[snip]: : Wake up: you're following a plan right now.
: What plan am I following?
: And anyway, whether I'm following a plan is not the point. It's society, not me, that we're talking about.
The plan you, me, and everyone else follows is the plan of the nation they were born into. I don't know about you, but as an American, I was born into a capitalist system characterized by a dog eat dog ethic, with insidious social darwinism -- unspoken, yet loud as a bell -- insisting that the rich are rich because they deserve it, and the poor are poor because they deserve it. As Farinata has pointed out, I (and you, and everyone else) was born a party to a social contract to which I never had a chance to negotiate the terms, nor opt out. You may say one can always leave, but by the time one grows up and realizes all is not well, one has established a life of family and friends, and so leaving is not practicable. The better alternative than running away, however, is to speak one's mind and criticize the system, which is what many are doing here; unfortunately, at least in the USA, to criticize capitalism is tantamount to being labelled a commie pinko traitor and enemy of the people -- a strategy employed very well, and very cynically, by those in power in order to keep their power. Which brings me to my next point:
: I like to believe that too. Which is why I believe there is hope that socialists and communists (who are almost always thoughtful and intelligent) can be shown that their philosophy is the source of most tangible injustice.
According to New York University economist Edward Wolff, in the USA, the financial wealth of the top 1% of Americans now exceeds the combined net worth of the bottom 95%. That's capitalism, American style.
None.
