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Capitalism Refuted?

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I did summarize a good deal in those 2 videos

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mr1001nights, your critique of capitalism is actually a critique of the mixed economy and corporatism. In a true free market, people would not have to work for a boss if they didn't wish to, there would be plenty of land that they could homestead and live a life on their own. In a true free market, there are many kinds of workingman associations, where the poor help each other out and live in a commune-like society. What's wrong with this?

Contrast that with anarcho-syndicalism where certain relations are forced at the point of a gun.

Jon Irenicus:

Do you think this site is some sort of advertisement for your idiotic videos? Who's got the time to watch the rants of some YT crank?

Haha, you crack me up. But maybe we should play game with this troll, per libertystudent's wishes?

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Jon Irenicus:
Who's got the time to watch the rants of some YT crank?

I did.  I spent 30 minutes on them with the intent of having a civilized debate.

"When you're young you worry about people stealing your ideas, when you're old you worry that they won't." - David Friedman
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mr1001nights:
Those are the questions I answer in my 2 videos. It may be more productive to counter my answers, rather than answering the questions yourself.
It may be more productive for you to counter reality rather than the fantasy world you've created, Don Quixote.

 

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well Jon, I'm trying to see what counters you guys have to my explanations,  Sure, maybe I'm wrong about everything, but simply stating in response that "capitalism is good and equals liberty" is not countering anything.

Actually it seems like you're here to advertise your videos. Maybe people should take the bait and rate them 1*?

Freedom of markets is positively correlated with the degree of evolution in any society...

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mr1001nights:

I did summarize a good deal in those 2 videos

You summarized your strawmen, and haven't shown any indication that you understand Austrian economics or praxeology.  I hoped to debate you, but I have plans tonight, and time has run out.  You'll probably be banned by the time I get back, your chief crime is being ignorant, and rather than someone try to reach out and teach you, to even test your capacity to change your mind, instead you'll probably be tossed.

I apologize for the rude behaviour of my cohorts, somewhere along the line, people think that if you treat someone poorly or aggressively, that's evidence of your superiority.

In the meantime, if you do get banned, don't let that turn you off checking out AE and some economic doctrine based less on emotion, and more on rational argumentation.

"When you're young you worry about people stealing your ideas, when you're old you worry that they won't." - David Friedman
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Everyone here probably agrees with me when I say the videos are an exercise in logical fallacy.

 

...and how many moderators does it take to close a thread?

Austrians do it a priori

Irish Liberty Forum 

 

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krazy kaju:

Anyway, now that we're no longer debating his troll status, let's return to the discussion.

mr1001nights, do you know that within a system of free market anarchism, workers would have the right to organize syndicalist businesses and societies for themselves?

How can you call a system based on bosses "anarchism"?  "syndicalist business" seems oxymoronic. Syndicalism opposes capitalism itself 

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wombatron replied on Fri, Feb 27 2009 10:03 PM

MatthewWilliam:
...and how many moderators does it take to close a thread?

Just one.

Market anarchist, Linux geek, aspiring Perl hacker, and student of the neo-Aristotelians, the classical individualist anarchists, and the Austrian school.

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eliotn replied on Fri, Feb 27 2009 10:04 PM

mr1001nights:
well Jon, I'm trying to see what counters you guys have to my explanations,  Sure, maybe I'm wrong about everything, but simply stating in response that "capitalism is good and equals liberty" is not countering anything.

Want justification?  Ok, basically, with capitalism (no government), you are free from coercion.  Without a government, the only ones who would coerce would be criminals, and these would be stopped by defense agencies.  Free trade is good because it freely allows people to benefit by making arrangements that benefit both.  With governmnet, on the other hand, there are people who are prevented from doing this.

Here are the bad things about government:  you have to be a patron of it irregardless of your consent, and they have no way of knowing if they are providing services most effectively.

Schools are labour camps.

