative
  - xg15 1y ago
    Exactly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_is_no_alternative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_is_no_alternative
- lukan 1y ago
  Are you constructing a strawmen here? I merely replied to the very orignal and never tried out approach of "controlling the economy" indeed with the standard response. If you are willing to debate alternatives for real, I am all ear. But yes, totalitarian approaches I will not like.
hackthemack 1y ago
I do not know what to make of this comment. It is so much of what you see on social media that derails constructive conversation. There is nothing terribly wrong with the comment but it feels adjacent to low effort. To make your point, you have constructed a scenario that may or may not happen, but, to me, it lacks introspection and "arguing in good faith". I am not even disputing what you have stated as a possibility. It is just, there are other possibilities. Maybe the Government Pension Fund of Norway is a good counter example to what you propose? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Pension_Fund_of_Norway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Pension_Fund_of_Nor... Governments influence economics all the time in subtle and not so subtle ways.
- lukan 1y ago
  "Governments influence economics all the time in subtle and not so subtle ways." They do. Influence, but not control. So .. au contraire. The demand to just "control" the market is a really low effort populistic approach to me, that refuses to analyse deeper. Economy is made up of people. Who have a free will and act out of various motives. So if one instance is controlling the economy it means this instance is controlling all the free will of those people. History shows it can be done, but for a hefty price and I was born into such an experiment I consider failed all in all. So I am not a free market fanatic, but I see the growing authorian tendencies very critical. Btw. next time you come to criticize me, maybe check the guidelines yourself first. "When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. "That is idiotic; 1 + 1 is 2, not 3" can be shortened to "1 + 1 is 2, not 3."
loa_in_ 1y ago
But it's us who wrote current laws, not some magical entity.
- lukan 1y ago
  Hm. The way laws are written in reality, it might as well be some (dark) magic entity to me. The process of giving input there is not made easy. But if your point was, it is in our hands to change anything and also that, then yes.

keanb 1y ago

So since “big tech” told kids to code now they have to hire them and keep them in an office twiddling their thumbs?

fluoridation 1y ago

Human behavior is only one half of economics. There are real, physical limitations that make it so not absolutely everyone can live like a king.

anovikov 1y ago

We saw how they tried to implement this in the Soviet Union. Sure there were almost no rich. Everyone was poor af. And there was no escape from it unless you willing to hijack a plane.