Elon Musk is a fascist…
Peter Thiel is a fascist…
Donald Trump is a fascist…
Isn’t it weird how those most successful at capitalism are fascists? It’s almost as if capitalism is entirely compatible with and possibly even favours fascism or something…
🤔
@aral
Oh, it is not capitalism. It is the question, who gets major benefit from work: the working people or the not working investor? Capitalism is a kind of accounting and balancing the results of working but, feodalism is the question of power over the working people who are the only ones contributing to the benefit to make them slaves.
So far there is no big difference between feodalism and fascism.
The diff is that they've sold capitalism as a system, when it's only one tool.
Regulation is the requisite companion tool but we've let that wither
It is where inequality becomes totalitarianism. The endgame of the neoliberal orchestra.
@aral are you familiar with Smedley Butler and the Business Plot?
@aral I'm pretty convinced that (mostly unconscious) mindset level beliefs in "might makes right" are at the root of virtually all our problems as a species.
"Might makes right" is what colonizers believed in. They believed "conquering" other humans showed they were (wait for it) superior people. Authoritarians still do this overtly. We see it as silly, but the truth is many (probably most) of us still have some implicit biases around this.
Dominance based corporations give us news and entertainment that reinforce and normalize these beliefs: The result being that millions of people still believe that competition is what human survival is based on. It's not. Humans survive (and certainly only thrive) because we give and receive cooperation and compassion towards each other (as kids and adults).
@CJPaloma and if I'm not mistaken there's also the element of the Catholic Church's Doctrine of Discovery as documented by the papal bulls essentially supporting,/condoning slavery, imperialism, racism, etc.... I'm not supporting those outrageous documents, but highlighting that there was an element of it which had religious backing and how deep and how far in the past that such wrongs have been intricately tied together
Not familiar with that doctrine in particular, but for sure, religious (as well as legal, political and military) backing and endorsement of just horrible stuff goes waaay back in *some* cultures…
Probably not coincidentally: insane levels of hubris are also normalized in the majority of these "might makes right" cultures…(which systems scientist Riane Eisler calls "dominator societies").
Hubris helps make the true believers in the culture (usually those with the most privileges) pretty much impervious to how illogical and unhealthy their beliefs and values were/are.
That still stands…there are still far too many examples of highly privileged folks confidently spouting utter drivel about nonexistent meritocracies, all while they benefit from norms not built on merit at all. 🙄
@CJPaloma exactly! They all tie together in the most obscene ways regarding toxic cultures and true believers and the ties to privilege.
Here's a link to information about the Papal Bulls: https://doctrineofdiscovery.org/papal-bulls/
@aral Take it from the expert:
"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini
At least two of those people were born on third base and are evidently dumb as a rock.
They start out as libertarians, then start smoking their own product, then become convinced they did it all by themselves.
Delusions are ok if you have enough money to support them.
@aral capitalism *can* work differently too (see elder-sibling-type relationship expectations between employees and employers in Japan), but Friedman made sure to cement the fascist foundation, that we use now where the principle is: money is worth more than humans.
You invest your humanity in a company (time, labor, health): you get no participation in the company's success or the course it takes.
Invest money only: all of the above is yours.
@aral And of course, it's the inverse with risk:
You put your livelihood on the line and carry all the risk when the company goes under.
Invest your money and they'll make sure to cut your losses as best they can to insulate you from any damage.
Deb
Aral Balkan
costrike
Metafrastis
Frommelt Consulting & Partner
2xfo
Pusher Of Pixels (old account)
Gert V 🇵🇸
Eric A. Meyer
CandyK
GATEKEEPER
McNeely
Mysteriarch
CJ Paloma
MillicentTheMagnificent
Leather Cub Andrew Aû
John Colagioia
ScottMGS
Bob Blaskiewicz 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 🇬🇱
WETinNC
Mrs Raven
Chris