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krazy kaju replied on Fri, Feb 27 2009 10:05 PM

mr1001nights:
How can you call a system based on bosses "anarchism"?  "syndicalist business" seems oxymoronic. Syndicalism opposes capitalism itself

Anarchism = no rulers

That means that you are free to do what you want as long as you don't violate the freedom or liberty of others. If I want to work for a wage under a boss, I may do so. If I want to move to a syndicalist society I may do so. If I want to move to a commune, I may do so. But to say that you want to prevent people from doing something is itself anti-anarchist.

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You summarized your strawmen, and haven't shown any indication that you understand Austrian economics or praxeology.  I hoped to debate you, but I have plans tonight, and time has run out.  You'll probably be banned by the time I get back, your chief crime is being ignorant, and rather than someone try to reach out and teach you, to even test your capacity to change your mind, instead you'll probably be tossed.

Are you joking? Brainpolice and countless other libertarians devoted - nay, wasted - COUNTLESS hours on this clown. He's not ignorant. He's here to push his videos.

Freedom of markets is positively correlated with the degree of evolution in any society...

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wombatron:

Just one.

Who will be the one to step forth? So many of you around.

Austrians do it a priori

Irish Liberty Forum 

 

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eliotn replied on Fri, Feb 27 2009 10:06 PM

mr1001nights:
How can you call a system based on bosses "anarchism"?

Because people consent to the "bosses" being their boss.

Schools are labour camps.

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eliotn replied on Fri, Feb 27 2009 10:07 PM

It is crazy, the speed at which people are replying. lol

Schools are labour camps.

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krazy kaju replied on Fri, Feb 27 2009 10:07 PM

MatthewWilliam:
Who will be the one to step forth? So many of you around.

All of the mods don't agree as to whether or not this is a troll thread.

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mr1001nights:
How can you call a system based on bosses "anarchism"?
Easy: anarchism is about there being no rulers. Your view, much like Chuck0's leads to there being no sport sanctioning bodies, no mutually-agreed-upon arbiters--no rules of any sort whatsoever.

Now begone and take your stupidity with you.

 

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krazy kaju:

All of the mods don't agree as to whether or not this is a troll thread.

Some of you guys want to toy with him I bet.

Austrians do it a priori

Irish Liberty Forum 

 

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Nitroadict replied on Fri, Feb 27 2009 10:10 PM

liberty student:

mr1001nights:

I did summarize a good deal in those 2 videos

You summarized your strawmen, and haven't shown any indication that you understand Austrian economics or praxeology.  I hoped to debate you, but I have plans tonight, and time has run out.  You'll probably be banned by the time I get back, your chief crime is being ignorant, and rather than someone try to reach out and teach you, to even test your capacity to change your mind, instead you'll probably be tossed.

I apologize for the rude behaviour of my cohorts, somewhere along the line, people think that if you treat someone poorly or aggressively, that's evidence of your superiority.

In the meantime, if you do get banned, don't let that turn you off checking out AE and some economic doctrine based less on emotion, and more on rational argumentation.

I will also be dissapointed in the operation of the forums if the thread is shut down. 

I hope mr.1001nights remains for the sake of being an external participant in the debates here (external in that he does not agree, for the most part it seems, with most of the arguments here).  I think it says a lot of his character that he actually bothered to come here in the first place.   

Closing this thread would straddle the line of shutting out a "troll" (which is steadily reaching  McCarthy like levels of subjectivity, imo), & providing excellent ammunition for opponents outside the forums, to advise no one to approach here with an interest in debate, lest they be banned, shunned, or ridiculed out to pasture by the mods, for consistently having different opinions than others elsewhere on the forums.

Then again, I'm far more tolerant than others, so perhaps I'm just being redundant in my opinion here. 

I apologize for risking a melodramatic tone, but it's more so cautious & worriesome, if anything else.

"Look at me, I'm quoting another user to show how wrong I think they are, out of arrogance of my own position. Wait, this is my own quote, oh shi-" ~ Nitroadict

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He's clearly not interested in debate.

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That "anarchist faq" is full of fallacies, and deliberate mistranslations/misrepresentations of authors like Proudhoun, Say, etc. that are twisted to meet the author's agenda. Factories and capital did not fall from the sky to the "haves" while the "have nots" were stuck with nothing. Capital is created by labor, and specifically labor that is geared towards improving future capability to produce as opposed to producing for immediate consumption. What separates laissez faire from state capitalism is that state capitalism coercively controls the process of capitalism for the benefit of a few, while laissez faire serves the consumers, enterpreneurs, and workers as they make choices in the market.

