Same as it ever was.
the world will be fine but we may not
live and let live
if we play our cards right we’ll be fine
No, capitalism is destroying the world. Capitalism promotes greed, but the base issue is the system that favors and rewards these behaviors.
Look at it this way- you may be the most equitable and charitable motherfucker in the real world, but if you sit down to play Monopoly with your family, you will become a vile corporate money hoarder and at some point someone will get so furious you’ll be finding those little red house pieces in odd corners and between seating cushions for years.
It is not people, it is the system that is the problem.
Eh, remember humans invented capitalism.
The problem is that our brains were designed for eating berries in a cave, not driving industrialized processes at global scale.
Our range of empathy extends roughly to our line of sight. When people in our social circle are suffering in front of us, most of us will try to do something for them. But people that are far away that get affected by our actions exist only in the logical part of our brains and don’t evoke an emotional response.
Idk traveling around the world made me more empathetic and understanding of people. Some people travel the world and decide to conquer it… ya know? It’s just people.
Right. The question is: are Americans genetically pre-disposed to be more greedy, or is it their system that makes them that way?
No you’re on point we value greed more in 2025 than we did in 1925-1950. I don’t think capitalism or the system its self is problematic. There’s lots of room for social programs, regulations, taxation etc in capitalism to balance the scales. I think having an uneducated overworked population, and decades of political corruption are probably more of the cause than just saying “capitalism bad”. Personally I think having large top heavy institutions always leads to corruption and strong men so add any political system you want. With enough centralized power comes corruption and exploitation.
Lots to agree with here.
…but you’re very far afield from my question.
Do you think the average American politician is more greedy than: a Saudi politician, a Russian politician, a British empire politician, an Africa warlord chopping off kids hands? An Israeli prime minister? I also disagree that Americans enshroud any more primitive desires than any other human.
Perhaps it’s our culture itself. Not economy or government at all. Maybe id agree with that criticism. It’s just wild to say that 300 million people are more greedy than the other 8 billion people and it’s because we use the same economic system as Norway…
Is comparing greed to evil really appropriate? Just because Gengis Khan existed doesn’t mean all other humans get a pass.
Trying to separate culture from politics isn’t possible.
You’re projecting a lot onto a very brief question I posed…and you’re doing everything but answering it.
Living under capitalism forces you to adapt or perish. I hate money. I hate having to spend time thinking about investments and retirement and savings and down payments and credit scores. Cost of living in my city is insane and I’m terrified that if my income doesn’t increase every year, I won’t be able to keep up with escalating rent and bills. In order to keep my life as it is, I am forced to think like a capitalist.
When everything around me is becoming more expensive, I must also increase my personal profits.
that’s what life is. That’s what all living things do. Adapt, or die.
Nobody is forcing you to invest in anything. You are more than welcome to pull all your assets out and go buy a boat and live on it. Stop blaming your personal choices on ‘society’.
As a planet, we have to address this issue of Sociopathic Oligarchs. It used to be that people would get rich enough to affect their own nation, but now we have people like Elon Musk, who are acting like their own personal country, and cutting personal deals with other nations, for his own benefit, with no regard for the nations themselves.
Now the billionaires all have a new objective - to become trillionaires. That will allow them to literally enslave entire nations.
After that, it is only a matter of time before multiple trillionaires form an alliance, and literally take over the world, with a world “government” that will simply be their own personal demands. We will ALL be slaves.
We can’t just do it in our country, or they will set up shop somewhere else, and abuse us from a distance. This will take the entire planet agreeing that we have to reign in the power of trillionaires, and I don’t see how that happens, when nearly anyone can be turned by a billion dollar bribe.
As a planet, we have to address this issue of Sociopathic Oligarchs.
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Address the corrosive effects of concentrated wealth by organizing labor into an equitable society ready to defend itself against imperial aggression
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Don’t get called a Tankie on the internet
You gotta pick one.
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