Ricki Yasha TarrI'm going on a little rant. I see so many of these upper class influencers act like the reason that everyone doesn't have it all is because they just aren't working hard enough. Most people work ridiculously hard just to survive, and they just don't have time to work on their dreams or whatever side hustle they are supposed to be doing too, because Capitalism doesn't see the value in rest. Most of these Influencers are coming from a place of privilege anyway, they aren't doing their own laundry, cleaning their house, doing their bills, fixing their food, caring full time for their children or parents, or the other hundreds of little chores and annoyances that make up every day life. That's a full time job by itself that most people are doing on top of a full or part time job. If most people had that taken off their plate then sure they'd have time to "hustle" and "grind" on some kind of project that was just about their dreams. And it makes us feel guilty that we aren't doing enough, because our house wasn't clean enough, or you didn't get a workout in, or dinner was frozen, or you didn't get to take the kids to wherever. Listen friend, it's ok, you're allowed to order a pizza and veg out in front of a couple of reruns of Castle, or take a couple hours to read and have a cuppa, or scroll Mastodon in the bath. It's good enough to just make it through the day sometimes and you deserve rest and relaxation. Don't let someone who got incredibly lucky tell you otherwise.
Still Andy Really
@Squirlykat Yep, exactly!
Jeff McNeill@Squirlykat @RickiTarr Marx was clear on this in the Communist Manifesto, actually quite a funny little book.
skribe 🇺🇦 
@jeffmcneill @Squirlykat @RickiTarr the manifesto is based on a complete fallacy however: that humans are rational. Sometimes we are rational, sometimes we're bloody irrational. Marx didn't really take that into consideration.
Chad GeidelWe know exactly how to make people more "rational" though. Give them their basic necessities (food, shelter, a safe environment) from birth throughout their life.
Which, apparently we cannot do in the US.
Marcus Marcius Marcellus@Squirlykat @jeffmcneill @RickiTarr That it is.
It also makes clear how profoundly Marx admired capitalism.
Yes, of course; he also thought capitalism needed to be destroyed. But he was obviously amazed at how efficiently it had brushed aside an older and even more evil system — how it had empowered not everybody in society, but vastly more than had enjoyed power under feudalism.
@Squirlykat @jeffmcneill @RickiTarr
For that matter, and though Marx was strongly anticlerical, the Manifesto shows he had a more nuanced view of religion than many are aware.
Religion was the opium (or opiate; the German original has “Opium” but it’s often translated more generally), not the heroin or fentanyl of the people. It was the soul of a soulless world.
@Squirlykat @jeffmcneill @RickiTarr For Marx, neither capitalism nor religion was an unmitigated evil. They were evils that had also done some undeniable good.
But their evil effects could no longer be tolerated. Capitalism might have displaced the feudal lords, but at the cost of enslaving workers. And in the new order Marx strived for — socialism building towards communism — the benefits of religion would not be needed, and its evils would be avoided.
Cavyherd
Steve Felten@Squirlykat @RickiTarr You wouldn’t think the rich would be against the ‘death tax’ if they truly believed their kids were capable of creating their own success the way they purport they did themselves.
Kevin RussellNo no it only means free money given without effort like inheriting a billion dollars.
AB@Squirlykat @RickiTarr billionaires have lots to lose -- billions, to be precise.
Mᴀʀᴋ VᴀɴᴅᴇWᴇᴛᴛᴇʀɪɴɢ@Squirlykat @RickiTarr Also expressed as "People will stop working hard if we pay them more, but billionaires will stop working if we pay them less."