The thing is, when someone starts getting very wealthy, they inevitably errode the checks and balances put in place to curtail their power and to protect the poor. For example, electricity used to be nationalised in my country until a few years ago. The state company in charge of it would seek to stay near the floating line, not to make profits, and power was very affordable. Before the pandemic, it got privatised and prices went through the roof, we're talking 1000% increases in some cases, because now they had to make money for the shareholders.

This could only work if the people were very conscious and politically educated, so that they could prevent these things from happening. But just one bad generation can see those hard earned protections and rights erroded.

[–] ThePenitentOne@discuss.online 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Basically, it only works if you can keep greedy people from expressing their greed. Evidently, not happening right now.

[–] LoreleiSankTheShip@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 year ago

Exactly. That's why simply regulating capitalism won't work. It has been regulated before, and eventually, little by little, greed wins out, politicians take bribes to lower regulations, and this tension raises again until we earn back what we lost. Rinse and repeat. It's not sustainable.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca -3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

when someone starts getting very wealthy, they inevitably errode the checks and balances put in place The solution there is to not let ANYBODY get that wealthy. Tax the shit out of the rich until their net worth is in an acceptable range. Let's say that we set a minimum level. If you don't meet that level, government helps you. Helps you with a house, food income, etc. Then allow the richest person to be worth 10x that of the poorest. If your worth goes over that, taxes will rise to 100%. You simply don't earn anything more until your worth lowers.

Its a very rough idea, but its just to, well, get the idea. Communism does NOT work, never has, never will. It requires stripping all freedoms, loads of coercion, lots of horror and terrorizing of the population to make it work. Too many people always dream of working in a vegetable garden under communism. Are they really THAT naive? Are they 5? Dear god, read some history.

I fully agree with you that capitalism, as its currently running unhindered, is a BAD thing. It needs to be limited, curtailed BY A LOT. But in its core its not bad. It gives people the freedom to trade directly, unhindered by government to get things done in the most efficient way. And like it or not, its a success story. Its why the west became as dominant as it is. Leaving people free to do things the way they want to do it is nice AND efficient. Problem is that you need to put limits, like "Don't dump industrial waste, you make it, you recycle it" which now we don't. THAT is the problem

[–] LoreleiSankTheShip@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

Capitalism didn't get the west wealthy. That was all the colonialism and imperialism taking wealth away from other places through slavery and exploitation. Capitalism just profited off of the fact Europe was already rich and powerful to further that divide.