Post AYWooVIo7e9mtmaILY by pyperkub@mastodon.social
(DIR) More posts by pyperkub@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #AYUvuAzGsRI4zdB85o by HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social
2023-08-03T13:59:03Z
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Capitalism must always grow. It can never stop.Capitalists must always seek to maximize differential profits—they have to collect *more* profits than their competitors.Because you can reinvest those profits in buying up more revenue generating assets, you can expand your business and grab more market share. Or, like when Microsoft bought Nokia to grab the patents Nokia held, you can invest in blocking your competitors from expanding.If your share of the market falls so far that you can’t make payroll or pay your creditors, you go out of business. Your capital is seized and sold off, and you become just another worker, subject to the whims and commands of capital owners. So capital owners in competitive markets must always try to grow at a rate faster than their competitors. If they stop, if they take a break, if the global ecosystem collapses, then so does capitalism.
(DIR) Post #AYUvuCKDu1e18tzNOC by HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social
2023-08-03T14:22:56Z
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This was the trade-off that the ruling elite made during the transition from the old feudal system to capitalism: producing exclusively for the market allowed capitalists to extract far more labor from the global working class than feudal lords could ever dream, but once the process got rolling, they could never jump back off.
(DIR) Post #AYUw5ZpSr8X7Dx1mSm by HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social
2023-08-03T17:03:12Z
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@Alexander_Anotherskip_Davis @RD4Anarchy You expressly told me you weren’t interested in learning anything from me, an anarchist.
(DIR) Post #AYUw5coVl8YMTrbYtU by Alexander_Anotherskip_Davis@dice.camp
2023-08-03T14:36:05Z
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@HeavenlyPossum Cute, but no.
(DIR) Post #AYUw5iihndTSnaw0g4 by HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social
2023-08-03T14:40:06Z
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@Alexander_Anotherskip_Davis Wow thanks
(DIR) Post #AYUw5k1AyRqKpAaH6e by Alexander_Anotherskip_Davis@dice.camp
2023-08-03T14:43:40Z
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@HeavenlyPossum Sure, i mean if you can cite research to prove your point I'll look at it but really. its a pretty poor theory that only has minimal observational support. If you can prove it I'll happily use it to smush other tweets I have seen in my thread today so win-win.
(DIR) Post #AYUw5mX9cWbwcvYqEC by RD4Anarchy@kolektiva.social
2023-08-03T16:01:59Z
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@Alexander_Anotherskip_Davis @HeavenlyPossum "go read some economics!"https://kolektiva.social/@RD4Anarchy/110486882725230512
(DIR) Post #AYUw5qoJieiTtJcbXE by Alexander_Anotherskip_Davis@dice.camp
2023-08-03T17:02:36Z
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@RD4Anarchy Sure lets just blindly believe the Anarchists.... that will end well. @HeavenlyPossum I'm interested in speaking with people who think differently than I do and I do sometimes act slightly tonally reflective which can piss people off but hey I might learn something.
(DIR) Post #AYUwHDDqjVRcaMyw4W by RD4Anarchy@kolektiva.social
2023-08-03T17:07:30Z
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@Alexander_Anotherskip_Davis @HeavenlyPossum You asked for research, I shared a number of links with exactly that, and not all from anarchists at all.
(DIR) Post #AYUwHDsGJFlqbhtD3w by Alexander_Anotherskip_Davis@dice.camp
2023-08-03T17:26:08Z
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@RD4Anarchy Blair Fix appears to be an anarchist. Seems to be the main source for your commentary. No? A couple of sidebars hardly count for denying source hating of structure.
(DIR) Post #AYUwHFS6RU2BV9fLZA by RD4Anarchy@kolektiva.social
2023-08-03T17:46:35Z
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@Alexander_Anotherskip_Davis ??The toot I shared has eleven links, only two are from Blair Fix.I have not seen Blair Fix identify as anarchist, nor have I seen him described that way, but maybe? I don't know.That selection of links is super informative and includes tons of academic references.But if you want to limit yourself to only reading pro-capitalist propaganda I guess I'm wasting my time trying to help.
