Mixed Economy

[Lafayette]

LIFELONG POVERTY

Again - who is going to pick the asparagus?

Somebody, but likely not in the US!

Who does what in any country depends upon:
*the ability/desire to do the work
*the fact that the work actually exists

Yes, raising asparagus can be done in the US. But, if the price is much higher than asparagus brought in from abroad then there is no market for it.

That is the key to a Market Economy. The market is not just for goods but also for employment!

Get it? (Which I doubt hugely .... !)

And ... 3.6%... And like I said - if everyone gets a university education then who will pick asparagus? Who will clean toilets? Where will the sugar babies come from exactly?

Also - getting a university degree is not exactly hard is it? Get a student loan and pay it off when you get your great well job. Simples.

Simple, me-arse! You sent your kids to state-run public-university in the US at an average of $25K a year?

I didn't here in Europe. Because it is totally funded by the national government. WHICH IS NOT THE CASE IN THE US. (I paid in France $1k per year in euros for my kids to go to university).

Unless you're a smart-ass and join a US militiary-service who will then fund the cost of your post-secondary degree ! See here: Average Cost of College in America

Excerpt:

Our researchers found that the average cost of college for the 2017–2018 school year was $20,770 for public schools (in-state) and $46,950 for nonprofit private schools, only including tuition, fees, and room and board.

Yes, in France, I paid $1K for the total Tuition-Fee and another $1.5K for the rental-cost of boarding.

The US has screwed-up post-secondary education for decades! Which is why in the US so few from the lower classes obtain a post-graduate degree/training beyond high-school! Which condemns them to what?

Lifelong poverty, that's what ... !

PS: The official poverty rate in the US is around 10/11% every year - and these people do NOT send their kids into post-secondary education (skills-training or university) in the US!

 

[thelastman]

LIFELONG POVERTY



Somebody, but likely not in the US!

Who does what in any country depends upon:
*the ability/desire to do the work
*the fact that the work actually exists

Yes, raising asparagus can be done in the US. But, if the price is much higher than asparagus brought in from abroad then there is no market for it.

That is the key to a Market Economy. The market is not just for goods but also for employment!

Get it? (Which I doubt hugely .... !)


Simple, me-arse! You sent your kids to state-run public-university in the US at an average of $25K a year?

I didn't here in Europe. Because it is totally funded by the national government. WHICH IS NOT THE CASE IN THE US. (I paid in France $1k per year in euros for my kids to go to university).

Unless you're a smart-ass and join a US militiary-service who will then fund the cost of your post-secondary degree ! See here: Average Cost of College in America

Excerpt:



Yes, in France, I paid $1K for the total Tuition-Fee and another $1.5K for the rental-cost of boarding.

The US has screwed-up post-secondary education for decades! Which is why in the US so few from the lower classes obtain a post-graduate degree/training beyond high-school! Which condemns them to what?

Lifelong poverty, that's what ... !

PS: The official poverty rate in the US is around 10/11% every year - and these people do NOT send their kids into post-secondary education (skills-training or university) in the US!

The fact is that there is essential work that needs to be done in any country and a lot of this work is unskilled work. So it makes no sense to encourage everyone to get a university education. It is unethical to exploit 'guest workers' or to use illegal workers. The solution is indeed globalization but through a transition to a common currency and universal pay rates. This solves problems like outsourcing of industry and removes the need to bring in foreign workers. It also reduces transportation/supply chain issues.

France is a protectorate and your nation only exists because USA allows it to exist. Do you think that all of Europe would stand a chance in a war with USA? Of course not. USA is your protector and they need to have a large military budget whereas you Euro freeloaders can take what you should be spending on the military and subsidize higher education. So instead of patting yourselves on the backs you should be thanking USA and their military.

Tuition only being about 40k for a four year course isnt too bad. Its a new car cheap new car... Drive a cheap second hand car for a few years and problem solved. Its not a big deal.