 

1) The only people who are "rich" in laissez faire are those who work, save, and defer consumption (and of course who they give gifts or inherit their wealth to).

2) You are not coerced to work in laissez faire, or use capital that was created by another person's labor in any way. You may choose to be self sufficient, or you may choose to starve or commit suicide. This is nothing more than the reality of scarcity that is not forced onto you by any human being.

3) Claiming a right to another man's capital is claiming a right to another man's labor, and is a display of a slave driver mentality.

4) Claiming to be against capitalism is simply to be against the process by which capitalism is formed. If you are truly anticapitalist, you are also anti technology and antiprogress. We came from the jungles because of competition, the division of labor, and deference of consumption driven by self interest; and all of the good things that have come with that (the diminishment of child abuse, abuse of women, etc.) are all because of capitalism.

5) Anarchism is "without rulers" Anarchocapitalism is just as much anarchism as Herbert Spencer's Social Darwinist anarchism and Max Stirner's egoist anarchism, if not more so as anarchocapitalism is more compassionate towards society's least fortunate. Similarly, Rothbard and Friedman are even less capitalist than Lysander Spooner was on issues like intellectual property.

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krazy kaju replied on Fri, Feb 27 2009 10:12 PM

MatthewWilliam:
Some of you guys want to toy with him I bet.

I changed the thread name to Jon's suggestion, but some were offended and changed it back. I think we need to take a uniform position now and engage mr1001nights. There's no point in having the mods war each other.

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krazy kaju:

mr1001nights, your critique of capitalism is actually a critique of the mixed economy and corporatism. In a true free market, people would not have to work for a boss if they didn't wish to, there would be plenty of land that they could homestead and live a life on their own. In a true free market, there are many kinds of workingman associations, where the poor help each other out and live in a commune-like society. What's wrong with this?

Contrast that with anarcho-syndicalism where certain relations are forced at the point of a gun.

 

That assertion about anarcho-syndicalism is pure propaganda. It is capitalists who will shoot you or force you to starve unless you subordinate yourself to their illegitimate power. Anarchism is based on the reduction of hierarchy and the placing of the burden of proof on authority. "Free market" advocates have no such concern for hierarchy. In fact, their whole system is based on bosses. As for the notion that in your "free market society" there "would be plenty of land that they could homestead and live a life on their own" it ignores that land is finite, and in a system based on private ownership and 7 billion human beings, that means excluding many of such ownership. Those people then will have to become wage slaves--having to work for a boss under threat of poverty, starvation or social stigma. A society based on bosses, like the one you advocate is inimical to "workingman associations". This is due to something that you guys ignore: class interests

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mr1001nights:
That assertion about anarcho-syndicalism is pure propaganda. It is capitalists who will shoot you or force you to starve unless you subordinate yourself to their illegitimate power.
And on he goes with some idiotic Marxist tosswad rant.

Seriously people: have you had enough of him showing you how little he knows and how much he wants to know very little? I have.

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Land is infiinite bro. 98% of the land on earth is undeveloped and then you just have to go outside and look up and you will see some more.

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That assertion about anarcho-syndicalism is pure propaganda.

A lie.

It is capitalists who will shoot you or force you to starve unless you subordinate yourself to their illegitimate power.

Melodramatic rant. Prove it.

Anarchism is based on the reduction of hierarchy and the placing of the burden of proof on authority.

Special pleading.

"Free market" advocates have no such concern for hierarchy.

Another lie.

In fact, their whole system is based on bosses.

If people prefer working in a boss/worker type organization, yes it will be. Get over your emotive distaste for this.

As for the notion that in your "free market society" there "would be plenty of land that they could homestead and live a life on their own" it ignores that land is finite,

Prove that this is relevant.

and in a system based on private ownership and 7 billion human beings, that means excluding many of such ownership.

Ipse dixit.

