this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2023
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There is actually not much separating capitalism and socialism other than workers being in control of the means of production.
Socialism doesn't have anything against markets. Socialism doesn't have anything against organizational structures. What it does have issue with is workers not having any democratic say in how their workplaces operate and who they choose to do business with.
That's the thing, not a lot would have to change, other than putting legal protections and norms in place for workplace elections and so on.
I definitely don't identify as a Socialist but even still, I would have added, "tax the fuck out of the rich". Income inequality is the root evil for most people today.
If workers own the means of production, wouldn't the rich fat cats cease to exist as they've functionally been replaced?
I'm not against a fair taxation system, but the obscene wealth of CEOs is literally one of the many things that socialism addresses because you can vote on executive compensation as well as worker compensation. The people at the bottom have unique access via their voting power to prevent those at the top from achieving obscene wealth at the expense of the average worker (see: Bob Iger, who makes 400x his average employee).
Yes, a better taxation rate is needed for the wealthy, but a lot of that wealth would get punched in the dick and be out of a job when voted out by their workers. They ain't gonna be John Galting it and build a gleaming city on the hill because none of those rich twerps know how to do actual labor, so they would be out of work.
Like seriously I can't imagine someone like Elon Musk or Steve Huffman surviving a workers vote on the boss. If they can't legally put their finger on the scale by using their wealth as a cudgel, fuck nobody would vote for these fuckers to be in charge.
Perhaps a I misinterpreted you when you stated "not a lot would have to change". Those sound like some pretty extreme changes from the status quo, actually.