CaliforniaLupine
K.J. Elphinstone
RawiWoofThe sad part is that the question at the end is the terrifying answer.
Aral Balkan@KatyElphinstone @Hex Billionaires, I believe.
Bruce Heerssen 
Billionaires should be penalized until they are no longer billionaires. They obviously cannot be trusted with that much money.
@bruce @KatyElphinstone @Hex Who’s going to penalise them when they’re more powerful than most governments? Capitalism fucked around and we’re all finding out.
EndlessMason@bruce @aral @KatyElphinstone @Hex That's not really fair - they are addicts, they should be given treatment... very expensive treatment, but treatment none the less.
@EndlessMason @aral @KatyElphinstone @Hex
As long as that treatment comes in the form of very large payments to the US Treasury, I'm okay with it.
@bruce
The Treasury doesn't need money, but you seem to be picking up what I'm putting down
Gerbrand van Dieyen@KatyElphinstone Satisfying the Free Market gods?
lobsterYes but US gets a partial tin pot wall, a tin potty golden DOM and Donny Duck the Mx Potato Head POTUS.
Actually the lunatics HAVE taken over the circus... 🏴
az> The purpose of a system is what it does
@az @KatyElphinstone This is a popular Leftist talking point.
However, it also applies to collectivist and Communist systems. The purpose of those systems is to entrench an oligarchy and stomp on everyone else, since that is what all such systems do.
The stomping is more literal and horrible in the case of Communism, but all collectivist systems seek to destroy individuality and use ordinary people as objects.
Capricious Day@KatyElphinstone capitalism: funneling wealth towards the wealthy with no regard for negative externalities or your money back
Steve Holden@KatyElphinstone clearly the “point” is to increase the wealth of already obscenely rich, sociopathic individuals.
@KatyElphinstone I still maintain that the wish to accumulate wealth to that extent is a pathology, and it will eventually be recognised as such.
Stefan Scholl@KatyElphinstone it's not the system, it's how it's implemented and how it lacks regulations.
Weltzeitgeist
Lillian Violet@Stefan_S_from_H @wackJackle @KatyElphinstone then how does every place end up where we are now, exploiting colonized places or being exploited as a colonized place. And falling into xenophobic fervor to distract from the fact that we have the means to feed and house everyone but won't to serve the powerful (who are friends with everyone that can get even close to an influential position in what y'all call "politics"). How come we had the means to fix this for over a century, but every marginal change has had to be at the tip of a spear of protests and violence. How come we can never do this system right, maybe because the incentives are wrong, and maybe because if we look outside of our bubble of what we consider "civilized society" we find things that actually work and are more equitable and community oriented.
@GLaDTheresCake @Stefan_S_from_H @KatyElphinstone Exactly, well put. Theoretically, this system, capitalism, can't function for the benefit of all. There aren't any regulations in the world that will change this. Furthermore, there is a zero chance that this system will tackle the climate crisis. But don't tell this to a liberal. Just a few more regulations and everything is fine..
@wackJackle @GLaDTheresCake @Stefan_S_from_H @KatyElphinstone Nobody has yet invented a system that can function for the benefit of all. That's the problem.
Has there ever been a civilization that is NOT run for the benefit of a small group?
Tribes are more egalitarian internally, but they do not produce any technological progress, and they do fight each other constantly. So your life is likely to be short.
All large-scale civilization is a machine designed to benefit its owners.
It is indeed a conundrum!
My personal feeling is that if humans stop being defensive for a moment, and instead put their/our heads together, there could be workable solutions.
Jan Peterka@mike805 @wackJackle @GLaDTheresCake @Stefan_S_from_H @KatyElphinstone
I would recommend reading The Dawn of Everything (https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/fcecc6e9-1b62-4e72-8d7f-0bace08432b5), which argues otherwise. History is much more complicated and colorful.
I would recommend reading The Dawn of Everything (https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/fcecc6e9-1b62-4e72-8d7f-0bace08432b5), which argues otherwise. History is much more complicated and colorful.
Sorry, I don't seem to have the post this is the answer to..... Am I missing something?
Although I do have this book!
@KatyElphinstone
I was reacting to this part:
> Tribes are more egalitarian internally, but they do not produce any technological progress, and they do fight each other constantly. So your life is likely to be short.
which I don't is true.
Ah yes, I see! And I agree with you. That it's not true, I mean.
James 🦉 #FBPE 🇪🇺@KatyElphinstone bEcAuSe iT'S ThE OnLy sYsTeM ThAt wOrKs
Reinald Kirchner@KatyElphinstone greed of a few
woollypigs@KatyElphinstone Loadsamoney https://youtu.be/ULeDlxa3gyc
Harry Enfield - Loadsamoney (Doin' Up the House)
Konosocio@KatyElphinstone the point is obviously to let a neo-feudal class live as if neither society nor biosphere even exist.
JamesTDG@KatyElphinstone sadly, a bunch of assholes think that having a larger digit in their bank account is more valuable than even just the survival of our species. We need to end the financial circle jerk!
Sensitivityi@KatyElphinstone we are in a Sophisticated prison
Adrian Morales@KatyElphinstone You must be new to this planet. I hope you purchased a round ticket. Anyhoo, never in the history of Mankind has the point ever been to satisfy the needs of the masses.
Platypusman@KatyElphinstone If only we had been taught that heaven is here on earth, and not some mythical place some of us get to go after we die, we might have done more to protect the planet and cherish life and creativity over death and destruction.
Pteryx the Puzzle Secretary@Dawilson999 @KatyElphinstone
Except Earth is clearly a terrible place, even before billionaires are taken into account. Instead of replacing one lie with another, why not actually talk about ways to *make* life on Earth better?
Except Earth is clearly a terrible place, even before billionaires are taken into account. Instead of replacing one lie with another, why not actually talk about ways to *make* life on Earth better?
@pteryx @KatyElphinstone That’s where the creativity comes in.
Niek van Leeuwen@KatyElphinstone More profits for capital and the other people in power. That's all that counts.
David Mitchell 
K.N. Brindle (they/them)@KatyElphinstone “The Purpose of a System Is What It Does"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_purpose_of_a_system_is_what_it_does
Arianne B@KatyElphinstone eggzackly!
VulcanTouristThe point is enrichment of The Few. That is all it's ever been.
Timur SagdenovI'm not sure that most people's basic needs are not satisfied. Depends on what we call basic needs, I guess. But yet, I think that our economic system is the worst possible, excluding all others.
I think this refers to most people in the world.
And the basic needs are probably things like enough food, clean water & sanitation, freedom from tyranny. Things like that.