And your earlier point about poverty causing crime is nonsense. it isnt poverty that causes crime - it is culture. There are plenty of poor people that are not criminals.

 

[Lafayette]

HEALTHCARE IN EUROPE IS LESS EXPENSIVE AND LIFESPANS LONGER THAN IN THE US

The fact is that there is essential work that needs to be done in any country and a lot of this work is unskilled work. So it makes no sense to encourage everyone to get a university education. It is unethical to exploit 'guest workers' or to use illegal workers.

It is not as "humanly" essential as you may think. Yes, driving a bus or making BigMacs will likely be around for quite some time. But that does not make either a prime-wage source.

America is fascinated by Big Money which seems to attract the most attention there. BigMoney cannot and therefore will not guaranty anybody a long-life. (A better lifestyle, yes, but not a longer one.)

For any human lifestyle there are always two key assets its people need-and-seek. Foremost is a damn-fine education that gives them the intellectual means to find a good job. And a National Healthcare System that permits a higher lifespan. (Mine in France is four years longer than yours in the US!)

Lifespan depends very much upon health-expenditure - as shown here:

Healthcare expenditure is much more costly in the US than in Europe because in the latter it is provided almost entirely by governments. And what do you get for it?

A lifespan four-years less than mine! National Healthcare Systems have their benefits - they are a lot less expensive in Europe than in the US. But also, lifespans are higher in Europe whilst healthcare is significantly lower in total cost. But, UGH!, that's socialism!

Can't have that, can we?!?

It's time Uncle Sam stopped "investing in the DoD" and made healthcare a lot less expensive in order to assure that Yanks live longer ... !

 

[thelastman]

HEALTHCARE IN EUROPE IS LESS EXPENSIVE AND LIFESPANS LONGER THAN IN THE US



It is not as "humanly" essential as you may think. Yes, driving a bus or making BigMacs will likely be around for quite some time. But that does not make either a prime-wage source.

America is fascinated by Big Money which seems to attract the most attention there. BigMoney cannot and therefore will not guaranty anybody a long-life. (A better lifestyle, yes, but not a longer one.)

For any human lifestyle there are always two key assets its people need-and-seek. Foremost is a damn-fine education that gives them the intellectual means to find a good job. And a National Healthcare System that permits a higher lifespan. (Mine in France is four years longer than yours in the US!)

Lifespan depends very much upon health-expenditure - as shown here:

Healthcare expenditure is much more costly in the US than in Europe because in the latter it is provided almost entirely by governments. And what do you get for it?

A lifespan four-years less than mine! National Healthcare Systems have their benefits - they are a lot less expensive in Europe than in the US. But also, lifespans are higher in Europe whilst healthcare is significantly lower in total cost. But, UGH!, that's socialism!

Can't have that, can we?!?

It's time Uncle Sam stopped "investing in the DoD" and made healthcare a lot less expensive in order to assure that Yanks live longer ... !

Well corporate welfare scams like Obamacare are the way of the future. Its like our NDIS disability scam here in Australia. Just like we now have 'capital works' rather than 'public works' - capitalists tend to prefer healthcare systems that allow the private sector to make a profit. If the profit comes from the state/taxpayer then great.

I watched this video the other day from a ... Im not sure what I would call him. He says that once Americans get old enough to get social security their life expectancy goes up. Life expectancy difference between the top 1% of Americans and the bottom 1% is apparently 15 years. A lot of poor people die before they can retire and get social security - but if they do make it their life expectancy goes up. This is the way of the future. Government debt will mean that in the future they probably wont have a old age pension or if they do you will need to be 85 to get it. You will have to pay for your own retirement - all of it.



But yeah again - every one of those nations on your graph is a protectorate of the USA that is spending hardly anything on their military. USA is doing all the heavy lifting to protect you freeloading Europeans from Russia and China. They do not have money to waste on public health even if they wanted to and its all your fault you Euro freeloader.