Those people then will have to become wage slaves--having to work for a boss under threat of poverty, starvation or social stigma. A society based on bosses, like the one you advocate is inimical to "workingman associations". This is due to something that you guys ignore: class interests

Determinist hogwash.

Now, do you have any real arguments?

Freedom of markets is positively correlated with the degree of evolution in any society...

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eliotn replied on Fri, Feb 27 2009 10:21 PM

mr1001nights:
That assertion about anarcho-syndicalism is pure propaganda. It is capitalists who will shoot you or force you to starve unless you subordinate yourself to their illegitimate power. Anarchism is based on the reduction of hierarchy and the placing of the burden of proof on authority. "Free market" advocates have no such concern for hierarchy. In fact, their whole system is based on bosses. As for the notion that in your "free market society" there "would be plenty of land that they could homestead and live a life on their own" it ignores that land is finite, and in a system based on private ownership and 7 billion human beings, that means excluding many of such ownership. Those people then will have to become wage slaves--having to work for a boss under threat of poverty, starvation or social stigma. A society based on bosses, like the one you advocate is inimical to "workingman associations". This is due to something that you guys ignore: class interests

1.  If capitalists shoot you or use coercion to make you starve, they are criminals (unless this is in self defense).  Otherwise, if you starve because you can't/don't want to work for food, it is not the same.

2.  The system of free market is based off of no interference/voluntary interaction.

3.  People choose to work for bosses because they benefit.

Schools are labour camps.

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Saiphes replied on Fri, Feb 27 2009 10:24 PM

I downloaded the 2 as PDFs to take a look - the author isn't into brevity.  I've recently been interested in the "pwnership" of the words Libertarian, Anarchist, etc.  I'm torn as to conceding words to people simply because, let's face it, Words mean what the majority think they mean. 

I invite mr1001nights to listen to these 4 mp3s (2 hours in all unless you speed them up) about the Industrial Revolution. 

http://mises.org/media.aspx?action=search&q=industrial%20revolution

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Conza88 replied on Fri, Feb 27 2009 10:24 PM

mr1001nights:

This is the best treatment of Austrian economics I've ever seen.

http://www.infoshop.org/faq/secFcon.html

http://www.infoshop.org/faq/secCcon.html

Are Libertarian 'Anarchists'? by Murray Rothbard

I'm a non-archist or anarcho-capitalist. As is practically everyone here? It's essentially just a battle over the esoteric... Confused Of course the socialist clowns are delusional enough to think the state protects property and of course they wish to impose rulers on everyone (thus not being anarchy), how else would they get rid of peoples property? They're that naive to believe that people will just give it up? Hahah...

Side story: I was out last night and was chatting to this girl, anyway it eventually came out - she called herself as a socialist. I smiled and asked if she was a voluntary or coercive socialist. She ignored it and said she was an anarchist. I asked if she ever thought people would give up their property? She was a bit puzzled and said, "No... I'm not too sure about that." - Utopian devoid of reality. Thinks all humans are inherently good. As opposed to some good / evil.

Anyway, personally I choose not to bother with the esoteric battle over labels. Traditional socialists have tarnished the anarchy label it. Fine, can keep the label - it doesn't change nor refute anything though. All the socialists are good at is the esoteric, liberals, libertarians, anarchy, they corrupt everything they touch. Smile And now you're trying to do it with anarcho-capitalism. Confused

mr1001nights:

well Jon, I'm trying to see what counters you guys have to my explanations,  Sure, maybe I'm wrong about everything, but simply stating in response that "capitalism is good and equals liberty" is not countering anything.

Thanks for ignoring every single one of my posts and addressing NONE of them. You are clearly a tool.

Ron Paul is for self-government when compared to the Constitution. He's an anarcho-capitalist. Proof.
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Taras Smereka:

Land is infiinite bro. 98% of the land on earth is undeveloped and then you just have to go outside and look up and you will see some more.

 

I see, you pulled that 98% number right out of your ass to pretend that people really want to be wage slaves. You just say what the bosses wanna hear.

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eliotn replied on Fri, Feb 27 2009 10:27 PM

Jon Irenicus:

Now, do you have any real arguments?