(DIR) Post #AYUwHGEJYEbBugDqiG by HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social
2023-08-03T17:50:39Z
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@RD4Anarchy @Alexander_Anotherskip_Davis@dice.camp I blocked this troll
(DIR) Post #AYUwHGTYdYnAfxM1TM by RD4Anarchy@kolektiva.social
2023-08-03T17:49:51Z
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@Alexander_Anotherskip_Davis more about Blair Fix:Welcome to Economics From the Top Down. I’m Blair Fix, a PhD-trained political economist based in Canada. I’m the author of the book Rethinking Economic Growth Theory from the Biophysical Perspective. You can find my scientific papers here, and the occasional YouTube video here. And you can read my most popular posts here.In this blog, you’ll find painstaking research about issues that dominate our world. There’s no cutting corners. My posts are full-on science, complete with exhaustive methods and sources. That said, I put an enormous amount of effort into making my writing digestible for the average person.About me. I’m what you’d call an economic heretic — someone who thinks that mainstream economics is largely ideology in service of the powerful. Rather than pay lip service to dogma, I prefer to follow the evidence. It’s a fun job, but one that makes me a pariah in economics departments. And so I find myself doing crowdfunded science, supported by readers who appreciated my work. What is ‘economics from the top down’?‘Economics from the top down’ describes my philosophical approach to science, which has two parts.First, ‘top down’ is a metaphor for hierarchy. I’m fascinated by hierarchy because it is the dominant way that modern humans organize. And yet it’s tragically understudied by economists. My research is trying to change that.Second, ‘top down’ is a metaphor for big picture thinking. In this blog, I try to connect ideas from all corners of science, be it physics, evolutionary biology, or the social sciences. Some days I succeed. Other days I just confuse myself.https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/about/
(DIR) Post #AYUyWOAgVV76nMrke0 by HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social
2023-08-03T14:46:23Z
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@Alexander_Anotherskip_Davis I’m trying and failing to figure out what it is you’re trying to accomplish here
(DIR) Post #AYUyWPJEHDXiK9s5bM by pyperkub@mastodon.social
2023-08-03T21:11:40Z
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@HeavenlyPossum @Alexander_Anotherskip_Davis IMHO. mostly that you are conflating monopolists with capitalists and what passes for capitalism today is NOT capitalism, it is the opposite of what Adam Smith meant by free markets in capital and labor, and most your issues appear to be with what monopolists are doing to corrupt free markets and perform rent-seeking. Capitalism with good rules and referees is what's needed, but both have been corrupted by monopolists (and not for the first time).
(DIR) Post #AYUyWQTXwLODwRhqK0 by HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social
2023-08-04T09:29:31Z
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@pyperkub @Alexander_Anotherskip_Davis@dice.camp No. What we have now absolutely is capitalism, working precisely according to its own rules.
(DIR) Post #AYUyWUKTc0VltTUejw by pyperkub@mastodon.social
2023-08-03T21:15:04Z
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@HeavenlyPossum @Alexander_Anotherskip_Davis See @pluralistic 's examination of Private Equity and the Carried Interest Loophole: https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/29/writers-must-be-paid/#carried-interest
(DIR) Post #AYUyWd1JIdWmqdaycC by pyperkub@mastodon.social
2023-08-03T21:17:58Z
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@HeavenlyPossum @Alexander_Anotherskip_Davis @pluralistic And then realize even **THAT** scam isn't enough, and needs more scams: https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/20/continuation-fraud/
(DIR) Post #AYWooK7PhfVUDGAXYm by HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social
2023-08-04T09:31:01Z
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@pluralistic @Alexander_Anotherskip_Davis@dice.camp @pyperkub Why would the existence of “scams” be antithetical to profit-seeking in competitive markets by capital owners?
(DIR) Post #AYWooTXGguXHQ3Kobo by pyperkub@mastodon.social
2023-08-04T17:25:53Z
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@HeavenlyPossum @pluralistic See above- "Capitalism with good rules and referees is what's needed"
(DIR) Post #AYWooUQvLz3UCfNGMK by HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social
2023-08-04T17:47:34Z
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@pyperkub @pluralistic Capitalism *is* the result of rules—it is inescapably the product of state violence and cannot exist without massive state interference. This *is* capitalism acting according to the rules; there is no “good” capitalism but only degrees of violence and exploitation.
(DIR) Post #AYWooVIo7e9mtmaILY by pyperkub@mastodon.social
2023-08-04T19:18:15Z
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@HeavenlyPossum @pluralistic and socialism/communism isn't?Hmmm... might need to come up with some way to differentiate here...
(DIR) Post #AYWooXXPoJ1vpfQzOS by RD4Anarchy@kolektiva.social
2023-08-05T18:06:37Z
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@pyperkub @HeavenlyPossum @pluralistic It's quite simple really: if it involves a state, it's not socialism or communism.If it involves a state existing from, let's say around 1900 or so on, it's either a private capitalist state (like the US, or even "Nordic Socialist" states) or state capitalism (like USSR, China, Cuba, DPRK, Vietnam, etc).Hope this is helpful.