 

[Lafayette]

YA GOTTABE CRAYZEE

A lot of poor people die before they can retire and get social security

In the US, yes, they do. But not in Europe where the poor have a minimum-wage provided by the government even when unemployed.

Which is the simple point I am trying to make in this forum. Meaning, you pay for what you gets. Taxation dollars that pay for a generalized healthcare-system at a much lower total-cost will allow those at the bottom-and-top to live longer. It's as simple as that.

A good review of America's national healthcare provision (from here):

Except:

Causes of mortality in the United States​

The top three causes of death among both sexes and all ages in the United States have consistently remained cardiovascular diseases (ranked 1st), neoplasms (2nd) and neurological disorders (3rd), since the 1990s. In 2015, the total number of deaths by heart disease was 633,842, by cancer it was 595,930, and from chronic lower respiratory disease it was 155,041. In 2015, 267.18 deaths per 100,000 people were caused by cardiovascular diseases, 204.63 by neoplasms and 100.66 by neurological disorders. Diarrhea, lower respiratory and other common infections were ranked sixth overall, but had the highest rate of infectious disease mortality in the United States at 31.65 deaths per 100,000 people.

There is evidence, however, that a large proportion of health outcomes and early mortality can be attributed to factors other than communicable or non-communicable disease. As a 2013 National Research Council study concluded, more than half the men who die before the age of 50 die due to murder (19%), traffic accidents (18%), and other accidents (16%). For women, the percentages are different: 53% of women who die before the age of 50 die due to disease, whereas 38% die due to accidents, homicide, and suicide.

Diseases of despair (drug overdoses, alcoholic liver disease and suicide), which started increasing in the early 1990s, kill roughly 158,000 Americans a year as of 2018. Since 2020, the CDC reports that the life expectancy for the U.S. population was 77.0 years, a decrease of 1.8 years from 2019.

I will never understand Uncle Sam's expenditure logic. Billions-of-bucks for the DoD to fight some silly damn war half-way around the world but not a dime to support a life-saving National Healthcare System.

Ya gottabe crayzee ... !

 

[Yakshi]

I could think of nothing worse than having to live until I am 90. Jesus Christ.

Well said. I don't want you to live until 90 either.

 

[thelastman]

YA GOTTABE CRAYZEE



In the US, yes, they do. But not in Europe where the poor have a minimum-wage provided by the government even when unemployed.

Which is the simple point I am trying to make in this forum. Meaning, you pay for what you gets. Taxation dollars that pay for a generalized healthcare-system at a much lower total-cost will allow those at the bottom-and-top to live longer. It's as simple as that.

A good review of America's national healthcare provision (from here):

Except:


I will never understand Uncle Sam's expenditure logic. Billions-of-bucks for the DoD to fight some silly damn war half-way around the world but not a dime to support a life-saving National Healthcare System.

Ya gottabe crayzee ... !

Ha. I was going to say that Americans being such unhealthy people is probably a factor as far as their life expectancy goes. Crime and accidents seem to be a bigger factor..

And yeah - USA is spending a hell of a lot of NATO you know. Putin would have been in France years ago if Uncle Sam wasnt protecting you. And I dont think its even fair to talk about percentage of gdp when the reality is that none of the countries USA is protecting in Europe even deserve to exist. USA could defeat all of you united. But yeah - overall USA is spending the most of Europes defence by a long shot. And all you Europeans do is attack America by celebrating what commie freeloaders you are. It is shameful and its ridiculous. USA is a capitalist country. They dont like freeloaders. Fair enough. They are superpower arent they? I dont think they need advice from European protectorates.

 

[thelastman]

Well said. I don't want you to live until 90 either.

Very liberal. Indeed. You are the nicest people.

 

[Lafayette]

SKILL-SETS VS GENERAL COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY LEARNING

The fact is that there is essential work that needs to be done in any country and a lot of this work is unskilled work. So it makes no sense to encourage everyone to get a university education.