Hmmm, how do you know that coercion is always bad?  For instance, using violence to stop me from pressing the button that will destroy the world.  Or, using violence to get someone to do something that saves other people.  Wait, what about coercing a rich guy to give to the poor?

Ugh, this probably isn't a good argument.  I guess I am too persistant in trying to criticize arachno-capitalism.

 

Schools are labour camps.

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Conza88:

I'm a non-archist or anarcho-capitalist. As is practically everyone here. It's just a battle over the esoteric... Confused Of course the socialist clowns are delusional enough to think the state protects property and of course they wish to impose rulers on everyone, how else would they get rid of peoples property? They're that nieve to believe that people will just give it up? Hahah...

I was out last night and was chatting to this lady, anyway it eventually came out - she introduced herself as a socialist. I smiled and asked if she was a voluntary or coercive socialist. She ignored it and said she was an anarchist. I asked if she ever thought people would give up their property? She was a bit puzzled and said, "No... I'm not too sure about that" - Utopian devoid of reality.

Anyway, personally I choose not to bother with the esoteric battle of labels. Traditional socialists have tarnished it. Fine, can keep the label - it doesn't change nor refute anything though. Smile

 

 

You have it backwards buddy, it is coercion that maintains capitalist property (as opposed to the non-exploitative property I favor). Your whole system is based on coercion and would quickly lead to a state. The very origin of the state lies in disparities of wealth 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAgJs9anhw8

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mr1001nights:
I see, you pulled that 98% number right out of your ass to pretend that people really want to be wage slaves. You just say what the bosses wanna hear.
I think we're all just waiting to see more of your Marxist screed which you've gussied up in the disguise of anarchism. We want to see how much longer you can hold out on providing any evidence whatsoever for your oft-refuted gimblebabble. And it's not that you've even shown the slightest bit of competence in both formulating and explicating your position--not in the least; you've simply become a squeaky toy for some to play with until they get bored.

 

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So is yours. Or can anyone come and take whatever they will from your society, regardless of their contributions? No? Then you have a form of property rights, just as "coercive" as any other, "buddy".

Freedom of markets is positively correlated with the degree of evolution in any society...

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eliotn replied on Fri, Feb 27 2009 10:34 PM

mr1001nights:

You have it backwards buddy, it is coercion that maintains capitalist property (as opposed to the non-exploitative property I favor). Your whole system is based on coercion and would quickly lead to a state. The very origin of the state lies in disparities of wealth 

Wait, you have it backwards.  Coercion doesn't maintain a person's property rights, it invalidates it.  The system of the free market is based on voluntary interaction, not coercion.  The origin of the state lies in some people coercing others and turning the masses into sheepie.

Schools are labour camps.

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And it's not that you've even shown the slightest bit of competence in both formulating and explicating your position--not in the least; you've simply become a squeaky toy for some to play with until they get bored.

Or a wooden plank to sharpen one's claws on.

Freedom of markets is positively correlated with the degree of evolution in any society...

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Saiphes replied on Fri, Feb 27 2009 10:38 PM

eliotn:

Hmmm, how do you know that coercion is always bad?  For instance, using violence to stop me from pressing the button that will destroy the world.  Or, using violence to get someone to do something that saves other people.  Wait, what about coercing a rich guy to give to the poor?

Ugh, this probably isn't a good argument.  I guess I am too persistant in trying to criticize arachno-capitalism.

 

 

always? use of force is acceptible as a response to initiation of force.  The button: You've demonstrated that you will initiate force.

Saves other people from what? How do you know that what the someone you're forcing wasn't going to save them in some other way? How do you know they aren't in the middle of saving someone else?  Who are you to define their values for them as to whom to save, and what methods to use, etc?  The rich guy giving to the poor?  Could be his favorite charity is wildlife in alaska or that he doesn't consider people in the US poor and instead donates to african causes... Could be the money you're taking from him to give to the poor was going to be part of a water purification investment that would decrease the cost of water to 3rd world nations by a factor of 10. 

