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Your current line of work might be in a nice area. Someone who cleans s**t won't want to do it because it makes them feel good contributing to society. They'll want to stop cleaning s**t as soon as possible, or get paid a lot to do it.
Well, then the government will "shift the market" by raising wages for s**t cleaners. The unions will put pressure on the government officials to improve working conditions for s**t cleaners. The employees become happier with their jobs. That's how socialism works.
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Considering that my area is research,
Mine too (though I am just a lowly grad student right now). I'm pursuing a research/teaching career in academia.
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I would benefit greatly from socialism. I could enjoy a lifetime of 24/7 mental masturbation solving tomorrow's problems. Of course, I would benefit at the expense of the guy who hauls crates of food from the back of his truck, or the guy I mentioned earlier who has to clean my s**t from the restroom.
No system is perfect.
At least the people stuck in those undesirable jobs would HAVE job security, rather than be stuck at the mercy of morally bankrupt behemoth corporations and ruthless CEOs always looking to shave pennies off labor costs by destroying people's lives.
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It is my belief that folks like yourself advocate for a transitional cycle like that of Canada, etc. sliding slowly toward near total socialist control.
You guessed right.
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I am also of the belief that many on OWS think this way. In their deluded minds they believe that if we just do the transition very slowly, we'll just all be as snug as a bug in a rug.
Not all OWSers are socialist. Some are even **gasp** conservative!
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Also, Venezuela like most Latin American countries were always occupied by oppressive juntas rather than any sort of constitutional republic. Comparing socialism to that isn't really meaningful.
It is meaningful. Venezuela was capitalist, and improved under socialism. Chavez is somewhat of a dictator, but his socialist reforms helped his country tremendously.
IT depends on the regulation. Some regulations serve no real purpose, but the proposition that cutting regulation increases jobs is simply not true, and as the economist states...it was just made up. Undoubtably it was made up to support a political agenda.
You nailed it. Without the corruption and lack of democratic institutions, socialism in the Eastern Bloc probably would have worked beautifully. It was a fundamentally sound idea marred by oligarchy, unethical and immoral politicians, a lack of respect for human rights and the lack of democratic institutions.
You're right. Laissez-faire capitalism is an inherently immoral system.
because you say so? lol
It was laissez-faire that got us out of the depression in 1920. We saw government spending and taxes cut by 40 percent in 2 years time. Unemployment went from 12 percent to under 4.
IT depends on the regulation. Some regulations serve no real purpose, but the proposition that cutting regulation increases jobs is simply not true, and as the economist states...it was just made up. Undoubtably it was made up to support a political agenda.
Do you know that the riskiest and expensive thing a business does is hire an employee, and that it's mostly due to regulations and government intervention?
Okay. But then you're left with the rest of what he didn't say...
He didn't say raising taxes and adding more regulations will create jobs. See Stimulus (Obamanomics), Obamacare and Dodd-Frank.
The fact that Reagan cut approximately $760 billion in taxes and then added approximately $366 billion (in today's dollars) back in tax increases is often used and is true. That's approximately 1% of total GDP that was tax cuts.
You know what's being recommended to you today for you to get your fiscal house in order? $4 trillion over ten years. Don't do it and see what happens...
So let's tally up to this point where both leaders were at when they took office.
Now, let's see what Obama will need to do up to Dec. 2012.
Or 5,056,000 jobs added.
Obama will need to be at 138,619,000 "Employment numbers - Total non-farm" if you want to use the mantra of raising taxes and adding regulations is at least on par with "Reaganomics."
That means Obama will need 7,285,000 job in 13 months or 560,384 jobs per month. I'm sure that'll happen.
Feel free to check my math.
Does this include the the cost of living or inflation or the devaluation of the dollar? It is kind of hard to compare things when you are time/money as a factor
Well, then the government will "shift the market" by raising wages for s**t cleaners. The unions will put pressure on the government officials to improve working conditions for s**t cleaners. The employees become happier with their jobs. That's how socialism works.
Socialism implies equality. It would be unfair if the s**t cleaner got paid more than me. We need to get paid the same. Where is my equality? What happens when everyone trains to become a s**t cleaner and their wages fall? Now you have to organize the retraining of s**t cleaners to doctors or other professions. What if the s**t cleaner is a family member or personal friend of the government official doing the organization? Do you worry that they'll get first dibs on the higher paying jobs?
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Mine too (though I am just a lowly grad student right now). I'm pursuing a research/teaching career in academia.
Same here. Defending in March 2012. We'll see where it takes me. Probably a postdoc abroad. Possibly remaining here in industry. I prefer academia because there are way too few libertarian/conservatives there, though I have to keep my political affiliation secret just incase there are folks in higher places who would not approve.
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No system is perfect.
At least the people stuck in those undesirable jobs would HAVE job security, rather than be stuck at the mercy of morally bankrupt behemoth corporations and ruthless CEOs always looking to shave pennies off labor costs by destroying people's lives.
You guessed right.
Not all OWSers are socialist. Some are even **gasp** conservative!
It is meaningful. Venezuela was capitalist, and improved under socialism. Chavez is somewhat of a dictator, but his socialist reforms helped his country tremendously.
Venezuela was almost always a big government controlled junta.
What's in bold is important to remember. What if Venezuela wasn't awash in oil reserves? What happens if the demand for oil stays low for even longer? Their socialist utopia has been crumbling coincidentally with the drop in oil prices.
Do you know that the riskiest and expensive thing a business does is hire an employee, and that it's mostly due to regulations and government intervention?
As a business owner, it is certainly not the riskiest thing that I do. The riskiest thing that I do is borrow money to invest in growth. At the end of the day even I don't grow I am still stuck with the debt. I can fire the employee if I can't afford to pay for them. There is no regulation that forbids me from firing an employee that I can't afford to retain.
There is no regulation that forbids me from firing an employee that I can't afford to retain.
My wife's employer, a major PRIVATE university in the area (should be easy to ID), was required to promote a substandard employee due to her skin color, after said employee went to their "office of equality management". This worker in her previous position mismanaged over $2M in grants and was part of a public scandal searchable on google. This worker as well as her apprentice (my wife's replacement after wifey was promoted) have both sued previous employers for the same reason when they were fired.
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You're assuming rational choice theory is true. I don't assume that. There are factors other than personal gain that motivate people to work and produce. I would stick with my current career path even if the promise of a high salary in the future didn't exist, because it is what I love to do.
I agree. People work for other reasons other than the greedy desire to have more than their neighbor. Mentally healthy people want jobs so they feel like they are connected to society. In fact one of the risks of chronic unemployment is mental illnesses such as depression. Again, something free-market capitalism doesn't give a damn about. If you're unemployed and its good for the bottom line, well, that's "ideal".
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Materialism (GREED) is evil, and it must be destroyed if we are to advance as a species. The goal of life is not to accumulate "stuff." Personally, I think there should be a cap on how much wealth someone should be allowed to accumulate
I don't think its a coincidence that materialism and capitalism go together. Capitalism essential is deeply tied to Says law, which essentially says the economy is nothing but bartering of material goods and tangible services, completely missing the human dimensions of the power relationships at play in an economy. Sometimes peoples behavior is motivated as much by fear and insecurity as much as a desire to exchange real things as goods or services.
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Neither does capitalism. No system is perfect, but in my humble opinion, socialism is far more equitable for the non-wealthy than capitalism.
I'm not a utopian... but I think some people defend capitalism and the status quo out of sense of nihilism in denying that moral progress is possible. But isn't this at heart the conservative way to everything?
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