I disagree entirely. You do not seem to understand that over the past 20/30 years "Manufacturing" has fled high-cost America and gone to Central and South America. Manufacturing now accounts for less than 10% of all jobs in the US!

Services all have specialities that are unique to their particular industry. So, it happens that some people work all their lives in - not one company - but a series of companies in the same industry. Whyzat?

Because if a particular company in a particular industry is looking for additional staff, they will likely hire those with experience in that industry.

If you have the means to do so, then out of high-school one should think serriously of "What am I going to do to get a job?" And the higher-paying jobs are all those in particular "industries". Not just shifting hamburgers at McDonalds!

The educational system of any country should be prepared to teach those either just out of highschool or others whoà simply want to learn a profession. That means post-secondary education is key to obtaining a job that will sustain you and your family. It allows you the skills you will need to acquire the higher-level jobs that exist in the work-marketplace!

It is so important that here in Europe a post-secondary education costs very little. The government will pay most of the cost, whether it is six-months training or 4-years of learning (university or work-skills).

Because Europe has understood that skills must be learned before they can be applied by workers. (Oh, WOW!)

So, if anyone wants to drive-a-truck or manipulate a bulldozer, the opportunity to learn such skills should be readily available to anyone. (And they are today!) In many if not most cases it is the companies that will do the training, but not all, because the skills necesary are particular to a specific industry.

My point is simple. Governments MUST take skills-learning as a Top Objective for which they must sustain the costs. State post-seconday schools should be arranged not only by states but by job-skills that pertain to a given business-sector. Not all states need to have the ability to teach skills - but most today have anyway the ability to teach typical university subjects. Skill-sets are, however, particularly specific in nature.

Regardless, anyone graduating from high-school should be able to find the post-secondary school they want to attend for a particular kind of instruction ...

 

[thelastman]

Well I think that we have been over this.

Anyway - some person that attends some community college in USA to so some technical skills type course should not be considered to be 'educated'. Its confusing because Americans call these 'community colleges' colleges and they also call their universities colleges. And some universities they call universities. Anyway - you see some fat African American on drugs get shot by a cop because he wont obey police commands and then you get an interview with the crying family saying how he was a good person that was trying to get his life together and that he was going to college. You look into it and he was going to one of these community colleges. Its very confusing. Then depending on which stats you look at its often the case that people with a diploma or whatever from a community college are included in the percentage of 'educated' Americans. You are not 'educated' if you have a diploma from a community college. ( Apparently you can get an associates degree or bach degree at some community colleges now. Which is annoyingly confusing. Why the hell cant they just have universities and technical colleges? Jesus. )

Anyway - I was just reading a story today about some mechanic business in Perth that is closing because they cant find staff due to our skills shortage. Nobody wants to learn a trade anymore because of your type of thinking. Apparently you have to go to uni these days or everyone will think you are a moron. And if you live in Australia the media will call you a "tradie" and constantly make fun of you by calling you 'Big Chief' and claiming that you probably listen to Jimmy Barnes songs. The morons dont seem to mind but there are less and less of them. So we have a huge skills shortage. The news item I read was propaganda designed to help manufacture public consent for more 'guest worker' immigrants and no doubt 'pathway to citizenship' programs designed to exploit people from the third world. Now I dont mind too much when it is middle class European backpackers being exploited for farm work ( picking asparagus and whatnot ), although I did support the 'backpacker tax' - but when it comes to exploiting people from the third world I dont feel great about it.

So if this is the way of the future Im not happy about it. Bring in people from the third world to serve all you gluttonous 'educated' types just because enough is never enough for you people? Its disgusting. God knows that the modern left couldnt care less abut the third world though right? Their priority is the hurt little feelings of so-called POCs that live in advanced nations where true poverty no longer exists. And for the most part that is you 'educated' types isnt it? Only stupid and uneducated people vote for conservatives nowadays. Probably racists..