You are morally wrong for forcing your values on him, and you are ignoring Hazlitt's one lesson as well - "What good things are you precluding by your intervention?"

 

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eliotn:

mr1001nights:
That assertion about anarcho-syndicalism is pure propaganda. It is capitalists who will shoot you or force you to starve unless you subordinate yourself to their illegitimate power. Anarchism is based on the reduction of hierarchy and the placing of the burden of proof on authority. "Free market" advocates have no such concern for hierarchy. In fact, their whole system is based on bosses. As for the notion that in your "free market society" there "would be plenty of land that they could homestead and live a life on their own" it ignores that land is finite, and in a system based on private ownership and 7 billion human beings, that means excluding many of such ownership. Those people then will have to become wage slaves--having to work for a boss under threat of poverty, starvation or social stigma. A society based on bosses, like the one you advocate is inimical to "workingman associations". This is due to something that you guys ignore: class interests

1.  If capitalists shoot you or use coercion to make you starve, they are criminals (unless this is in self defense).  Otherwise, if you starve because you can't/don't want to work for food, it is not the same.

2.  The system of free market is based off of no interference/voluntary interaction.

3.  People choose to work for bosses because they benefit.

1. Capitalists and their state (or private thugs like Blackwater, the Pinkertons etc) will shoot workers if they try to exert worker's control of the workplace and the economy, or gain unconditional access to food and shelter. Capitalist control of the means of production entails coercion, because it results in many people having to work for a boss under threat of starvation. As my video shows, working to gain one's sustenance in nature is not the same as having to work for a boss.

2. Market system is based on greed, bosses and hierarchy

3. the "benefit" in the sense that otherwise they face starvation, poverty or social stigma i.e. in the sense that someone getting hit with a hammer would benefit if someone instead offers to hit him with a stick. It's a coercive set of choices

 

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I see, you pulled that 98% number right out of your ass

Do not have a source for it off the top of my head, but I am sure you can find one with a bit of searching. It is night time in the western hemisphere, just go outside and look up and tell me what you see.

 

"But we can't get there yet!" Well, it used to be that Europeans could not get to America. And that you could not build houses on a swamp. But here I am, sitting in a house built in a swamp in America. How? Because people labored to build capital, sail across the sea, walk across the country, drain the swamp, and build a house.

 

to pretend that people really want to be wage slaves. You just say what the bosses wanna hear.

 

ad hominem, strawman, and poisoning the well.

and also

 

 

you are just an apolagist for the union boss who is robbing my pockets

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eliotn:

mr1001nights:

You have it backwards buddy, it is coercion that maintains capitalist property (as opposed to the non-exploitative property I favor). Your whole system is based on coercion and would quickly lead to a state. The very origin of the state lies in disparities of wealth 

Wait, you have it backwards.  Coercion doesn't maintain a person's property rights, it invalidates it.  The system of the free market is based on voluntary interaction, not coercion.  The origin of the state lies in some people coercing others and turning the masses into sheepie.

The change in property relations leading to "proletarization" of the work force, described as the shift toward dependence on wages for support ,played a very important role in the modern consolidation of the nation-state structure. The close link between property and the state has been noted by many outstanding thinkers. For example John Locke, who in 1690 wrote that "[t]he great and chief end...of men's uniting into commonwealths, and putting themselves under government, is the preservation of their property"[85] or Adam Smith who described how "...as the necessity of civil government gradually grows up with the acquisition of valuable property, so the principal causes which naturally introduce subordination gradually grow up with the growth of that valuable property... Wherever there is great property there is great inequality. For one very rich man there must be at least five hundred poor, and the affluence of the few supposes the indigence of the many. The affluence of the rich excites the indignation of the poor, who are often both driven by want, and prompted by envy, to invade his possessions...The appropriation of herds and flocks which introduced an inequality of fortune was that which first gave rise to regular government. Till there be property there can be no government, the very end of which is to secure wealth, and to defend the rich from the poor".This tight link between property and state was also noted by John Jay (who repeatedly said that "Those who own the country ought to govern it,")and by US Founding Father James Madison, who said that government "...ought to be so constituted as to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority."

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