this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2023
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Hi all,

I'm seeing a lot of hate for capitalism here, and I'm wondering why that is and what the rationale behind it is. I'm pretty pro-capitalism myself, so I want to see the logic on the other side of the fence.

If this isn't the right forum for a political/economic discussion-- I'm happy to take this somewhere else.

Cheers!

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[โ€“] steltek@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Let me return the appreciation for a thoughtful response! Unfortunately I don't have an equal abundance of time (nor fast typing skills). Where's the outcry for the parent class?

Those cube dwellers (labor) are often better compensated and lead more secure, comfortable lives than small business owners (ownership). If you instead frame the problem as income inequality rather than straight up Marxism, I think you're still naturally led to the tax reforms you're describing. However, I don't view that as "anti-capitalist". It's restoring guardrails that shouldn't have been removed under Reagan.

[โ€“] Nougat@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah, I've been refining my own hunt and peck typing style for something like 40 years, and my brain will often continually order words to come out. And my kids are all old enough that they don't demand my constant attention. Sorry, not sorry ;)

Yes, the cube dwellers will be higher on the "quality of life" scale than some small business owners. But those small business owners aren't (usually) employing the kind of cube dwellers you're talking about, I don't think? Exploitation, like shit, rolls downhill. Sorry for linking to yet another comment, but it makes sense for me to not retype things. While I would expect to find a lower degree of capitalist exploitation in smaller business owners, it's not impossible, and those owners would be exploiting workers even lower on the scale - not the comparatively well-paid information workers. Those workers are exploited by corporate overlords, generally speaking.

I will reuse some phrasing, though: Is it Marxist? Yup. People deserve to be compensated for the value they bring to a business operation. For all of that value. None of that compensation for value should be skimmed off the top and transferred to an owner, just because the owner can.