Where does it end? Will enough ever be enough for you people? For us normal types we can live a very happy life with a job as a tradesperson or even as an unskilled worker if we are intelligent and minimalist. But yeah less and less right? It used to be that the working class would watch a show like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and laugh at how ridiculous and excessive these people were. Then one day our children were watching MTV Cribs and they decided that they wanted to actually live like that. It is not a good thing.

You French people have a skills/labour shortage yourselves right? And its only going to get worse right? You know the main problem is that the majority of you educated workers arent doing any essential work. Most of you are sitting in an office cubicle with your stupid motivational posters waiting for casual Friday while you sit about doing pretty much nothing through the week. Nothing of any real worth anyway.

Since you are such a commie how about you 'educated' bourgeois leftists be required to perform 6 hours of physical labour each day? Maybe that would solve your skills shortage in a way that does not exploit people from the third world. 6 hours isnt much right? I mean you want at least 8 out of us. We could make up a roster or something. Send some of you back to the farms. To pick the asparagus.

Instead of thinking about this as if you are a parent giving advice to your children you should step back and think about this in terms of the best way to run society. And not just on a national level but on a global one. We are all interconnected. Your gluttony is paid for by the third world peasants you want to bring in to serve you. And the rest of you educated first world nazis.

Continued. - ( and what the hell? 5000 words? )

 

[thelastman]

SKILL-SETS VS GENERAL COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY LEARNING



I disagree entirely. You do not seem to understand that over the past 20/30 years "Manufacturing" has fled high-cost America and gone to Central and South America. Manufacturing now accounts for less than 10% of all jobs in the US!

Services all have specialities that are unique to their particular industry. So, it happens that some people work all their lives in - not one company - but a series of companies in the same industry. Whyzat?

Because if a particular company in a particular industry is looking for additional staff, they will likely hire those with experience in that industry.

If you have the means to do so, then out of high-school one should think serriously of "What am I going to do to get a job?" And the higher-paying jobs are all those in particular "industries". Not just shifting hamburgers at McDonalds!

The educational system of any country should be prepared to teach those either just out of highschool or others whoà simply want to learn a profession. That means post-secondary education is key to obtaining a job that will sustain you and your family. It allows you the skills you will need to acquire the higher-level jobs that exist in the work-marketplace!

It is so important that here in Europe a post-secondary education costs very little. The government will pay most of the cost, whether it is six-months training or 4-years of learning (university or work-skills).

Because Europe has understood that skills must be learned before they can be applied by workers. (Oh, WOW!)

So, if anyone wants to drive-a-truck or manipulate a bulldozer, the opportunity to learn such skills should be readily available to anyone. (And they are today!) In many if not most cases it is the companies that will do the training, but not all, because the skills necesary are particular to a specific industry.

My point is simple. Governments MUST take skills-learning as a Top Objective for which they must sustain the costs. State post-seconday schools should be arranged not only by states but by job-skills that pertain to a given business-sector. Not all states need to have the ability to teach skills - but most today have anyway the ability to teach typical university subjects. Skill-sets are, however, particularly specific in nature.

Regardless, anyone graduating from high-school should be able to find the post-secondary school they want to attend for a particular kind of instruction ...

-

Since you are such a commie then think on this. The importance of maintaining working class culture stressed by Antonio Gramsci ensures that the working class stay working class... You do need a working class to serve you... The 'Aspirational Class doesnt want to serve you... They want to be you. If you bring in a new working class from the third world to neoliberal western society then history will just repeat itself and none of these people will be content to serve you either before long. Or if they are they will want to be paid a fortune for doing it. There was a cafe owner on some morning news show here the other day that was literally crying because he cant find unskilled staff that are willing to work for less than $40 an hour.... HA! You capitalists are dumb as %$%$. You are doing this.

But yeah if I was a parent I would probably be encouraging my kid to get educated.

