astreus

Workers have unelected bosses dictating the majority of their waking lives. Most companies literally tell you what you can and cannot wear (dress code policy), when you can and cannot eat (designated breaks), and what you can and cannot say online (social media policies). All so they can control you to extract wealth and buy super yachts.

Look at the list of wealthiest US politicians. I cannot find a single one that didn't make their money extracting it from workers or inheritance. Abuse of office happens; abuse of workers' surplus is the standard.

I disagree with fatalism. Under the system of feudalism the lord had similar rights. America & France changed that in capitalist revolutions. Change is one of the only things we can say is inevitable. It takes time, determined people, and usually a catalyst event (such as rampant hunger and homelessness).

I would suggest reading "Capitalist Realism" by Sam Fisher for a good understanding that we have been led to believe that this system is the only real one, but it really isn't. And it won't be. We need to keep that in mind if we want to make a change.

To follow up, let's talk about the names of the system!

Absolute Monarchy: a system where an individual has absolute control of the means of production (often, though not always, via birth).

Feudalism: a system where the a wider, though still small, group of people, control the means of production based on land ownership (often, though not always, through an aristocratic class) (fun fact: the Magna Carta changed England from an absolute monarchy to a feudal state, it did not create any kind of democracy, as the myth often goes).

Capitalism: a system where those with money (i.e. capital) control the means of production. We are here.

Socialism: used interchangeably by both Marx and Lenin with communism (Lenin specifically states the "socialist" in USSR was aspirational, not literal). However, has now come to denote the "transition" period from Capitalism to communism where the workers control the means of production via what Lenin called a "vanguard party" or worker-controlled legislature

Communism: where the means of production are no longer controlled at all with no class divide, legislature, or private property (note: personal and private property are two different things; no one wants your toothbrush) based on the principle "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs".

No, we are workers exploited by capitalists.

Unless you are not selling your labour and instead living on the profit derived from the workers, you are not a capitalist.

It's a very simple system laid out in Das Kapital and still taught in economics today (at least in the UK):

Aristocrats - people with wealth by virtue of controlling land

Capitalists - people who have wealth by virtue of having wealth (i.e. they can invest/speculate)

Worker (or Proletariat) - people who have to sell their labour to capitalists or aristocrats to survive

Lumpenproletariat - an underclass that has fallen out of society and resort to the black or grey market to survive

Shower thought: if everyone gives a % of their labour value to the government it's called taxes and is evil communism. If everyone gives a % of their labour value to an individual it's called capitalism and is glorious. How does that mental gymnastics work?

Doesn't make it right. And we should highlight each and everyone by name. Don't let them get away with hiding behind anonymization such as "shareholder", "owner", or "CEO".

Ohh that sounds exactly like what I'm looking for!

I use 4thewords as well! The forums could be good idea. Let me know if you want to do a co-op battle some time.