- Capitalism and Alternatives -

Hail capitalism. We'll pay from cradle to grave

Posted by: Ted ( T R U, Land of Enchantment ) on August 09, 1997 at 12:45:17:

In Reply to: Capitalism is Highest Freedom posted by Mike Bednarz on August 08, 1997 at 10:25:28:

: Your Free because at any time you can leave the "dictatorship" of your boss. When a company dosen't give you the products or salaries you want you always have the freedom to work or shop elsewhere, you may even start your own business.

So I have a choice of switching to a different dictatorship, or becoming an "entrepreneur" even though I lack the cash for such an undertaking. Thanks for clarifying that. The master/slave relationship exists in all capitalist enterprises. As long as the boss has me under his/her thumb, I am not free. Neither are you, no matter how much you try to rationalize it.

: You can take away your bosses means production, at any time, for any reason. The freedom works both ways.

That's rather amusing. I think I'll tell her that and ask for a raise.
She should be properly intimidated.

:Yes, those same carcinogens that cause us to live 75+ years. If you want to see pollution, go to bloc countries, where the lack of commecial inventiveness has led to disastrously ineficiant factories producing poisened rivers and sulfurous air.

Why should I travel to "bloc countries" when I can see the same thing in Milwaukee or Chicago for a lot less money? Maybe the factories in those cities don't realize how commercially inventive we are. As for carcinogens being responsible for our 75+ years, I wasn't aware of that particular scientific breakthrough, but I'm sure industrialists are pleased.

: A company does not make money by killing people and polluting the earth.

Did you type that with a straight face? Corporations make billions doing exactly that. Workplace deaths are in the tens of thousands every year. With regard to pollution, it's nice to know all those smokestacks and drainpipes belong to unprofitable businesses.

: Knowledgable people don't buy unsafe products. Dead people don't buy anything.

Sounds good at the Libertarian lecture hall, but doesn't apply in real life. People do not have perfect knowledge of the products they buy. I doubt that the manufacturers do, either. Some 75,000 chemicals are used in industrial processes, but only about 1,000 of those have been tested for carcinogenic properties. And yes, dead people do generate private profits. It's a neat little scam called the "funeral industry."

Hail capitalism. We'll pay from cradle to grave.


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