Comment by throw2016 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by throw2016 | Hacker News Reader

Capitalism benefits a few at the cost of many and it's designed too. Can any supporter articulate a scenario where capitalism enables prosperity for the majority without immediately resorting to bottom barrel comparisons to feudalism? The reality is we need to imagine a more evolved society without pandering to the greed and self interest of a few. This of course appears to be our eternal struggle.

The bigger problem with capitalism is it is designed to perpetuate entrenched interests and status quo. It origins from a time when few had capital or property, only the nobility did, convenient, and was obviously designed to perpetuate feudalism by proxy as they could direct economies and systems with their resources, and continue to.

A few examples of those who sacrifice their entire life to gain more capital offers eternal hope to the masses to hop on to the gravy train some already are on by birth, and those who sacrifice their life to accomplish this are obviously going to be overzealous supporters of 'the system', their entire identity and self worth riding on this achievement.

We need to find a way to detach progress from capitalism. Human progress cannot depend on greed which is basically what capitalism boils down to, rewarding and perpetuating the base traits of humanity and leaving a soulless society unable to rise above basic greed in its wake.

> We need to find a way to detach progress from capitalism

What, you mean this[0] isn't progress? /s

The surge in irregular jobs doesn’t just create problems for the people working those jobs. It’s also led companies to feel that they can treat their regular workers poorly, because those workers feel so lucky to have a job, Konno told me. Knowing that people in their 20s and 30s are desperate to get regular jobs, companies hire lots of young people and force them to work long hours for little to no overtime pay, assuming that most won’t be able to survive the harsh conditions, Konno said. Japan has long had a culture of overwork—there’s even a Japanese word, karoshi, for death by overwork—but Konno says that it has worsened since the Great Recession, as companies have realized that good jobs are hard to find in Japan, and so push their employees harder.

...

Though company employees left work at 7 p.m. on paper, Matsubara said he was required to work until late at night almost every day. Employees were required to sign off at 7 p.m., even if they were still working, and were given iPads so that they could do so even if they were out of the office at meetings. If they didn’t sign off, they’d get a call on their cellphones brusquely asking them to sign off immediately but keep working, he said. “The amount of time you're actually working and the amount of time that is recorded you're working have absolutely no relation to each other,”

[0] The Mystery of Why Japanese People Are Having So Few Babies https://goo.gl/zoHH6L (theatlantic.com)

"Well first of all, tell me: Is there some society you know that doesn’t run on greed? You think Russia doesn’t run on greed? You think China doesn’t run on greed? What is greed? Of course, none of us are greedy, it’s only the other fellow who’s greedy. The world runs on individuals pursuing their separate interests. The great achievements of civilization have not come from government bureaus. Einstein didn’t construct his theory under order from a bureaucrat. Henry Ford didn’t revolutionize the automobile industry that way."

-Milton Friedman

> We need to find a way to detach progress from capitalism. Human progress cannot depend on greed which is basically what capitalism boils down to, rewarding and perpetuating the base traits of humanity and leaving a soulless society unable to rise above basic greed in its wake.

That's exactly why capitalism works. You're exemplifying the standard flaw in leftist, utopian thinking: that you can overcome or change human nature.

Utopia would come at an enormous cost, and everyone who's tried has gone bankrupt--morally, ethically, and financially. But we'll get it right This Time.

Please read a history book. Maybe start with The Gulag Archipelago.

Biggest problem with communism is that ALL communist countries decided to eradicate millions of 'enemies of the state'. See USSR, China, Cambodia.

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