The Dirty Secret of Capitalism

[Woberts]

Libertarians in general are just infantile adults who resent being told what to do and are too stupid to see why it's necessary.

God I wish I could give you a double winner for this one.

 

[Revoltingest]

Libertarians in general are just infantile adults who resent being told what to do and are too stupid to see why it's necessary.

You lefties are always claiming superior brain power.
But you'd be more convincing if you demonstrated it
instead of angrily proclaiming it.

 

[Thief]

Here's something that I would really like to have a discussion about. This is a TED Talk, only 17 minutes long, that seems to be getting to the heart of much that I've been thinking. (Those of you who've read my posts know that while I believe in capitalism per se, I'm much less of a fan of the neo-liberal, absolutely unregulated free-market capitalism, because I think it does way more harm than good and is thus, eventually, unsustainable.

Anyway, I'll reserve further comment until I hear from anyone who might be interested in this topic. I especially look forward to hearing from the libertarians, if they'd care to weigh in.

The Dirty Secret of Capitalism

good speech.....I liked it

but in fairness to the problem of capitalism
The Future of Capitalism
by Lester Thurow.....1996
I saw this when it landed on tv....
and I believe it still rings the bell

AND....Jordan Peterson
I Q and the work place
important was we enter a decision making era.....
who gets to work
and who doesn't

 

[Thief]

You lefties are always claiming superior brain power.
But you'd be more convincing if you demonstrated it
instead of angrily proclaiming it.

I AM!.....superior
and my coworkers hate me for it

 

[Revoltingest]

I AM!.....superior
and my coworkers hate me for it

It must also be a burden to be prettier.
I sympathize.

 

[Wandering Monk]

Today's Guardian:
Global unrest has one, massive root cause: inequality | Michael Massing

The trend since 1975 has been toward less inequality and higher income.

Income Inequality

 

[Thief]

It must also be a burden to be prettier.
I sympathize.

oh it is.....
to make everyone else look bad.....
all I gotta do is show up

 

[Valjean]

The trend since 1975 has been toward less inequality and higher income.

This isn't true. The gap between rich and poor has been growing.

 

[Audie]

It must also be a burden to be prettier.
I sympathize.

Looks like a snapping turtle out of its shell, to me

 

[Revoltingest]

Looks like a snapping turtle out of its shell, to me

Snapping turtles are more interesting though.

 

[Audie]

Snapping turtles are more interesting though.

Now now, those are very nice, very high strung
and sensitive little beasties.

Quite cruel of you to make adverse comparison.

 

[Revoltingest]

Now now, those are very nice, very high strung
and sensitive little beasties.

Quite cruel of you to make adverse comparison.

Please excuse me....I was triggered by the thought of
a nobil reptile sullied by comparison to a lesser creature.

 

[PureX]

You lefties are always claiming superior brain power.
But you'd be more convincing if you demonstrated it
instead of angrily proclaiming it.

you wouldn't be able to recognize it, anyway.

 

[Revoltingest]

you wouldn't be able to recognize it, anyway.

Well, as a non-believer I lack your spiritual
insight & abilities at magical thinking.
But you might ask yourself....
If my cogent reasoning cannot be recognized
by others, is it really all that brilliant, or am I
just a legend in my own mind?

 

[PureX]

The real problem with anti-monopoly legislation is that, even if we had any, it would be inadequately defined. We still think monopolies are giant single-entities that corner a market by eliminating the competition. But todays monopolies come in several forms ranging from huge corporate conglomerates that control many supposedly competing subsidiaries that retain the look of individual business enterprises but that in reality are not, to dissociated businesses that serve one of our ever-increasing number of "captive" markets. We go to the supermarket and see five different brand names selling one type of product and we think they are competing with each other for our business, when they are all owned by the same corporate conglomerate and are not competing at all. In fact, it's likely that some or all of the contents inside the packaging were produced by the same facility. We also see several dissociated companies selling the same necessary product, and we think they are competing with each other by keeping their price low and quality high. When in fact they have become a functional monopoly because they know we have to buy what they sell, and they all want the same thing: to get the highest price for the least quality/quantity. They have become a single entity by their mutual intent, even though they are not legally conjoined.

And in all these cases we are being price-gouged exactly as any monopoly does, and for exactly the same reasons. They have gained an unfair control over a market.

 

[Revoltingest]

The real problem with anti-monopoly legislation is that, even if we had any....

We do have a few such laws....
United States antitrust law - Wikipedia

....it would be inadequately defined. We still think monopolies are giant single-entities that corner a market by eliminating the competition. But todays monopolies come in several forms ranging from huge corporate conglomerates that control many supposedly competing subsidiaries that retain the look of individual business enterprises but that in reality are not, to dissociated businesses that serve one of our ever-increasing number of "captive" markets. We go to the supermarket and see five different brand names selling one type of product and we think they are competing with each other for our business, when they are all owned by the same corporate conglomerate and are not competing at all. In fact, it's likely that some or all of the contents inside the packaging were produced by the same facility. We also see several dissociated companies selling the same necessary product, and we think they are competing with each other by keeping their price low and quality high. When in fact they have become a functional monopoly because they know we have to buy what they sell, and they all want the same thing: to get the highest price for the least quality/quantity. They have become a single entity by their mutual intent, even though they are not legally conjoined.

And in all these cases we are being price-gouged exactly as any monopoly does, and for exactly the same reasons. They have gained an unfair control over a market.

Some evidence of these monopolies would be nice.
(I'd expect that from one with vastly superior intelligence.)

 

[PureX]

We do have a few such laws....
United States antitrust law - Wikipedia

Some evidence of these monopolies would be nice.
(I'd expect that from one with vastly superior intelligence.)

There could be no evidence strong enough to convince you.

 

[PureX]

 

[Revoltingest]

There could be no evidence strong enough to convince you.

Is that a way of saying that you have none,
or you're just too sophisticated for us here?

 

[PureX]

Is that a way of saying that you have none?

It's a way of saying that if you wanted evidence, you could have found it yourself at any time with just a few clicks of a button. The fact that you did not do so clearly shows me that you don't want any evidence even though you pretend that you do. And that you will negate, ignore, or dismiss any evidence presented to you.