this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2024

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Capitalism thrives on scarcity (lemmy.ml)

submitted 8 months ago by yogthos@lemmy.ml to c/socialism@lemmy.ml

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[–] PeepinGoodArgs@reddthat.com 19 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Basic neoclassical econ 101:

The demand curve is made of those willing and able to pay
The supply curve is made of those willing and able to produce

That's why there's a market for overpriced Gucci bullshit apparel while people literally starve in the streets.

[–] rah@feddit.uk 7 points 8 months ago (1 children)

in order to justify its existence

Capitalists have no need to justify the existence of capitalism.

[–] Tak@lemmy.ml 1 points 8 months ago

They don't need to but I feel like they try to with how much people think it's a meritocracy.

[–] neoman4426@fedia.io 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

But why is Bobby Hill cosplaying Dr. Manhattan?

[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 7 points 8 months ago

Because there are some fat truths can only be laid down bobby-style

[+] newnton@sh.itjust.works -10 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (4 children)

Odd, despite all its flaws a lot more starving has happened under command economies than capitalism

[–] davel@lemmy.ml 11 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Most starvations are due to Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. One of its first victims was the Irish people.

Michael Parenti: Africa is Rich

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[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 9 points 8 months ago (1 children)

That's flat out wrong, but thanks for letting us know you're a victim of capitalist propaganda.

[–] CableMonster@lemmy.ml 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

What happened in Ukraine and china then?

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

What happened in Ukraine and rest of Russian empire was that there were famines happening all the time before the revolution. In fact, this was one of the driving factors behind the revolution.

What happened after Communists took over is that USSR doubled life expectancy in just 20 years. A newborn child in 1926-27 had a life expectancy of 44.4 years, up from 32.3 years thirty years before. In 1958-59 the life expectancy for newborns went up to 68.6 years. the Semashko system of the USSR increased lifespan by 50% in 20 years. By the 1960's, lifespans in the USSR were comparable to those in the USA:

Quality of nutrition improved after the Soviet revolution, and the last time USSR had a famine was in 1940s. CIA data suggests they ate just as much as Americans after WW2 peroid while having better nutrition:

Similarly, what happened in China is that life expectancy shot up dramatically under Mao https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25495509/

Hope you'll take this opportunity to educate yourself on the subject, but somehow I doubt it.

[–] CableMonster@lemmy.ml -1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

So you response is that lots of people starve to death so our millions that starved to death due to policy were not a big deal because life expectancy went up just like the rest of the world?

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

No, my response is that millions of people were starving to death due to tsarist and capitalist policies, and the policies that communists passed put an end to that. And I've provided you with actual references to back that up. Literally the opposite of what you claim happen, but since you lack any shred of intellectual integrity, you continue repeating your baseless claims. You should be deeply ashamed of yourself.

[–] CableMonster@lemmy.ml 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Apparently I need to tell you this, but just because a thing exists that isnt socialism doesnt mean its capitalism. Capitalism isnt invading countries or paying off politicians, its just people trading freely. I think you are just going to doing the "but thats not real communism!!" thing, without realizing the precursors to getting to real communism.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Maybe you should go read up on what capitalism actually is instead of providing your uninformed opinions here to people who know vastly more than you do on the subject. Just a thought.

[–] CableMonster@lemmy.ml 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

This is the exact problem you think it encompasses more than it does. What do you have against me making a consensual agreement with someone else if it doesnt harm anyone outside of us?

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I don't think that all, you just don't understand what capitalism is because you are ignorant. I'm not saying this as an insult, I'm just stating a fact here. One example of your ignorance is you thinking that capitalism has anything to do with consensual agreements. There can be no consent when the worker has a choice of being exploited or starving.

[–] CableMonster@lemmy.ml 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Oh gotcha, you are going down the critical theory route... Long story short is that you have a skewed reality that doesnt reflect what is actually happening.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 1 points 8 months ago

😂

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 6 points 8 months ago

You should cast a bit wider net, geographically and temporally.

[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

The UN Development Program estimates ten million excess male deaths during the 1990s, approximately the toll of Stalin's purge sixty years earlier.... the demographic crisis is in part attributed to the crumbling of Russia's health care system under market reforms. The general collapse has been so severe that even the monstrous Stalin is remembered with some appreciation.

Hegemony or Survival: American's Quest for Global Dominance, Noam Chomsky