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JohnT
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Capitalist
Mar 1999
time: 00:21
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 31-07-2002 01:15
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#1
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Why your protestations against capitalism are doomed to failure...
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Got spare money?
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It's because y'all are young. Pretty simple, really.
I don't mean that insultingly, using "young" as a keyword for "immature", "inexperienced", etc, but, literally, "young."
You see, this is what's going to happen. To VG, to Sava, to all of you college-aged (and younger) people out there who think that the most important, real thing in the world is ideology/economics/whatever. I know because it is what always happens... just ask the baby boomers:
You get out of school. You get a job/career and all of a sudden you find that you don't really have the time to plow through ALL the latest Poli-Sci texts, nor do you really have the time to spend hours upon hours debating these subjects online. You'll likely be working 50-80 hours a week (not for long, but for a few years) and, if you add in the time needed for sleep/food/fun/etc. you'll find that the time available for worrying about such things dwindling. Oh, you'll still care and you'll still spend too many late nights arguing the worthiness of this revolution or that manifesto, but you'll be far more tired while doing so and, after time, you'll be tired of being tired all the time. So you'll slow down.
Then you get married. Guess what? While she might share the same beliefs, you're wife isn't likely to share the same passion you have for them. Naw, she is going to be far more pragmatic and "sensible" than you are, and she'll tolerate a bunch of talk, but she won't tolerate personally detrimental actions based upon your beliefs, as the following (entirely made up) argument will show:
"I quit my job today, the bastards!"
"What? Why?"
"Can you believe that they were going to raise the price of our compact disks to $18???!!!??? When I heard that during the meeting today, I jumped up and gave them an earful! I told those greedy, capitalist bastards that they were leeches on society, that their bottom-line mentality was destroying society, art, and all the good things that Western Civilization stood for! You should've seen my bosses face when I called him a tool of the oppressing classes!"
"Why???!!! What are we going to do now? We've got $2,000 in the bank, some money in the 401(k), and monthly bills that total up to about $3,500! And you quit your job because you didn't want to raise the price of CD's?? What the hell is wrong with you???"
"But honey, I thought that you would support..."
"Don't you 'but honey' me, dammit! I'm two months pregnant and you quit your job over some stupid belief that is NOT going to change their decision one iota! Did you even think about me? Did you even think about the baby.... Holy freakin' Christ, what are we going to do about health insurance??? How are we going to pay for the delivery??? What about pre and post-natal care??"
and etc. What is even worse is that your wife will likely expect of you a constantly (long-term) rising standard of living. Think she's going to want to tool around at the age of 34 in a 7 year old Toyota?  Think she's going to want to live in that tiny 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment for the rest of her life? Think she's going to want to go to some social function in the outfit she bought last year? Last month?
And then the baby comes, and then, well, you just might as well forget about changing society. If you think you're busy now... ... just you wait. You'll get up at 6:00am, be at work by 7:00-7:30, get home at 6:00pm, and then spend the rest of the evening tending to the baby, talking to the wife about your day, watch some TV/play on the computer, and then go to bed by 11:00pm. But the severe lack of time isn't even the issue here: the plain and simple fact is that you'll want to give your child everything. And so you won't mind working, you won't mind raising the price on those CD's because, well, that's how you get ahead. You've got a wife and kids now, a mortgage to support, and frankly, you can't afford to support bad ideas like Communism.
It happens to all of us, you can't avoid it. Even the most dedicated among you accepted a transfer to work with Citibank, and then complained when he lost his contract... and Chegitz is probably the biggest "name" Commie in this bunch.
So go ahead, complain. Whine, *****, moan, give grief, come up with massive solutions, whatever. Just do yourself a favor and realize that the reason you are able to rebel is because:
1. You have the time to do so.
2. You have very little to lose.
When the situation becomes reversed (as it undoubtably will), well, I'll see you on the golf course! Perhaps then we can talk some real business... 
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Caligastia
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I dont think capitalism is the best way to do things, but its the best we can manage at this point. Socialism or communism is not the answer.
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JohnT
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Capitalist
Mar 1999
time: 00:21
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quote:
Originally posted by Adam Smith
A nice manifesto as far as it goes, JohnT.
But in later chapters some people may stop watching all the ads on tv, or turn down a higher paying job, in order to have more time to spend with the kids, take care of aging parents, or work on a social concern they believe in. |
Very true, Adam, it's just that I haven't read those chapters yet. 
The fact remains is that when the social involvement chapter kicks in, it is NOT going to be the same sort of "society improving" that the KKK repeatedly endorse. Naw, they'll be coaching Little League, joining churches, teaching adult literacy, cleaning parks, not designing revolutions or anything that will disrupt the home front.
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General Ludd
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Minion of the Dominion
Aug 2001
time: 05:21
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quote:
Originally posted by JohnT
it's just life. |
Your life, maybe. You're assuming everyone has the same priorities and aspirations as yourself, and that isn't true.
Last edited by General Ludd on 31-07-2002 at 01:57
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Victor Galis
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in exile
Jul 1999
time: 00:21
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quote:
You get out of school. You get a job/career and all of a sudden you find that you don't really have the time to plow through ALL the latest Poli-Sci texts |
-I don't bother with that now. I just try to think for myself.
quote:
"Why???!!! What are we going to do now? We've got $2,000 in the bank, some money in the 401(k), and monthly bills that total up to about $3,500! And you quit your job because you didn't want to raise the price of CD's?? What the hell is wrong with you???" |
-Hehe, I have $10,000 even after my expensive England trip... now to figure out how not to lose that on the stock market.
So the key to being a good communist would be for me to take all my money, invest it wisely, make a killing, then find some good safe bonds and live off the interest so that I can afford to spend my time *****ing about greedy capitalists Either that or get into politics, so that it is my job to ***** about greedy capitalists
quote:
It's true to a certain extent, but not everyone sells out their ideals just because it's expected or easier to do so |
-I'm already selling out by still being in Georgia... well not at the moment, but i could have gone to Berkeley and become conservative by local standards.
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Aeson
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orangesoda
Nov 2001
time: 22:21
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"Rome will never fall"
'Normal' people support society without any drastic changes, that's why they are considered normal. Occasionally there are extraordinary individuals, or groups of individuals who alter the course of history, they are never the 'normal' type. Jesus, whether you believe he was the son of God or not, altered the course of human history by his actions, same with Mohammed, Napoleon, ect. Just because someone is in a minority doesn't mean their ideals can't bring about revolution and change.
Not all revolutions are successful, that doesn't mean all revolutions aren't successful. An ideology may take centuries to really take hold, we may all be living under hippy rule by the next millenia, even though many people 'sold out' (from a hippy standpoint) decades after they first became somewhat mainstream...
The only sure thing is that things will change in the future.
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Good one! I have always supported capatalism, of course Im a greedy little bastard too 
Of course we're all different, Osweld, and it is true that the OP will NOT apply to 100% of all humanity. But it will apply to so many of you as to make the others increasingly irrelevant. I mean, even though some still exist, hippies are no longer relevant nowadays, are they? And why is that? Because the vast majority moved on.
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