Capitalism as a Tool

Me:
I clicked on this youtube suggestion(https://youtu.be/8je64jy5Nds?t=873) and the thing about everything he said that stood out the most for me was "Please know this, if they win this time they win for good. (...) they have fucking drones with thermal vision"(edited)
and, like, that scares the fuck out of me? If we're not there now, we're inevitably get to the point where some power group has enough power to just stay in power forever. If you think about this game we've been playing it was bound to happen eventually, no game is continuous ad infinitum, but that thought doesn't do much to get me less scared.
I keep feeling like we as a global civilization took a wrong turn a while back and if we don't turn back now we'll never know how to go back to somewhere recognizable. For a long time we've been designing this way to live and on a lot of levels the incentives it provides are incredibly short sighted. I frankly don't know enough to know if communism is the solution, it probably isn't, but it's about time we start talking about the possibility of having a better way to do stuff.(edited)
And I wonder if that's not just me, if this is what every millennial and whoever comes next thinks in their heart of hearts
Do any of you feel something even remotely similar? I feel that'd be a good video to make if it was the case(edited)
MightyHegemol - Yesterday at 10:56 PM
So I watched the video and I'm not sure what he was going for there. Like, he seemed pretty anti-current social order but also anti-communism? which fair enough, he's German he's got pretty damn good reason to err on the side of caution.
As far as it being a video: we probably don't want to advocate for the (possibly violent) overturning of society. We aren't exactly a channel to create a manifesto.
😡1
vinicio - Yesterday at 11:00 PM
yeah, I'm not entirely sure what is his point either, that probably is more transparent on his other vlogs so his viewer base knows how to relate
but it was somewhat weird to keep trying to figure out his actual stance and not being able to do it by the end of the video
re doing a video on it: Well, right, that's not something that IP should set out to do
at least not for now :communism: :YuleCat:
but if I'm right, and by no means me asking this here means that I think I am, that this is a thing people increasingly feel like, what could we do with that episode-wise? I'm not proposing that we advocate for it, but that seems like a knot that might be fruitful to entangle and try to look at from some other perspective(edited)
MightyHegemol - Yesterday at 11:04 PM
okay then to actually answer the question: Kind of.
I'm pretty optimistic, so I think that if we get through this year we'll be okay. But I definitely feel the confusion and cynicism at times.
Which I have to wonder if it's a combination of late-stage capitalism and unrestrained postmodernism interacting increasibly badly.(edited)
vinicio - Yesterday at 11:05 PM
hah, there might be something there
like, even if everyone here agrees that this is a thing, is it possibly a thing only for a small minority of the generation?
or is it just the two of us and whoever else here agrees?
MightyHegemol - Yesterday at 11:08 PM
My hunch, based on the prevalence of depressive memes, is that it's widespread.
but there's probably some research that either just came out or is about to come out asking that very question.
Oriana - Today at 1:32 AM
THIS IS FASCINATING
Okay so... yes. A lot yes.
As someone in one of those academia places surrounded by marxists... yes.
I'm less into Communism, y'know, because Venezuela, but I am not going to defend Capitalism because of it
Capitalism is a tool. It is a way of shifting more and more money to fewer and fewer people
It does not reward hard work, or efficiency, or innovation. It rewards profitability.
Understanding that means that you can go "oh look, elastic demand, elastic supply, awesome, let's just do capitalism to this thing"
vinicio - Today at 1:40 AM
oh, that's related to your capitalism as a tool idea, you're right! I don't know why I didn't think about it
Oriana - Today at 1:40 AM
and you can go "inelastic demand? I'm sorry, you want to use markets on this? Are you nuts??"(edited)
vinicio - Today at 1:44 AM
Do you think we could or would it be worth it to do a decent defamiliarization piece on capitalism?
Oriana - Today at 1:45 AM
I think it could be part of Capitalism Is A Tool
vinicio - Today at 1:59 AM
how would that look like? I'm passing out, see y'all tomorrow(edited)
NEW MESSAGES
Oriana - Today at 3:46 AM
Okay
so now that I am back to existence after my little sister finally went the fuck to sleep
I think this is a wonderful opportunity for one of my famous mega-rants
So what does a "decent defamiliarization piece on capitalism" mean?
I don't really know, come to think of it, there's some interpretations of that, but the one I was going with was a piece (video), on capitalism, which defamiliarizes (or better said, illustrates the strangeness of) it (in the sense that it shows capitalism through a lens that makes it seem further removed from us and allows us to understand the process of capitalism as an alien might upon visiting the planet for the first time).
and that is NECESSARY for my "Capitalism is a tool" thing
because capitalism is not a tool in the minds of most people
it is not a thing you use or don't use, it is not a thing you put away when it ceases to be useful
it is a way of life, a defining feature of society, an IDEOLOGY and THE RIGHT IDEOLOGY BECAUSE OTHERWISE THE COMMUNISTS WIN
AND COMMUNISTS ARE EVIL
so in order to show an audience that capitalism is not a necessary ubiquitous aspect of life
but instead a thing that you can use, sometimes, to, um, do stuff
you NEED to undergo a certain degree of defamiliarization
So let us look at society's current problems. The r/LateStageCapitalism jokes, the complaints of the guy in that video
Jobs suck, everyone is in debt all the time, everything is awful, etc etc etc
Who is to blame for that?
Well, to start, Margaret Thatcher
and Reagan
and like, fucking Nozick
(aside: Nozick is a piece of shit)
but why?
