I just read a somewhat clueless post from one of those "moderate" Right Wing Instagram handles. You know, the sort that has a Sanskrit word in the name and is run by middle-class techie. After a significant amount of groaning, I decided to write this response about their...

...seeming worshipful attitude about capitalism. First - no, Capitalism isn't always evil. Many smaller businessmen are capitalists and do contribute to the nation by creating jobs. Having said that, the issue many people have with big capitalists is actually about power. When...
...a corporation grows too big and has stakes in every imaginable sector, it becomes a threat not only to those Communists you hate, but also to capitalists - small businesses and budding entrepreneurs (such as yourself perhaps). When people raise suspicions about the intent...
...of a big corporate, they aren't being unreasonable. They are pointing at a sword hanging above all our heads. And your saying "that sword is for all of our benefit" isn't an argument that can be taken seriously. It's childish and facile logic from someone who has been...
...conditioned from early on to see his corporate masters as benefactors and to think that the greatest compliment anyone can pay him is that he is "employable". Capitalism, at the end of the day, is about the pursuit of profit. And that's fine. But when things gets to a stage...
...where profit becomes more important than everything else - healthcare, literacy, and even rights, then it isn't an exaggeration to call it toxic and dangerous. It doesn't matter whether power over people's lives and livelihoods is focused in the hands of private players or...
...a government. It is ALWAYS a good idea to be deeply suspicious of anyone who is powerful. To not do so is the equivalent of signing so many death warrants. The super rich may be doing things you think are good. But they are not doing it for your good. They are doing it for...
...profit. And though you might think that your good is aligned with their profit, it is often not the case universally. Their actions do very seriously hurt many who you don't count among "common people". The farmer who doesn't want his children to have to become an employee...
...has the right to have that expectation without being called regressive and anti-progress. The labourer who wants minimum wage has the right to expect dignity and bread. The rich who are being criticised for having too much power are being criticised because they value...
...profit more than these things. And the reason you don't care is because you fit the mold called "employable". I don't begrudge you your cubicle dreams. But your advocacy of your bosses is going directly against the interests of those who don't wish to be employed by your gods.

More from Culture

Best books I read in 2020

1. Atomic Habits by @JamesClear

“If you show up at the gym 5 days in a row—even for 2 minutes—you're casting votes for your new identity. You’re not worried about getting in shape. Youre focused on becoming the type of person who doesn’t miss workouts”


Good Reasons for Bad Feelings

https://t.co/KZDqte19nG

2. “social anxiety is overwhelmingly common. Natural selection shaped us to care enormously what other people think..We constantly monitor how much others value us..Low self-esteem is a signal to try harder to please others”


The True Believer by Eric Hoffer

https://t.co/uZT4kdhzvZ

“Hatred is the most accessible and comprehensive of all unifying agents...Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without a believe in a devil.”


Grandstanding

https://t.co/4Of58AZUj8

"if politics becomes a morality pageant, then the contestants have an incentive to keep problems intact...politics becomes a forum to show off moral qualities...people will be dedicated to activism for its own sake, as a vehicle to preen"


Warriors and Worriers by Joyce Benenson

https://t.co/yLC4eGHEd4

“Across diverse cultures, a man who lives in the house with another man’s children is about 60 times more likely than the biological father to kill those children.”
OK. Chapter 7 of Book 4 of #WealthOfNations is tough going. It's long. It's serious. It's all about colonies.

We can take comfort, though, in knowing that the chapter #AdamSmith says is about colonies is, in fact, about colonies. (IV.vii) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets


Colonies were a vexed subject when #AdamSmith was writing, and they’re even more complicated now. So, before we even get to the tweeting, here’s a link to that thread on Smith and “savage nations.” (IV.vii) #WealthOfTweets


The reason for the ancient Greeks and Romans to settle colonies was straightforward: they didn’t have enough space for their growing populations. Their colonies were treated as “emancipated children”—connected but independent. (IV.vii.a.2) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

(Both these things are in contrast to the European colonies, as we'll see.) (IV.vii.a.2) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Ancient Greeks and Romans needed more space because the land was owned by an increasingly small number of citizens and farming and nearly all trades and arts were performed by slaves. It was hard for a poor freeman to improve his life. (IV.vii.a.3) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

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