Umm. Former Australian PM Gough Whitlam brought in free university education here back in the early 70s. USA didnt like it too much so the CIA overthrew our government. Had Gough removed. It wasnt just the free education but that was part of it. A lot of commie-type stuff. USA doesnt like it. They are capitalists. So if the state is going to pay for education and training then the providers must be privately owned.... Which is why our TAFE system ( state tech colleges ) has been defunded in favour of friends of the politicians/elite that own private training/education companies. Our unemployment services ( job network providers ) - the organizations that help you find a job or training - are all private now. The state cannot own or profit from anything and they cannot get in the way of profit generation. No more public works. Capital Works. You Euro commies need to get with the program.

 

[psikeyhackr]

Endless blather about economics but accounting/finance is not advocated as mandatory in the schools.

Accounting: collegians vs 5th graders - UPI.com

A case study from Ball State University says gifted fifth graders are able to understand basic accounting nearly as well as college sophomores.

www.upi.com

 

[Michael McMahon]

That'd be a nice convertible jeep for whenever you choose to retire!

 

[Lafayette]

Since you are such a commie ...

Remakably stoopid response.

Moving right along. You go on "Ignore" ...

 

[Lafayette]

PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF ALCHOHOL IN AMERICA

Well I think that we have been over this.

Then depending on which stats you look at its often the case that people with a diploma or whatever from a community college are included in the percentage of 'educated' Americans.

I lve in France but was born/educated in the US. (Sooooo sorry to disappoint you!)

France, compared to the European Union, is very relaxed about education. Here, you don't get away with "staying away". Your parents will be called and their opinion considered.

The results will be actions of some sort to assure that children attend classes. The "system" is costly but it works. And it certainly makes for a more intelligent population.

But, if you-plural in the US want to generate some very stoopid individuals who end up eeking out an existence at the bottom, well that's your right. Right?

Because that is what happens in states afflicted by alcholics!

States inflicted most by alcholics (from here):

Per capita alcohol consumption of all beverages in the U.S. by state 2020. New Hampshire is currently the state with the highest per capita alcohol consumption in the United States.

Alchohol and death go hand-in-hand ...

 

[Michael McMahon]

When people say billionaires are more efficient than government, they often imply it in the sense of miserliness. They say D. Rockefeller's oil companies were meticulously well-run even though the owner was able to build immense palaces. Yet if all the saved money goes into making status goods for the CEO, then it'd seem to counterbalance the company's prudency rather than outweigh it. So what we really mean when we praise Rockefeller's management is that despite his luxurious lifestyle he still lived in a frugal way relative to the many billions he had spare in his bank account. After all even a monarch couldn't think of enough items to spend a trillion dollars if they had all the time in the world. Thus society has a right to incentivise the power of a CEO at the expense of the income of the CEO. That is to say billionaires are often rewarded with celebrity status which is a reward not factored into the tax system.

"Building a financial empire is not a thing of one day, one month, or one year. It is a gradual exercise arising from self-motivation and self-denial. A lifestyle within purvey of one’s financial capacity and capability gives a strong footing to future investment and self-sustenance."
https://www.moneylogue.com/living-stingy-advantages-disadvantages/

 

[Michael McMahon]

...(then the spending would seem to counterbalance the company's prudency rather than outweigh the lost revenue in making a net positive contribution to society.)

 

[HangLow]

Ha. I was going to say that Americans being such unhealthy people is probably a factor as far as their life expectancy goes. Crime and accidents seem to be a bigger factor..

And yeah - USA is spending a hell of a lot of NATO you know. Putin would have been in France years ago if Uncle Sam wasnt protecting you. And I dont think its even fair to talk about percentage of gdp when the reality is that none of the countries USA is protecting in Europe even deserve to exist. USA could defeat all of you united. But yeah - overall USA is spending the most of Europes defence by a long shot. And all you Europeans do is attack America by celebrating what commie freeloaders you are. It is shameful and its ridiculous. USA is a capitalist country. They dont like freeloaders. Fair enough. They are superpower arent they? I dont think they need advice from European protectorates.

