What we are operating under is clearly capitalism:
an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market
Where a free market is:
a market economy system in which the prices for goods and services are set freely by consent between vendors and consumers, in which the laws and forces of supply and demand are free from any intervention by a government
Whatever flavor you call it - finance, corporate or anachro (libertarian), crony, etc. - it's pretty clear that there is little intervention by the government between consumers and vendors (except for the occasional health insurance mandate, etc., which is in fact intervention on the side of the vendor, not the consumer).
To take it a step farther, democracy is a code word for capitalism, and the purpose of it is to extinguish any system that could compete with it (or more specifically, the profits). When the US spreads democracy it's at the point of a gun with large return on investment.
In the end it's not a political problem but rather a human one. People tend to be greedy and self-centered, they have been for millennia. Capitalism is a very effective way to accumulate capital, which is indeed the very point of capitalism.
in which the laws and forces of supply and demand are free from any intervention by a government
Intervention includes a broad range of tactics; Health Insurance mandates, Farm incentives, Student loan guarantees, Mortgage loan tax credits, tax credits of any kind. I'm sure the list goes on.
All impact how capital is spent and skew the availability of resources. That IS government's effect on supply-demand
as i understand it a functioning free market relies on a balance between management and labor, or capital and labor, or proletariat and bourgeoisie, or whatever other duality you want to consider. that isn't just freedom from government intrusion. if the capital side becomes too much stronger than the labor side, then capital fixes prices to their favor. if labor becomes too strong they fix prices to their benefit. either way, there is always a thumb on the scale, and that's why markets don't move freely, and why some sort of system needs to be put into place to ensure reasonable operation of the economy.
government exists to protect the governed, which shouldn't favor either side. if you want a market that moves according to free market theory, the government should simply make sure the balance is close to the middle. if capital is moving too far to one side, which i think it's obvious that it is, and you want to protect the operation of a free market, then something has to be done to move the flow of capital back to the center so the scales of the free market are allowed to balance again.
^ Much more real than the macro economics of billionaires.
Intervention includes a broad range of tactics; Health Insurance mandates, Farm incentives, Student loan guarantees, Mortgage loan tax credits, tax credits of any kind. I'm sure the list goes on.
You forgot taxes, and who pays them (and who doesn't). The point wasn't that there isn't any intervention but rather that government is essentially the legal arm of the corporate sector (just as the US military is the "security" arm).
all isms/systems/societies will fail. civilizations are inherintly unsustainable. a "civilization" is essentially the removal of a species from the checks and balances of nature.
The funny part is that the oligarchs' greed is what destroys their system.
Global social mobility is slouching, gas prices are stagnating, same with housing & car sales, the education system is miserable here in the US. Once there are only the uber rich and a zombie massing of uber poor, everyone loses, well...because you can't tax the uber rich, and you certainly wont get much from a zombie...
Once gen Y's run outta their inherited wealth (if they even have any), can barely afford a used car, will never invest in a house (bc they just don't have the $$$), cant afford anything beyond necessities, then the oligarchs will shit their pants. That day is coming much sooner than they want... what will they be able to extract from their (gen y's) children...images of Aztec priest come to mind.
DeTwan, it's always been the same. Pharos, kings, emperors, dictators, etc. accumulate wealth (power) and distribute it in such a way to insure their position. The masses only exist as a consumable resource like raw material.
Money As Debt
$Money As Debt
This film has explained the housing bubble or any money valued bubble better than anything that I have read or seen.
The David Rockerfeller quote at the end is a little scary.
and that's 24 years ago, we're in neck deep now
capitalism is going to implode.
nothing wrong with capitalism
what we are operating under currently is not capitalism
What we are operating under is clearly capitalism:
an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market
Where a free market is:
a market economy system in which the prices for goods and services are set freely by consent between vendors and consumers, in which the laws and forces of supply and demand are free from any intervention by a government
Whatever flavor you call it - finance, corporate or anachro (libertarian), crony, etc. - it's pretty clear that there is little intervention by the government between consumers and vendors (except for the occasional health insurance mandate, etc., which is in fact intervention on the side of the vendor, not the consumer).
