"Capitalism has destroyed our belief in any effective power but that of self interest backed by force." George Bernard Shaw

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[–]RickC-137 9 insightful - 2 fun9 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 2 fun -  (4 children)

"backed by force". That has absolutely nothing to do with Capitalism.

The projection is blinding.

[–]JasonCarswell 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

What you selectively point out is true, but it doesn't negate the rest.

[–]ctvzbuxr 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Wrong. This little "detail" is what makes all the difference in the world. Capitalism is the revolutionary idea that people can act out their rational self-interest WITHOUT the use of force. The idea that people can pursue their own happiness not at the expense of others, but to mutually agreed terms. And this system has, for the first time in human history, managed to channel people's natural self-interest in a way that has lead to more productivity than ever before. Socialism on the other hand is the insane belief that if you could somehow get people to act against their own rational self-interest, you could create paradise. And it has failed spectacularly, every single time it was tried.

[–]JasonCarswell 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Wrong.

It doesn't matter how the people organize themselves, as capitalists, communists, voluntarists, or whatever.

Government is the monopoly on violence.

Capitalists have capitalized on the weak minds of the masses and created propaganda, aka dogmatic beliefs, including that self-interests and capitalism are the only or best way, when clearly they are not.

"Mutually agreed terms" implies fairness, but much of the world is not fair, and thus much of capitalism is exploitationism.

You clearly don't understand the 3 types of socialism, their histories, nor their pros and cons or else you wouldn't have regurgitated banal talking points.

Socialism has had some terrible failures, but it has also had incredible successes too. Northern Europe, Canada, Australia, among others, and even Venezuela is maintaining it's own against the US/UK big bullies.

Socialism has bailed out capitalism EVERY SINGLE TIME. They are both used against us by the ruling class.

[–]ctvzbuxr 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

You seem to be under the illusion that we live in capitalism. Tell me, does all the government regulations, taxes and money printing scream free market to you? Look at places like Hong Kong, that is a mostly free market. And compare it to mainland China, which has a genetically identical population, which shares a lot of the history and culture. Or look at North and South Korea. Venezuela and Chile. The degree to which capitalism is deployed in a country is the degree to which this country prospers. And don't get me started on northern Europe. Yes, many of those countries have large welfare states, but those are facilitated by a large free market. These countries are quite capitalist under the surface. And they have a very high IQ population and (at least before the whole immigration debacle) a high level of social trust, all of which creates productivity that can carry the ineffectiveness of socialist exploitation.

So, if you think socialism and capitalism are both a tool to oppress us, which is your preferred system and what does it look like? Because the way I see it, every system is some degree of both (at max it's 100% one or the other).