​

 

[Michael McMahon]

"A luxury tax is a tax on luxury goods: products not considered essential."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxury_tax

Perhaps there could be special exemptions because every status good might have a functional value in very limited circumstances. A mansion is an indulgence for a small family but perhaps a necessity for those who've 10 children and need to convert the attic! A hotel can be the same size as a royal palace except that the rooms are shared out among hundreds of guests. Titanium is a luxury material for watches and yet a titanium fighter jets are used as a nuclear deterrent! For all we know maybe some people do buy status symbol watches for deep-see diving purposes!



Foyer in Amir Palace Hotel, Tunisia.


"The SR-71, unofficially known as the “Blackbird,” was a long-range, Mach 3+, strategic reconnaissance aircraft... Titanium alloy was the only option for the airframe —providing the strength of stainless steel, a relatively light weight, and durability at the excessive temperatures."
https://theaviationgeekclub.com/did...bird-mach-3-spy-plane-came-from-soviet-union/


"Waterproof to a depth of 4,000 feet (1,220 metres) for the Rolex Sea-Dweller, launched in 1967, and 12,800 feet (3,900 metres) for the Rolex Deepsea unveiled in 2008, they are the ultimate manifestation of Rolex’s leadership in divers’ watches and the result of decades of collaboration with diving professionals."
-rolex com


"Dubai has world's fastest police car -- and it can go 253 mph... The role of the fleet is to break down barriers between the police and the public."
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/dubai-police-supercars/index.html


"Synthetic diamonds are widely used in abrasives, in cutting and polishing tools and in heat sinks. Electronic applications of synthetic diamond are being developed, including high-power switches at power stations, high-frequency field-effect transistors and light-emitting diodes."
Wiki

 

[Michael McMahon]

Renormalisation: "a method used in quantum mechanics in which unwanted infinities are removed from the solutions of equations by redefining parameters such as the mass and charge of subatomic particles."

Economics is an applied science rather than a direct or so-called hard science like physics. It's true that money doesn't grow on trees and it's a real entity when it's printed or solidified into coins. However pure lassaiz-faire capitalism is more of a platonic concept rather than a pragmatic state-of-affairs. There are symbolic elements to capitalism where society has to work with the absurdities of billionaires who are paid to some extent by the work of their employees. We can "renormalise" such incomes by distinguishing between individual and corporate wealth much like how physicists have to deal with incomprehensible infinities. The nation state has too many conflicting interests to be able to nationalise private megacorporations into state-owned enterprises. A democracy would struggle to fire an over-employed workforce or to increase selling prices to save up for the following year. Thus billionaires do have a function in society by increasing the competetiveness of their businesses. This is why we need a sustainable mixed economy to balance efficiency with fairness.

Platonism: "the theory that numbers or other abstract objects are objective, timeless entities, independent of the physical world and of the symbols used to represent them."

"A conflict of interest occurs when an entity or individual becomes unreliable because of a clash between personal (or self-serving) interests and professional duties or responsibilities."
-investopedia

 

[Michael McMahon]

"A starving artist is an artist who sacrifices material well-being in order to focus on their artwork. They typically live on minimum expenses, either for a lack of business or because all their disposable income goes toward art projects. Related terms include starving actor and starving musician."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starving_artist

An alternative to a shorter-work week is to simply encourage more people to work part-time. My first job was a three-day-a-week affair because I was alternating with someone who'd a hip operation. Working full-time isn't always necessary if you don't have a family to look after nor an interest in fancy goods. Education is full-time because the youthful brain is full of learning potential. However a good student isn't always a good employee because the mindset is different. An employee is professional whereas a student is growth oriented. A relaxed or artistically-minded individual could live with minimal income much like those who've joined religious orders. A capitalistic society isn't an automatic conscription for full-time work. Part-time work might also be an option for those who seek to delay their retirement. When we get very old the body transitions from impairment where work is slightly possible in reduced loads and then to disability where old-age becomes an illness in itself. Whether working beyond the usual retirement age is possible would depend on a person's subjective health since people age at different rates. Furthermore the type of work is also important where manual bricklaying would be more back-breaking for a seventy-year-old than a waitering job! I'm not sure how popular I'd be if I run for election on the platform of enslaving the elderly!

