• mechoman444@lemmy.world
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    23 hours ago

    I mean it does. At least as far as it can. I live in America. And aside from the shit we’re going through right now and the myriad of issues that we have as a country and society our standard if living is very hight. Not the highest of course but very high never the less. That standard is made possible in large by capitalism.

    I believe Rand called it reasonable self interest, not every billionaire is an oligarch, not every rich person wants to rent out a god dammed city for their wedding like some cartoonish villian.

    Penn Jillette said that he believes most people are good and I believe that applies to the rich as well.

    Corporate oligarchy can be argued as a natural out come if capitalism run rampant I agree. But to equate the two as the same… They’re just not.

    • ILoveUnions@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      High? Sure. But not sustainable. Far from sustainable. Capitalism is great for short term. But we can’t live with just short term.

      not every billionaire is an oligarch,

      You don’t become a billionaire by not being one

    • emeralddawn45@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      23 hours ago

      This is a literal insane take. America only has the standard of living it does because of the rampant exploitation of the third world, and so i guess in that sense capitalism does work at the only thing its meant for, funneling resources away from the exploited masses and into the hands of a privileged few. Pointing at america as an example of the success of capitalism is peak brainrot.

      • mechoman444@lemmy.world
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        14 hours ago

        This is such a black-and-white take it practically erases reality. Yes, America exploited the Third World-but pretending the exploited had zero agency is just historical revisionism. It’s like blaming the Atlantic slave trade solely on Europeans while ignoring the African slavers who sold their own people. Exploitation requires both a buyer and a seller. If you’re going to condemn capitalism, do it honestly-recognize that local elites, corrupt governments, and internal power structures played a role too. The world isn’t split into pure villains and innocent victims.

        I will agree fully, however that to reach a level of success in capitalism someone at the bottom has to suffer. I’m not supporting the system I’m just saying that it is successful within it’s framework.

        • JGrffn@lemmy.world
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          10 hours ago

          Yo I’m from Honduras and your corporations literally invaded my country when workers started complaining about the dismal work conditions. There was a straight up coup enacted by an American business owner, specifically to get someone who aligned with American corporate values. Now the only way things have shifted is you no longer send a fleet filled with armed people to get rid of protests, you simply shut down entire factories with single digit day notice if people start even speaking about unionizing. The empire still intervenes when they don’t like a political candidate, even now. I’m here to assure you that your take is just wrong. This is capitalism, and it evidently does not work.

          • mechoman444@lemmy.world
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            5 hours ago

            Yes. American corporations do this this is an absolute fact.

            I condemn such actions and hope for a better system at some point in the future or even now if it’s impossible.

            At no time have I defended capitalism.

            The issue is most of the time people on this platform don’t even know what their protesting against.

            Just under this comment alone there are people who don’t even know the definition capitalism.

            Capitalism absolutely does work. It is a completely functional system of finance and in some minor ways even governance. It’s not good it’s inherently evil but it does function I don’t know why people can’t just accept that objectively.