Loved this issue of the Rising! I would have never have thought about Capitalism—more specifically AMERICAN Capitalism like this!!! And acknowledging our American DNA—I think that is important. BUT please, start finding the good in our bigger tent!! We have to have room for the Mamdani’s, the Sanders, the AOCs. And yes I see that we need a JFK kind of person for that movement. But we need and should celebrate everyone!!
Patriotic capitalism, a perfect antidote for surveillance capitalism (watching your every internet move to help bombard us with tempting products). Zuck sucks, becoming a billionaire from offering a 'free' product to you, making you (your thoughts and proclivities) the product he sells to other rich corporations. Brittany Page has a cool merch shirt on her site that says "We love the rich (when they pay their taxes)". I bought my first house on the GI Bill in the mid 70's, a three bedroom house in San Jose, CA for $40K. And was a bit upset that it was sold just 3 years before for $25, but I was making good money working as a machinist at the time. I think the caller with the suggestion that tax breaks for non-primary residents mortgages is a killer idea. Boycott Profiteer Billionaires that dehumanize US while taking our money. Boycott those that profit from hate.
I do agree with some of what you have said, but — where I disagree is that America’s youth do not love Capitalism. Call it what you like, but Capitalism has failed them. Instead, I find that the young prefer a vision of the future more like “Star Trek” or “The Orville” where people are free to actively pursue those things that bring about the betterment of mankind. This is only possible because needs, like basic income, housing, healthcare, and education are included in their future’s version of the social contract (and they get to have cool technology that provides it to them).
I ran across your first episode by chance and and couldn't turn away. I'm so glad I stayed and listened. It felt like you were speaking directly to me. I am a disabled retired chef with a chronic illness. More importantly, I am the very proud daughter of a Korean war veteran, purple heart recipient and multiple amputee; part of "The Frozen Chosin ", Battle of the Chosin Reservoir. My dad was 18 when he went to Korea,and 18 when he came home with severe frostbite. I only mention this because what Donald Trump is doing to our country, makes me so sick and angry, and I can't help but think about all those soldiers and their families, who sacrificed so much for our democracy. And to see what this complete piece of shit is doing, and has already done and will continue to do, is a slap in the face to all of our brave souls ,here and gone. I find myself becoming more and more angry, but feeling helpless. I have made calls and written letters to local and federal officials. I stay informed. I vote. Somehow this isn't enough for me. I am limited as to resources and physical involvement, but I always sign up for election volunteering, writing letters and postcards to voters. This year, I got a mobility scooter, so I'm planning on attending the, No Kings March on October 18. I'm an artist, so I'm making signs. But, still, I need a way to channel my anger. Changing my spending by 10%, focusing on coops and local businesses, is something I can definitely do, so thanks for sharing these ideas. America is a great place, and we must work together to take it back from this fascist regime. Thank you you so much for sharing your knowledge and ideas with us! I am excited again, and I feel a little hope being restored in my soul. I'll continue to listen, and do whatever I can . This is too important to ignore. It's time for action! Bravo, for the show!
We can't go the other direction tonight and employ so many special interests groups that we can't create or establish anything. We need to have smart regulations and not let unions and other special interests dictate our approach.
I very much enjoyed this discussion. It is refreshing to hear sane ideas. I have some thoughts about the them:
Neoliberalism cannot exist without capitalism
Karl Polanyi discusses the rise of Pursuit of Profit as the only moral good in his book The Great Transformation. The common good fell when all of society was redirected to serve the economy in pursuit of that goal. It began with the Industrial Revolution.
Americans want to get rich because our system teaches them that they can’t provide for their basic needs if they are not wealthy, especially wealthy at the expense of others.
The absence of an idea of the common good married to the militant laissez faire attitude of neoliberalism means that all elements of human life are open to commoditization. Including human suffering.
Even without neoliberalism infecting it, capitalism still suffers from a moral crisis in that the accumulation of capital is proportional to the resources available to drive its accumulation. Given that, in order to level the playing field, you do have to take the money away from the billionaires. You do it by fair, progressive taxation, an exemption-free tax code, and enforcing existing laws like you mention, to put guardrails on the system.
If the system needs guardrails, then the system has a problem. We assume, erroneously, that without the possibility of wealth that could fund our lives many times over, we would not be motivated to work, innovate, build and otherwise create our world.
The problem is that wealth is accorded rights beyond the rights those of us without wealth have, and as long as there is inequality in our economics, there can be no equality before the law.
If you want to make the middle class strong and robust, what it says is that you are ok with some few ‘chosen’ who get to be wealthy, and some few condemned who must suffer the indignity of poverty.
Yes, people want to work, to create, to have the good things in life, or the fair chance to earn them. People want to be judged by who they become not some perceived characteristic at birth. But when they do not have a path to become who they are, they turn against those who are different.
The metaphor has to shift. Neoliberalism isn’t a cancer, it is an autoimmune disease where the common decency of humanity is switched off and all that is malignant about the capitalist system is allowed to flourish. The real problem is we assume Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurism require Capitalism. That is not the case.
Things to consider:
No one may profit from human suffering.
Money cannot buy everything. There has to be a real limit to the fungibility of money.
A different legal code governs corporations than governs entrepreneurs. They are not the same thing, so the rules have to be different.
This is the difficult one: what is common to our survival is held in common.
Healthcare is a universal right and not a source of profit
Basic utilities, clean water, and essential shelter are not sources of profit
Education is a universal right and not a source of profit
Service is rewarded more than individualistic, self-centered effort
You can accumulate capital, invest, make and enjoy wealth, but you lose it if you try to buy your way into power, or out of legal trouble. You lose it if you accumulate it illegally.
