What's worse is the fact that this rhetoric never gives an alternative other than a renaming of a communist command/control economy. Also known as "that thing tried multiple times in the 20th century that led to the direct slaughter or death by starvation of tens of millions". Sometimes shortened to "that thing that never worked".
Then the argument that the banks and high industry are going to be democratic... yea, on paper. Not in practice. It would still be run by a small group of assholes, no different than right now. The difference is, they'll no longer have to be clever on taking tax dollars.
I could potentially agree with anti capitalist rhetoric if they had a shred of understanding human nature. In capitalism, its base nature is everyone is an asshole thus you must out asshole them. The big thing is, you dont need nobility, allowance from the church or any real allowance from a governing body (other than health/safety depending on your NAICS, which I think is important). I wish I could remember the book. But it showed a chart of countries and their average business filing timelines from start to end. Theres a real damn good correlation between the lower day timelines (USA is avg 6 days depending on industry) and the higer GDP per cap. Countries with high timelines, like Russia with their 400+ days to start a business, which really hasn't changed since the CCCP days, have a shit GDP per cap. The same goes with the more socialist countries of europe compared to the more capitalist countries. But in general, starting a business in Europe is a fucking nightmare compared to this side of the pond.
Anyways, the four pests campaign is one of the funniest and saddest events in the 20th century. I love how that shit got swept under the rug.
There's an inmense example of the difference of total private banking system vs shared (today's system). I will never use banks as the example, since we're moving towards digital and decentralized currencies.
> I could potentially agree with anti capitalist rhetoric if they had a shred of understanding human nature. In capitalism, its base nature is everyone is an asshole thus you must out asshole them.
No, capitalism is a sum of institutions, so, it's not being an asshole, because if you're asshole, you will have it hard to triumph. In capitalism, the only way to success is by being good. If you take the opposite approach, you will last until your entire capital is lost. There's huge amounts of book that describe the theory well. The only bad here in the equation are the goverments, because they use the force, and if you believe all humans are "wolves", what you will not do (to solve the problems) is giving a wolf all the powers.
> we're moving towards digital and decentralized currencies.
We'll see about that. So far, bitcoin and the likes have only managed to become another trendy get-rich-quick scheme that goes nowhere in terms of becoming an actual, real currency.
Goverment prints currencies and get debt without gold parity, so there is a ponzi scheme-like too. And the worst of it is low income people is the most hurt in this process.
And how can the low-income populace effectively utilize Bitcoin when they have limited access to technology?
Look, I agree there are... issues with current currencies. Most of which are problems that are nothing new. At all. They've plagued the concept of currency since the first coin was ever minted in antiquity. But ANOTHER currency, based on random equations that are "difficult" for a computer to process to act like it has "value", especially due to difficultly and scarcity, is no better. At all. Especially with the fact that Bitcoin is another Austria when it comes to the amount of CO2 it produces in the excess frivolous need of energy due to it.
But the argument that it's going to help the poor or the bottom 2 billion people of the planet, with "no access to government currency" is the dumbest fucking idea on the planet other than flat earth or anti-vax. When someone doesn't have access to clean water or regular amounts of food daily, let alone internet access, wtf makes you think bitcoin when change anything? Other than charity, which is already done with them evil fiat currencies. Especially since the distribution of bitcoin is just as bad as the current currency systems. "Wealth" if you can call it that in bitcoin, is held with the major server farms instead of the banks/gov. It's just renaming the wealth holder. That's all it is. Your wealth redistribution is just redistributing it so someone else can have ultimate control. It's not "for the masses". It's just a different group of "elites".
And we're not on the gold system anymore for fuck's sake! Stop using that as an argument! Current currency value is more dependent on import/export ratios than any other one thing. To clarify, major currencies are now on hybrid systems based on many, many factors that a stupid 10 minute youtube cartoon cannot cover. It's been that way since shortly after WW2 due to all the economic troubles that caused. The system has been refined constantly ever since. Go to a library and pick up an actual book. Want to know how said book is accurate? Because once you have a base knowledge of how the system ACTUALLY works, you can track and predict the currency markets (trade in general) with about an 80% accuracy on a 10 day spread with general geopolitics daily tracking. Something I do (though, for a handful of countries). And I'm an idiot. Those are crayon playing, helmet wearing numbers compared to actual pros in global markets.
Stop watching youtube for financial advice. Read a book or two.
If we had to base a currency on anything. Nitrogen injected containers full of beans. That, right there. I'd vote for that. Fuck gold. Fuck digital equations. Beans. Your currency is based on how many 55 gallon nitrogen injected drums of beans you have. Better use it in 50 years though. But it at least has intrinsic value and "infinite" growth potential to adapt to growing population bases... That's still a silly idea by the way.
Hey, don't insult me please. I never mentioned bitcoin in the first place. Second, it is a fallacy that only books give good advice. Books are just a medium, not a natural fountain of truth. Please, just watch universities debates regarding currencies, private banking, or read books if you are so biased against other formats.
Regarding your initial point, well, low income people is getting on internet like never we've seen before.
And, no. Money is not based on your imports/exports only.
Hm. Bitcoin seems to be dependent upon Exchanges for practical use. Which are just unregulated third parties, subject to (demonstrated) scams and ponzi schemes.
>I could potentially agree with anti capitalist rhetoric if they had a shred of understanding human nature.
Are you familiar with the philosophical dilemmas in determining what "human nature" consists of, and the fact that socialists may simply take a different position in this debate? The Marxist theory of human nature is taken as seriously by sociologists and anthropologists as any other.
>I could potentially agree with anti capitalist rhetoric if they had a shred of understanding human nature. In capitalism, its base nature is everyone is an asshole thus you must out asshole them.
So I can just steal your things then, right? This description of capitalism is completely wrong. In a capitalist system, we place constraints on human behavior because being an asshole often does not increase society's overall utility.
Then the argument that the banks and high industry are going to be democratic... yea, on paper. Not in practice. It would still be run by a small group of assholes, no different than right now. The difference is, they'll no longer have to be clever on taking tax dollars.
I could potentially agree with anti capitalist rhetoric if they had a shred of understanding human nature. In capitalism, its base nature is everyone is an asshole thus you must out asshole them. The big thing is, you dont need nobility, allowance from the church or any real allowance from a governing body (other than health/safety depending on your NAICS, which I think is important). I wish I could remember the book. But it showed a chart of countries and their average business filing timelines from start to end. Theres a real damn good correlation between the lower day timelines (USA is avg 6 days depending on industry) and the higer GDP per cap. Countries with high timelines, like Russia with their 400+ days to start a business, which really hasn't changed since the CCCP days, have a shit GDP per cap. The same goes with the more socialist countries of europe compared to the more capitalist countries. But in general, starting a business in Europe is a fucking nightmare compared to this side of the pond.
Anyways, the four pests campaign is one of the funniest and saddest events in the 20th century. I love how that shit got swept under the rug.