Is capitalism actually dying, despite appearances?

[Traitorfish]

You either work to feed yourself, or you steal the product of someone else's work. I choose the former.

You've spent thirty-six pages defending the right of capitalists to buy labour at below-subsistence prices, so this rings just incredibly hollow.

 

[Borachio]

And it misses another possibility:

You resign yourself to being ripped off by someone else because you have no choice.

 

[Perfection]

I should point out that is the STATE which prevents you making use of unused land. The state is the one who violently took over control of unused land, and then sold it off to capitalists. Under my voluntary society based on natural property rights this land would be unowned until someone makes use of it.

There's no such thing as natural property rights - property rights are a social construct.

Randroids prattle on about property rights as if they were some inviolable law as decreed from the heavens. Property rights are merely an idea. Don't get me wrong, I advocate for a technocratic democracy with a mixed-economy - that requires a strong system of property rights to churn the capitalist engines, but they're just a good idea. When a good thing like property rights are taken too far you start ignoring other real issues, issues like externalities, and exploitation. You start ignoring other rights, like due process and equal protection under the law.

As I see it the alleged harms of sometimes violating this extreme form of property rights Objectivist-style libertarians champion are much more likely to occur under libertarian systems. For instance, hard work not being rewarded is much more likely to occur in a system that doesn't limit exploitative economic practices. Your system would result in scenarios like scrip systems to occur. Whereas in modern mixed-economy systems people who actually work hard are much more likely to get ahead in life.

Another thing I'd like to point out is having a completely voluntary system is impossible, you don't volunteer to get born rich or poor, you don't volunteer who owns what, it's all a system forced on you. The question isn't if a system gets forced on you, that's a done deal, you're gonna get forced into a system. The question is what kind of system gets forced on you. And to me, a system that is based totally on property rights, is going to do a lot worse than a system based on human rights.

 

[civver_764]

You're a social construct.

 

[cardgame]

Only understanding can misplace anger.

 

[Perfection]

You're a social construct.

I fail to see the relevance of your statement.

Look, you're railing against systems that have strong legal systems to protect human rights. I trust the Bill of Rights more than the DRO's board of directors.

 

[Borachio]

Only understanding can misplace anger.

Pardon?

Do you mean "only understanding can displace anger"?

Because as it stands your sentence is fairly incomprehensible to me, at the moment.

 

[Hygro]

You're a social construct.

Your mom's a social construct.

 

[Borachio]

Life and death are social constructs.

Which is handy. Or not.