"A shorter work week typically means employees are in the office four days per week, instead of the usual five. Many companies have four-day weeks where employees work longer 10-hour days while still getting in the full 40 hours per week."
https://www.indeed.com/hire/c/info/shorter-work-week

"Traditional retirement is characterized by a structural break in the late life cycle— from full employment to complete retirement. In contrast, gradual retirement involves a time period during which work activity is reduced, implying a transition process rather than an instantaneous transition."
-ncbi

 

[psikeyhackr]

Economics is an applied science rather than a direct or so-called hard science like physics.

It is a delusion that economics is a science.

How can economists pay attention to the depreciation of capital goods but ignore the depreciation of durable consumer goods? The Laws of Physics cannot tell the difference.

How many hundreds of millions of automobiles have Americans trashed since Sputnik? Oh, the scientific economists do not talk about that.

 

[Michael McMahon]

Billionaires might appear to undermine the upper class simply because their wealth is so astronomical it's sarcastic. In other words most people can pragmatically tolerate the upper middle class and sections of a millionaire class but are then left baffled by more extreme wealth. Perhaps billionaires ironically end up reminding less rich people that even small fortunes are absurd relative to absolute poverty. In one sense a person with a mansion might potentially feel as if their specialised labour is worth taking that amount of money from society. Yet it's really when you own a palace that no amount of work can ever justify such extravagance and that money itself just appears ridiculous. A mansion can have the same absurdist effect relative to the work rate of soldiers and medics. So a palace ends up exposing the selfish indulgence of smaller mansions in an accidental way.

One way to reconcile the existence of billionaires back to normality is through the risk of personalised taxation. So if a billionaire decided to waste countless amounts of money on a blatantly fruitless project you could say that society could tax the person much like a compulsory purchase order. That is to say a billionaire has so much wealth that a single person can be worth their own individual tax rate. I'm not advocating a specific policy but simply that a billionaire's wealth isn't in theory the same as societal plunder simply because a billionaire isn't militarily powerful. In other words a billionaire isn't a regal person that could have you killed in a technical sense! Inflicting a private tax on a billionaire could end up deterring economic growth and inward investment. So to counter socialist criticism of capitalism you could say that if a billionaire opted to "declare war" on society through recklessness that such a person could be taxed more than usual. I'm not saying that billionaires are evil but a billionaire who chooses evil could be far more destructive than an evil poor person. Billionaire's have free will and thus my point is about a theoretical flaw in capitalist ideology.

 

[Michael McMahon]

I'm often critical of defences of capitalism that rely on cosy ideals of human nature and family. I think a fundamental flaw with communist regimes is that in removing the free market they inadvertently tried to remove peoples' free will. Economists might not always care about the philosophy of determinism and free will yet it is a big aspect of our existence. I think it's not impossible for communism to work if everyone were at one with the state but this requires a degree of transcendence. When we say that communism could work but failed in the specifics of each country then the issue is might actually be as simple as that. The world is finite and every country just so happens to have a huge amount of division. A problem is that when religion endorses capitalism as a lesser evil they might forget that it could still contain evil. So religions might appear defensive if they oppose the left wing even though this is short-sighted. Religions really need to be devoted towards the poor given the extent of natural evil. So religions might be better off advocating capitalism as the last resort rather than to taint their own beliefs in charity by conflating the economy with religion.

 

[Michael McMahon]

Religion has to square the circle through devotion when it comes criticising capitalism while remaining tolerant of it. Ancient generations might often come across as poor even though they proportionately had more land compared to today's world. Overpopulation will be a big problem in reducing poverty. Overpopulation might seem like a form of natural evil in that it will inevitably lead to poverty. I think religion needs to promote a stable family size while still endorsing large poor families mostly in the context of truly loving parents.