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It's hip to blame almost every modern ill on "capitalism". Rarely is the term defined but it seems to be coming from a socialist perspective. I have found most of people's complaints are more accurately aimed at two things. The state, and fiat money.
Freedom is not a cure for humanity's flaws but I have a hard time beleiving the world would be better off with less of it.
So for all the people that tire of "bitcoin fixes this", spend some time studying economics from an Austrian. Then study bitcoin.
Removing capitalism isn't the answer. Destroying fiat just might be the answer to most of the ills falsely blamed on capitalism.
I agree on your and Austrian perspective of Economics. Capitalism isn't going anywhere even when Bitcoin is completely established globally.
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The Fiat monetary system is very explicitly NOT free market Capitalism. Fiat monetary system empowers unelected bankers to arbitrarily set the price of capital and to disburse it toward those they choose to. Fiat money undermines the private accumulation of capital via savings, by debasing the currency. Fiat money as practised today is crony capitalism where the price, issuance and allocation of capital funding is controlled by state sponsored bankers.
The above may be what provokes some of the outcry against 'Capitalism' as what is being called Capitalism is a corrupted and manipulated distortion where the very core- capital itself, has been captured and controlled by private bankers.
Bitcoin immediately restores the incentives toward saving and thrift and fosters a free market in capital accumulation and allocation.
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True. It does trip people up though because if you say what we have isn't free market instead of saying it is LESS free they start spinning. The socialist use this kind of ignorance by pointing to places like Sweden and calling them socialist. Instead of the truly socialist countries like Venezuela or the old Soviets. Freedom leads to prosperity. Even in places with massive welfare states. If the state was to abolish private property of stock markets the results would be terrible.
Imagine how much property there could globally with bitcoin killing fiat banker's games! It is truly hopeful.
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How would a nation state on The Bitcoin Standard defend itself against a military attack from a nation state (lets say of otherwise identical economic size, population and resources) that uses fiat monetary system? Surely if all other factors were equal the fiat nation state can leverage superior resources (via fiat debasement) and defeat The Bitcoin Standard nation state?
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Bitcoin is to empower the sovereign individual and NOT the states. A sovereign individual with Bitcoin will not need anymore any bullshit state. Each individual will be his own "state".
Please watch these 3 parts of "The island", explaining all those aspects:
Bonus video: How to be a crook
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You seriously believe that individuals will not need the security and protection of the nation state? Have you seen Israel Palestine Lately? Have you seen Ukraine Lately? China? Who are funding both conflicts in a proxy war against the USA.
Are you serious? Give me one example anywhere in human history of a jurisdiction where government was absent but where people could live secure and productive lives. Just one? You cannot.
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You have much to learn... #586916 But you will never learn until you will be able to step out from the "state cage" mindset.
As I said many times, but people do not want to understand this powerful meme
When you will be capable to understand it, then we can talk. Until then... good luck in your state cage.
There are whole books written on this topic. Chaos Theory by Bob Murphy is a good (free) one if you really are curious about what smarter people than I would say.
Truth is, no one really knows but the status quo isn't the "only way".
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I am primarily interested in what you think and say. If your ideas come from these other people then summarise what you have learned from them and argue the issue at hand based on your understanding.
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Here's the deal. Everything you are saying... I have heard for pretty much 25 years from progressives/democrats and conservative republicans. We need this big stick to keep the business in line. Blah blah blah. They get rich off the system. They are corrupt. The populace isn't smart enough to even reason about it.
This is why bitcoin is the answer. It doesn't require some philosophical debate or anything. Just greed. Just self preservation. It won't destroy the state but it does take a huge tool out of their hands.
The answer is to build something better and people vote with their actions/feet. Casting a vote isn't going to change the world but the day to day choices we make will. I'm not putting any faith in the state or democracy. But that's my take. I understand why most people don't see it that way. Its a journey.
If you do want to see what a smart economist that is very fair says about anarchy / stateless society read Bob Murphy. At the least you might come away with better questions or different questions.
Ha! I don't have the time to write up how x would work for you. I don't think you actually care. You want to argue. Its fine, we see it differently.
I didn't understand how an anarchy could work before looking at folks that had reasoned it out. Answering criticisms and questions I had.
Would individuals consent to the government using their money to finance wars that do not benefit their countrymen if they owned their own money, savings, and spending?
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It's always the scapegoat, yet capitalism is always the cure for socialism not the other way around.
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Have you had any luck with redirecting people's angst toward fiat/state in discussions? I don't think I've found the right strategy. I don't get into debates with people so I don't mean that. Humans don't like to lose so when it turns into a debate few will budge on anything.