To take it a step farther, democracy is a code word for capitalism, and the purpose of it is to extinguish any system that could compete with it (or more specifically, the profits). When the US spreads democracy it's at the point of a gun with large return on investment.
In the end it's not a political problem but rather a human one. People tend to be greedy and self-centered, they have been for millennia. Capitalism is a very effective way to accumulate capital, which is indeed the very point of capitalism.
98% of all people are lazy and the the other 2% have character and do what it takes to not have bad habits
Brian Tracy
^ I would love you to say that whit a straight face in the middle of an apple orchard on harvest day. And, wtf is brian tracy?
oh, just a white old dude, like bob proctor.....
in which the laws and forces of supply and demand are free from any intervention by a government
Intervention includes a broad range of tactics; Health Insurance mandates, Farm incentives, Student loan guarantees, Mortgage loan tax credits, tax credits of any kind. I'm sure the list goes on.
All impact how capital is spent and skew the availability of resources. That IS government's effect on supply-demand
as i understand it a functioning free market relies on a balance between management and labor, or capital and labor, or proletariat and bourgeoisie, or whatever other duality you want to consider. that isn't just freedom from government intrusion. if the capital side becomes too much stronger than the labor side, then capital fixes prices to their favor. if labor becomes too strong they fix prices to their benefit. either way, there is always a thumb on the scale, and that's why markets don't move freely, and why some sort of system needs to be put into place to ensure reasonable operation of the economy.
government exists to protect the governed, which shouldn't favor either side. if you want a market that moves according to free market theory, the government should simply make sure the balance is close to the middle. if capital is moving too far to one side, which i think it's obvious that it is, and you want to protect the operation of a free market, then something has to be done to move the flow of capital back to the center so the scales of the free market are allowed to balance again.
Art majors discussing macro economics.
^ Much more real than the macro economics of billionaires.
Intervention includes a broad range of tactics; Health Insurance mandates, Farm incentives, Student loan guarantees, Mortgage loan tax credits, tax credits of any kind. I'm sure the list goes on.
You forgot taxes, and who pays them (and who doesn't). The point wasn't that there isn't any intervention but rather that government is essentially the legal arm of the corporate sector (just as the US military is the "security" arm).
for some of us it's well educated people with advance degrees in liberal arts programs starchitectalpha.
if you spend close to a decade in a university without learning anything other than how to draw a steeple in revit, you did something wrong.
Miles, you are quite an informed individual...perhaps too informed...lol
They are gambling with the world at their finger tips....
all isms/systems/societies will fail. civilizations are inherintly unsustainable. a "civilization" is essentially the removal of a species from the checks and balances of nature.
The funny part is that the oligarchs' greed is what destroys their system.
Global social mobility is slouching, gas prices are stagnating, same with housing & car sales, the education system is miserable here in the US. Once there are only the uber rich and a zombie massing of uber poor, everyone loses, well...because you can't tax the uber rich, and you certainly wont get much from a zombie...
Once gen Y's run outta their inherited wealth (if they even have any), can barely afford a used car, will never invest in a house (bc they just don't have the $$$), cant afford anything beyond necessities, then the oligarchs will shit their pants. That day is coming much sooner than they want... what will they be able to extract from their (gen y's) children...images of Aztec priest come to mind.
DeTwan, it's always been the same. Pharos, kings, emperors, dictators, etc. accumulate wealth (power) and distribute it in such a way to insure their position. The masses only exist as a consumable resource like raw material.
if you spend close to a decade in a university without learning anything other than how to draw a steeple in revit, you did something wrong.
This is my favorite sentence of the day. But only so far, as I'm about to start Uncube's issue on Death.
+1 on the fav sentence!
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