Why is it that so many things are so shitty now as a consequence of the wave of neoliberalism that swept various nations throughout the late 20th century and then embedded itself into the fabric of their being?
well, partly because the cold war divided the world into communist/capitalist which is stupid AF
but also
Oriana - Today at 4:00 AM
because a section of the political elite
a rather large section
in many of these places
decided to define itself around the idea of using MARKETS (chiefly FREE markets) in order to solve problems, because they all bought into the collective insanity that "the market" comes up with the more just, more ethical, best thing ever.
And that's bullshit, and everyone knows it's bullshit, because markets don't come up with the best thing, they come up with the most profitable thing
and the only way you can make the most profitable thing ALSO be the best thing is to ensure a.) elasticity of demand, b.) elasticity of supply, and c.) a fully rational consumerist public.
None of which is the case even... often, let alone "always"
And since this political elite section (let us call them, for simplicity's sake, Randians) made this their Thing, everyone who thought that a market was a good tool for this and that problem began lumping together with them
and you wound up with a large section of the population of Britain and America and Australia, and Canada, and other countries which I am less capable of speaking of in an informed manner, making "being a Randian" into... like, their thing
part of their identity
their TEAM
"we have to be Randians, or else the communists win"
And that's a little bit like if you got a large section of the population and they all collectively decided that they have to always cut things using axes
it's not like axes are bad at cutting things
But... don't?
Still, that conclusion presupposes a whole bunch of stuff
So let's talk about freedom for a bit
What is "freedom"?
Why is a person in Canada more free than a person in Saudi Arabia?
What makes them free?
Freedom is consequence-avoidance potential
Freedom means you can do X and not die/get stabbed/ have your stuff taken away/etc
Women in Iran are not less CAPABLE of taking off hijabs and letting their hair flow in the wind as they ride, firing arrows into the sunset
They're not all missing both of their hands
but they ARE less able to do that AND ALSO stay out of jail
They are less able to do that AND ALSO go unmolested in the street
Because freedom is consequence-avoidance-potential, you get into questions about infringing on other freedoms
I would be more free if I could stab you and face no repercussions
But you would be less free if it was harder for you to avoid the consequence of getting stabbed due to being around me
Since we believe that the freedom to go around and exist is more important than the freedom to kill whoever you want for no reason
We think the freedom to kill people should be HINDERED
because that freedom is LESS IMPORTANT
This might sound like hammering the same point a lot, but it does matter
because Capitalism is a freedom-destroying machine, and it destroys freedom by imposing consequences, imposed by the government, under the banner of protecting property rights, anytime that inelastic demand and supply come up(edited)
(I sound so marxist right now -_- I SWEAR I SEE THE VALUE IN CAPITALISM)
For example
Healthcare.
Let us say that you leave healthcare 100% UP TO THE MARKET
Why do prices skyrocket?
Because they CAN.
It is more profitable to be more expensive, and if you NEED THE MEDICINE TO SURVIVE, you are basically forced to either pay up exorbitant rates or suffer the consequences of your disease
You do not have the freedom to avoid the negative consequences of being sick and also avoid the negative consequences of paying lots of money
And the only reason you have to pay lots of money is because the companies know they have you by the balls.
Or another example: phones
Phones are kind of an oligopoly right now
How did that happen?
Well, before, phones were luxury items
Demand was variable, supply was variable, and everything was fine. Then society decided to re-define itself around phones.
Now, not-having-a-phone is a chore. The choice not to have a phone is a choice to refuse to participate in vast sections of society. I say this as someone who technically has no phone.
Phones are cheaper, yes, and competition exists, and because most people "have had" a phone, phone companies don't hold you by the throat the way healthcare can
However, phones are an interesting example because they illustrate (much like healthcare) the way that capitalism a.) Kind of makes people addicted to its shit, and b.) eats itself
phones went from not existing to being fundamental to modern existence in around a century
They became available, then became widely adopted, and then not-having one BECAME PENALIZED (the consequences of not having a phone became harder to avoid).
and so the freedom to not-have-a-phone shrank
It CREATED DEMAND where there was none
And then over time MADE THE DEMAND LESS ELASTIC by making the product fundamental to society
Just like I don't want a cigarette, having never had one, but my professor who is trying to quit NEEDS one. Cigarettes create demand for themselves. Then they make the demand less elastic. And then you're stuck
But let's go to the part about capitalism eating itself.
Because capitalism requires freedom (the freedom to say no to this product and yes to that product, which creates competition, which LOWERS PRICES and INCREASES OUTPUTS, which is the reason we LIKE capitalism in the first place)
And capitalism destroys freedom (by creating new demands to meet with new products and then making that demand progressively less elastic)
Capitalism eventually destroys the thing that enables it to function
This is clear in artificial scarcity imposed upon infinitely reproducible goods
and even clearer when you remember the motto that Capital Begets Capital
The more you have
The more you can get
Being poor is expensive, being rich is cheap.
But let's go back to the defamiliarizatiom part for a moment and the tribalism thing
If you try to see capitalism not as a Randian ("It is THE system") and more like... a reasonable person ("it is A TOOL, good for doing certain specific things")
You have to do the same to communism (or any collectively handled and operated system where profit is not the end goal)
And realize that these are, ultimately, management questions
How you manage a factory is different than how you manage a school, is different than how you manage a brothel
And those differences exist all the way up into the world of policy
So if you're thinking about capitalism as a system we work WITHIN, as opposed to a system we CREATE and NURTURE and NEED TO USE ONLY WHEN IT IS A GOOD IDEA TO
you're ignoring its artificiality
which a lot of people do
a "defamiliarization" process which highlights its artificiality is therefore... a necessity in order to make people who think capitalism to be the inevitable form of human interaction instead think of it in terms of something that applies.
....so... yeah. That.
* whistles *