bosstrabs There is also a high pressure of public shame/loss of face in East Asia. I feel I can comment on this with some experience having lived there. The pressure of conformity is such that in even an open multiparty democracy like South Korea, the average citizen would wear a mask if that’s what the majority does and expects and would actually feel deep shame being seen out in public without one (compare that to Britain and the US where no such compulsion to avoid being apart from the crowd exists). So it’s relatively easy to get people to follow orders such as those.

I can’t work out if I’m tired or bored after reading this.

Think it’s a combination of both.

    C_J but isn’t US capitalism’s whole model based on keeping the poor down so the rich get richer? (Or at least its morphed into that). And using the poor workforce to keep that model moving? Plenty of evidence to show the system is decrepit and although it might work for some, it’s a cancer that has diluted cultures all over the planet leading to wars and shocking poverty. I can’t see how we need more of it if I’m honest. Unchecked greed is not a healthy system. I’ve heard the argument before how it leads to innovation etc etc but it’s out of balance in 2020.

    Oh and just to add, migrants flocking to the US to see if they can jump on the American Dream is a fanciful notion from the 1950s. It isn’t the same country it was and although they may be safe from marauding warlords or tyrannical regimes, the large majority still live close to the poverty line.

        LT42 i think the key is in cj’s last sentence: regulated capitalism. corporations have clearly demonstrated that when given the choice of doing the right thing for society or increasing profits, the latter will always take precedence over the former, often to the detriment of society. hybrid capitalist/socialist systems seem to be the way to go as i see it.

          How do you regulate capitalism properly in the US? Isn’t that a paradox?

            I used to read informative posts and now I don’t.

            Why?

            This one long drone of a relentless scroll.

            Feels like a breathless diatribe where all nuance gets lost.

            A design / layout fault.

              LT42 i think it could be done if the will was there. it’s not though, which leads back to my assertion that the only way things will change there is when people get desperate enough to force change. and that won’t be pretty if it ever happens.

                I’ve seen the proposal of a universal income floated more over the last few years. I think it would work, defo not in the US as they’d all think they’d become Communists overnight but at the current rate that financial inequality gap is going to keep growing and the handbrake is off. I honestly can’t see anyone with the best intentions ever breaking the mold. The machine is too big to fail.

                  303abuser seems like the issue is yours, the discussion and board layout are just fine.

                  Droooooooooone.

                    LT42 you can’t regulate capitalism anywhere. It is designed to fail.

                      That’s bullshit Zack.

                      The thing with capitalism is that ultimately the consumers who drive the system. “Give the people what they want” is the mantra.

                      it’s just a question of people wanting the “right” things at the end of the day.

                        Smallman1 dude my Trump thread is going to generate a page algorithm all by itself. Bloody masterclass that.

                            If people want to patronise corrupt, polluting, greedy corporations then they will get a corrupt dirty world.

                            but if they don’t, they won’t.

                            I think this is clearly beginning to dawn on people.

                              C_J

                              C_J The thing with capitalism is that ultimately the consumers who drive the system.

                              Right, that’s how we ended up with 50 brands of toothpaste and cereal made by 1 company. The system now dictates the demands and forces demand where there isn’t one.

                              • C_J replied to this.

                                    zackster dude my Trump thread is going to generate a page algorithm all by itself. Bloody masterclass that.

                                    I gave up when it became a one page diatribe of relentless righteousness.

                                    Pages would have given it more nuance, structure and flow.

                                        C_J it’s just a question of people wanting the “right” things at the end of the day.

                                        That’s nothing to do with Capitalism though is it? Maybe I’m wrong. This batch of Kahlua has me sitting on the balcony in my underpants.

                                          LT42 bernie getting intentionally derailed again is all you need to know about how badly the power structure doesn’t want change. they just won’t let it happen without a violent revolution that forces it and i don’t see that happening either. ubi is a great idea, just needs to be worked out through a few trials to see what the best approach is. especially with automation becoming an ever-present reality, we’re going to need creative solutions.

                                            C_J while i agree in theory, but take the example where food, especially in the states, in priced according to how healthy it its. people may very well want to support hormone/antibiotic-free, free-range meat sources and farmers who produce organic vegetables, but if a whopper is 1/3rd the price and wages are low, it’s really not a choice.