this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2023
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Why are folks so anti-capitalist? (programming.dev)
submitted 1 year ago by o_o@programming.dev to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
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Hi all,

I'm seeing a lot of hate for capitalism here, and I'm wondering why that is and what the rationale behind it is. I'm pretty pro-capitalism myself, so I want to see the logic on the other side of the fence.

If this isn't the right forum for a political/economic discussion-- I'm happy to take this somewhere else.

Cheers!

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[–] Nougat@kbin.social 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That is certainly true. Smaller capitalists definitely do not enjoy the protection of socialized losses in the same way that large capitalists do. This fact is exemplary of the inherent unfairness of capitalism: the people who need the socialization of losses more don't get it, while the ones who need it least, or not at all, receive it.

It's a scramble to the top of the wealth pile, and the ones who are higher get there and stay there by kicking the faces of the ones who are lower.

[–] markr@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A proprietor of a restaurant is not a capitalist, he’s a shopkeeper. An owner of a restaurant chain that is expanding constantly, a Macdonalds, a Starbucks, a corporation that has to demonstrate perpetual growth to satisfy its investors, that is a capitalist.

[–] Nougat@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I get what you're saying, but I also think there's a spectrum. It's easier, and more likely, for your shopkeeper to be fairer in their compensation of employees, even to the point of being "ideally fair." But it's also possible for that shopkeeper to be grossly unfair and exploitative, entirely within the law.

[–] markr@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sure. And to the extent that the sole proprietor has to compete with corporate chains their business almost has to be as shitty to their employees.

[–] Nougat@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

That shopkeeper looks just a bit more capitalist now. It's systemic.