(DIR) Post #AYWoorvC1bvx3CiGES by pyperkub@mastodon.social
2023-08-07T17:33:53Z
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@RD4Anarchy @HeavenlyPossum @pluralistic From Britannica - you are still conflating "monopoly/oligopoly" with "capitalism". The point being that what we have is NOT a free market based economy (Defn of Capitalism here), based on market principles, but rather an oligopoly based on monopolistic principles. That is what #enshittification is all about - Rent Seeking through Monopoly.
(DIR) Post #AYWop0DZBBNsmVN2yu by pyperkub@mastodon.social
2023-08-07T17:38:50Z
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@RD4Anarchy @HeavenlyPossum @pluralistic And here's a starter on Monopolies - and realize that those excess profits are being invested, not in better products, but to create more monopolistic advantages: https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/042215/how-does-monopoly-contribute-market-failure.asp
(DIR) Post #AYWop0hhN9UGHxT6wq by PKMKII@mastodon.social
2023-08-07T18:18:23Z
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@pyperkub @RD4Anarchy @HeavenlyPossum @pluralistic An absolute free market economy can be talked about in the abstract but can’t exist in the real world as there’s always state involvement due to the state being the one that enforces private property claims. The current oligarchy/#enshittification regime is the natural result of the capitalist class using economic pressure on the state to protect its profits.
(DIR) Post #AYWop1mhM353dkocNc by pyperkub@mastodon.social
2023-08-07T19:05:35Z
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@PKMKII @RD4Anarchy @HeavenlyPossum @pluralistic People enforce private property claims too. Ever seen a "No Trespassing" Sign, or one that says "Trespassers will be shot" - that ain't the State. You're still describing market capture and regulatory capture by monopolists, not capitalism, and the KEY takeaway is that part of Good Government and Communities is required to prevent Capitalism from all of the above. We're failing at that, but it's not because teh capitalism is bad.
(DIR) Post #AYWop2b2KtLY9sMoqG by HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social
2023-08-07T19:20:51Z
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@RD4Anarchy @PKMKII @pluralistic @pyperkub “No trespassing” does not signify private ownership in the sense of capital. A capitalist’s property would be worthless as capital if the capitalist excluded people from it; who else would the capitalist collect rents from at gunpoint?
(DIR) Post #AYWop3KPcBduQbb3ZI by pyperkub@mastodon.social
2023-08-07T19:23:10Z
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@HeavenlyPossum @RD4Anarchy @PKMKII @pluralistic So, Farmers who own their land aren't capitalists? Their land isn't their property, no matter who is enforcing their perceived "right" to their property? I am *literally* not buying this ;)
(DIR) Post #AYWop44UqqVQjX9rOq by RD4Anarchy@kolektiva.social
2023-08-07T19:27:19Z
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@pyperkub @HeavenlyPossum @PKMKII @pluralistic Reality can be confusing when your mind has been infected by capital's narrative, which causes people to see everything as capital.But capital isn't really stuff, it's a social relationship of command, it's power. It's the control of other people's labor.
(DIR) Post #AYWop4uFkPuFK3NC4W by HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social
2023-08-07T19:37:16Z
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@PKMKII @RD4Anarchy @pyperkub @pluralistic I see this so often: people are taught that a) capitalism is just trucking and bartering and trading, it’s free enterprise and economic liberty, and also b) we live under capitalism. And some people are clever enough to recognize that what they were taught about (a) doesn’t look anything like the lived reality of (b).And one possible solution to this contradiction is to conclude that we were lied to about capitalism.Unfortunately, a lot of people cling to the idea that (a) is true and hence need excuses for the contradictions of (b). It’s those darn governments interfering with their minimum wages and cronyism and prohibitions on hunting humans for sport.What we need desperately is for people to look critically at what capitalism actually is, because the idea of “voluntary production and free trade” part is utterly incompatible with the “private ownership of means of production” part, the part that is the actual product of government violence.
(DIR) Post #AYWop6KsQunTkupyD2 by pyperkub@mastodon.social
2023-08-07T19:06:31Z
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@PKMKII @RD4Anarchy @HeavenlyPossum @pluralistic And this is true in Socialist and Communist Countries as well. It's just Power which gets monopolized w/o good government/governance. The fact is that market economics play out in all forms of government. Just with different currencies.