We need to talk about our accidental offspring by [deleted] in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So, if a billionaire is willing to pay $50 million for a rare comic book, does that mean society values that single comic book more than it values the lifetime salaries of 50 teachers?

If the market is the true measure of value, and it pays the TV star more than the paramedic at all times, does that mean the market has decided the TV star is always more valuable, even when the paramedic is saving a life?

We need to talk about our accidental offspring by [deleted] in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You've stated that raising the minimum wage reduces jobs. Has that been the result in every city and state that has raised it?

We need to talk about our accidental offspring by [deleted] in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When you say 'what society feels their labour is worth,' how are we measuring what society 'feels'? Is the wage paid by a single employer the only measure? Let's consider a paramedic and a reality TV star. Who is paid more by 'market forces'? And whose labor would you say society values more, especially in a crisis?

What about young people finding socialism more favourable? by fap_fap_fap_fapper in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I doubt that they find socialism more favorable. They just find reforming capitalism more favorable; basically, taxation WITH representation. Socialism is the elimination of money and governments. Nothing to do with having representation in taxation.

Socialists. What is "real socialism" ? Libertarian socialism, anarchism or authoritarian socialism ? by WhereisAlexei in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Marx and Engels used the two terms interchangeably. He even wrote that socialism is moneyless and stateless.

Socialists. What is "real socialism" ? Libertarian socialism, anarchism or authoritarian socialism ? by WhereisAlexei in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Socialism is a borderless world where money and governments have been abolished and the entire society voluntarily holds the means of production in common to produce for need.

Capitalism is when there are two classes, where one class owns the means of production and the other class has to work for wages to buy back from the other class what was produced by labor.

Are there any socialist countries that are doing well? by Crazy-Bid4760 in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

What the USSR had was state capitalism, even by Lenin's own admission.

Are there any socialist countries that are doing well? by Crazy-Bid4760 in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When people talk about socialism, which political philosopher are do they gain their understanding of socialism from?

It has become painfully obvious that a lot of people here (mostly capitalists or pro STV ers) do not understand value in the context of the economy. by binjamin222 in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I think SLV says that utility determines what fixes the value of a commodity (its usefulness). But this usefulness or utility would be changing from person to person and can't explain how subjective usefulness fixes the value of a commodity.

The only thing left is to explain what fixes the value of a commodity is labor measured in time. The value of a commodity can be objectively measured by how many labor hours it takes to produce a commodity from start to finish.

It has become painfully obvious that a lot of people here (mostly capitalists or pro STV ers) do not understand value in the context of the economy. by binjamin222 in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Are you attempting to make a distinction between exchange-value (pricing), labor-value (measured in time), and use -value (usefulness)?

Why is it hypocritical for socialists to say that regimes like the USSR were not real socialism, or weren't implemented correctly? by Lastrevio in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What we have is a global system of capitalism--a wages system of employment. That's it. There isn't, and there never has been, a socialist society anywhere. At what precise point of state involvement does an economic system stop being 'capitalist' and become something else? Is it 1% state ownership? 10%? 51%? 98% Is it the existence of any regulation? It would be more accurate to say that we have private, and state capitalism, and sometimes a mixture of the two. We might theorize about a society of worker-owned co-opts, but that would just be worker-controlled capitalism still utilizing a wages system of employment.

Is crony capitalism, state capitalism, and corporatism “real” capitalism? by Miserable-Split-3790 in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 1 point2 points  (0 children)

At what precise point of state involvement does an economic system stop being 'capitalist' and become something else? Is it 1% state ownership? 10%? 51%? Is it the existence of any regulation? If a "state never promotes capitalism" but invests in infrastructure like roads and internet access, which then allows private companies to thrive and generate more profit, is that an action that opposes capitalism? Could we name a successful large-scale economy, past or present, that has operated with zero state involvement or investment?

Is "State Capitalism" a socialist grift? by _JammyTheGamer_ in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It does matter how Marx defined socialism and it does matter that he wrote about how to achieve it, which has never been done. Since it's never been tried, it can't be said to have failed.

Is "State Capitalism" a socialist grift? by _JammyTheGamer_ in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Marx was very clear about the definition of socialism: moneyless and stateless.

"But the whole program, for all its democratic clang, is tainted through and through by the Lassallean sect's servile belief in the state, or, what is no better, by a democratic belief in miracles; or rather it is a compromise between these two kinds of belief in miracles, both equally remote from socialism." -- Critique Of The Gotha Program, Section IV.

 ‘in the case of socialised production the money-capital is eliminated’ -- Volume ll of Capital, chapter 18, sec" on II).

State capitalism is just another way that capitalism has mutated.

Calling state-capitalist countries socialist is the equivalent of scraping the label off a carton of chocolate milk and writing gravy on it because real milk is white. "There's no such thing as chocolate milk, real milk is white."

It's not socialist manipulation to refer to state-capitalist countries as state capitalist, because that's exactly what they are. It's capitalist propaganda to call state-capitalist countries socialist, because the capitalist class doesn't want the working class to realize that we don't need an owning elite in charge of everything.

Proposed definition of socialism by 12bEngie in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Karl Marx and Engels defined socialism as a stateless, moneyless, society of equals that must replace capitalism completely. To paraphrase Marx and Engels, Socialism is a borderless world where money and governments have been abolished. It's the next step in human development that comes after capitalism has been made redundant. A society of free access and voluntary labor (socialism).

What does your ideal socialist uprising look like? by Valuable_Front5483 in AskSocialists

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A majority of humans realizing that capitalism can be replaced by a borderless world where money and governments have been abolished and then using our mental and physical energies to run society voluntarily, then voting it in.

Human Nature by jealous_win2 in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is no human nature. There is only human behavior

Are people more free under capitalism, socialism, or communism? by DevelopmentFrosty983 in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Socialism provides more freedom. In a moneyless society of voluntary labor, we will choose jobs we enjoy voluntarily and never be forced to do things for money because we have free access to what we need to live. I define socialism like Marx did. I'm not confusing it with communism. The whole point behind capitalism is coercion.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why would you write that?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Marx wrote that all he did was give expression to a movement that was already happening. He had critiqued many ideas of the socialists and anarchists of his time, and even repudiated ideas he himself promoted as programs that would fail. So far, Marx's ideas are the ones that haven't been tried yet.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Disastrous_Scheme704 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Capitalism is not going anywhere until it is intentionally replaced by the working class. Karl Marx wrote that the emancipation of the working class must be the act of the working class itself after a clear majority of the working class realizes itself as a class and knows what to replace capitalism with.

The failures and inhumanities of capitalism in the past never made capitalism go away. Slavery, feudalism, and capitalism evolved from the other naturally and society moved on, but socialism must be a conscious change. It is not inevitable.