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I haven't tried much, but I think framing it in terms of central planning, and how that has been a total disaster every time it's been tried, is a good approach. Don't even mention the words socialist or capitalist if possible.
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There are many socialist assumptions that have embedded themselves in the public conscience. It's hard to root them out, because they appeal to resentment and envy, which are very powerful psychological forces.
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That's a great point.
This thought was sparked by reading a book where the author talked about modern slavery and sweat shops making products for the US consumer. They suggested if we consumed less this would somehow help these people.
I fail to see how it would. I don't have sources handy but I believe it has been well documented that globally massive numbers of humans have been lifted out of poverty. There is still inequality of course. Always will be. But the reduction in global poverty seems like a great thing to me.
It could be so much better if people could save their earnings in bitcoin though.
The US does clearly manipulate and use poor countries for the profit of corporations but this isn't a flaw in free markets but rather the result of centralized power. And even though this is global prosperity increases with access to free markets.
More central planning will result in poverty and starvation.
I think the consumerist lifestyle is just largely fueled by cheap credit and the discouragement of saving caused by fiat money printing.
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How ironic it is, that when the 1st world was blaming shortcomings to capitalism, thinking of socialism as a superior alternative, we in the 3rd world of socialism recognized it inferior and sought for capitalism JUST at the exact time the 1st world started rushing towards our ill-fated system. No amount of warning and evidence seems to work. We look at this greek-allegory-level phenomenon in awe and distress.
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Honestly I think some of the appeal of blaming Capitalism is that its some big bad thing that can be the whipping boy for all our own flaws as humans. Greed, lust, selfishness, fear, and sloth. Humans have always had these flaws.
It is hard for me to take these people seriously. The people I read/hear complain about capitalism and its ills. They very often are soft, privileged, and spoiled people. They drink expensive coffee in a hip coffee shop while complaining on their expensive iPhone. They haven't ever worked with their hands or wondered if they would be able to buy food. They rarely are from a blue-collar background.
I know I'm ranting and over-simplifying but it just gets old. We humans are prone to be reactionary. I'm doing it now actually. Its just so easy to do.
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It's ok, we actually have the exact same phenomenon here, down to every detail you mentioned. The pejorative term here is "leftie with OSDE" (OSDE is THE most expensive high-elite health insurance service in the entire country), "leftie with iphone", "snowflake", "macchiato leftie", etc. It's the exact same pattern.
Yet, while we despise them, they are not a major driving force. The biggest problem is and has always been just sheer ignorance from the general population, in the exact same way the USA has been affected too: republicans have no other distinction from democrats other than conservatism. Milei was the first referent ever to explicitly and vehemently point out that fact, a bold move because it attacked both parts of the electorate, with the intention to create a third one (a move that to many seemed unbearably paradoxical). The fact he did pulled that off against all odds is nothing short of a Napoleonic-level political victory.
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That is true. People arent understanding the real reason why inflation and devaluation happens.
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whenever i see people arguing about prices and things on facebook or whatever, they always blame politicians and capitalism when 99% of the issues are caused as a result of fiat and the wheels coming of the system. when they could keep inflation ticking at 2% people didn't really notice as much, since the big covid print though, real inflation has been like 10% or more, seemingly everywhere
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Those who defend socialism tooth and nail are for me two classes: the rich who want to live as lazy people as the greatest representatives of socialism were, or the poor who do not know anything else and are deceived by small things. The greatest example is China, if a socialist power but based on a capitalist economy
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CRONY capitalism is a large problem but socialism is not the answer
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Adam Smith warned that businesses will always at the first opportunity start scheming how they can collude and fix prices and markets- so, a strong proactive regulatory approach is required to ensure crony capitalism does not take hold. Unfortunately across most of the 'liberal western democracies' the cronys (capital) have captured and controlled the politicians/regulatory institutions. If socialism means regulating and preventing market fixing then bring it on.
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The current regimes are supposedly designed to regulate markets and capitalists. If it doesn't work under what we have now what makes one think killing the prices system and central planning will be better. We have mountains of evidence showing socialism leads to shortages and poverty. No thanks.
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The current system does Nothing to limit bankers colluding and market rigging- it actually explicitly empowers them to do that! The current system also allows corporate lobbyists to own politicians via patronage- that is enabling crony capitalism, monopolies, oligopolies and huge inefficiencies. If preventing market rigging monopolist cartel and oligopoly behaviour is branded socialist then bring it on. Read Adam Smith again if you doubt the need for it.
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That's not socialism. That's the problem.
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Fiat money is not a free market- it is rigged.
And allowing unlimited corporate sponsorship of politicians is not democracy it is cleptocracy.