- Capitalism and Alternatives -

And getting what we deserve

Posted by: Stoller on November 09, 1999 at 10:42:14:

In Reply to: Further Interogative Pronouns posted by David on November 09, 1999 at 00:22:03:


Stoller:
Well... how about telling that to the Native Americans. Are you prepared to return to them the North American continent? Or do you only wish to respect property relations AS THEY STAND NOW?

David:
Now, I have not studied in depth the Native American cultures, but as I understand it, they had no concept of property (which raises the question, how can you steal something from someone who does not recognize it as being owned?)...

If the Native Americans did not 'recognize' they were being robbed of their land, why then did they fight the 'White Devil'? Or are you suggesting that the 'White Devil' simply KILLED THEM OFF for the hell of it?

:...and engaged in many inter and extra tribal wars for the land that they did not 'own.'

The 'savages had it coming' thesis. How 1950.

: Should I be able to tell you what you can grow in your garden?

Let's get down to it, David.

What if I had the only garden in the world?

What if I had the only garden in the world---and you were hungry.

What if I had the only garden in the world, you were hungry, and I said you could have, say 10% of my garden's yield (enough food for you to survive)---BUT, in turn, you had to do all the work on my garden FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

Now you can begin to appreciate how the proletariat sees the world.

: [T]here is a strong association between socialism and dictatorships and corruption and starvation.

There is an even stronger association between capitalism and dictatorships and corruption and starvation. First 200 years of capitalism (1600 - 1800), anyone?

Care to live in Russia now?

: My justification for Capitalism is not in that it makes most of the people affluent, but in that it is a just, moral system. It makes people responsible for their own actions and basically gives them what they deserve.

Tell me, David: is a newborn child born into poverty 'getting what it deserves'? When it is damaged from lead paint and hunger is it 'getting what it deserves'? When it grows up and goes to run-down schools that cannot offer decent education, is it 'getting what it deserves'? Etc., etc.

'Getting what one deserves.'

You simply MUST escape the supremacist banalities of Ayn Rand.




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