Only Natural Persons are People and guaranteed all the rights protected by the Consitution
The genetic code of all organisms is inviolate, no one owns it, nor do they own any altered version, either by selective breeding or by technologies capable of altering the DNA, nor any non-natural manipulation of gene expression.
No technological algorithm, digital or otherwise, can undermine critical thinking
The basic premise is this: if people do not have to struggle for bare subsistence, that entrepreneurs do not have to worry about employee healthcare, retirement and pensions, utilities, and rent, how much more innovative and productive can they be. Everyone contributes to the common good and resources with their taxes, everyone participates in that common good through their contributions to the world.
Loved this issue of the Rising! I would have never have thought about Capitalism—more specifically AMERICAN Capitalism like this!!! And acknowledging our American DNA—I think that is important. BUT please, start finding the good in our bigger tent!! We have to have room for the Mamdani’s, the Sanders, the AOCs. And yes I see that we need a JFK kind of person for that movement. But we need and should celebrate everyone!!
Patriotic capitalism, a perfect antidote for surveillance capitalism (watching your every internet move to help bombard us with tempting products). Zuck sucks, becoming a billionaire from offering a 'free' product to you, making you (your thoughts and proclivities) the product he sells to other rich corporations. Brittany Page has a cool merch shirt on her site that says "We love the rich (when they pay their taxes)". I bought my first house on the GI Bill in the mid 70's, a three bedroom house in San Jose, CA for $40K. And was a bit upset that it was sold just 3 years before for $25, but I was making good money working as a machinist at the time. I think the caller with the suggestion that tax breaks for non-primary residents mortgages is a killer idea. Boycott Profiteer Billionaires that dehumanize US while taking our money. Boycott those that profit from hate.
I do agree with some of what you have said, but — where I disagree is that America’s youth do not love Capitalism. Call it what you like, but Capitalism has failed them. Instead, I find that the young prefer a vision of the future more like “Star Trek” or “The Orville” where people are free to actively pursue those things that bring about the betterment of mankind. This is only possible because needs, like basic income, housing, healthcare, and education are included in their future’s version of the social contract (and they get to have cool technology that provides it to them).
I ran across your first episode by chance and and couldn't turn away. I'm so glad I stayed and listened. It felt like you were speaking directly to me. I am a disabled retired chef with a chronic illness. More importantly, I am the very proud daughter of a Korean war veteran, purple heart recipient and multiple amputee; part of "The Frozen Chosin ", Battle of the Chosin Reservoir. My dad was 18 when he went to Korea,and 18 when he came home with severe frostbite. I only mention this because what Donald Trump is doing to our country, makes me so sick and angry, and I can't help but think about all those soldiers and their families, who sacrificed so much for our democracy. And to see what this complete piece of shit is doing, and has already done and will continue to do, is a slap in the face to all of our brave souls ,here and gone. I find myself becoming more and more angry, but feeling helpless. I have made calls and written letters to local and federal officials. I stay informed. I vote. Somehow this isn't enough for me. I am limited as to resources and physical involvement, but I always sign up for election volunteering, writing letters and postcards to voters. This year, I got a mobility scooter, so I'm planning on attending the, No Kings March on October 18. I'm an artist, so I'm making signs. But, still, I need a way to channel my anger. Changing my spending by 10%, focusing on coops and local businesses, is something I can definitely do, so thanks for sharing these ideas. America is a great place, and we must work together to take it back from this fascist regime. Thank you you so much for sharing your knowledge and ideas with us! I am excited again, and I feel a little hope being restored in my soul. I'll continue to listen, and do whatever I can . This is too important to ignore. It's time for action! Bravo, for the show!
We can't go the other direction tonight and employ so many special interests groups that we can't create or establish anything. We need to have smart regulations and not let unions and other special interests dictate our approach.
I very much enjoyed this discussion. It is refreshing to hear sane ideas. I have some thoughts about the them:
Neoliberalism cannot exist without capitalism
Karl Polanyi discusses the rise of Pursuit of Profit as the only moral good in his book The Great Transformation. The common good fell when all of society was redirected to serve the economy in pursuit of that goal. It began with the Industrial Revolution.
Americans want to get rich because our system teaches them that they can’t provide for their basic needs if they are not wealthy, especially wealthy at the expense of others.
The absence of an idea of the common good married to the militant laissez faire attitude of neoliberalism means that all elements of human life are open to commoditization. Including human suffering.
Even without neoliberalism infecting it, capitalism still suffers from a moral crisis in that the accumulation of capital is proportional to the resources available to drive its accumulation. Given that, in order to level the playing field, you do have to take the money away from the billionaires. You do it by fair, progressive taxation, an exemption-free tax code, and enforcing existing laws like you mention, to put guardrails on the system.
If the system needs guardrails, then the system has a problem. We assume, erroneously, that without the possibility of wealth that could fund our lives many times over, we would not be motivated to work, innovate, build and otherwise create our world.
The problem is that wealth is accorded rights beyond the rights those of us without wealth have, and as long as there is inequality in our economics, there can be no equality before the law.
If you want to make the middle class strong and robust, what it says is that you are ok with some few ‘chosen’ who get to be wealthy, and some few condemned who must suffer the indignity of poverty.
Yes, people want to work, to create, to have the good things in life, or the fair chance to earn them. People want to be judged by who they become not some perceived characteristic at birth. But when they do not have a path to become who they are, they turn against those who are different.
The metaphor has to shift. Neoliberalism isn’t a cancer, it is an autoimmune disease where the common decency of humanity is switched off and all that is malignant about the capitalist system is allowed to flourish. The real problem is we assume Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurism require Capitalism. That is not the case.
Things to consider:
No one may profit from human suffering.
Money cannot buy everything. There has to be a real limit to the fungibility of money.
A different legal code governs corporations than governs entrepreneurs. They are not the same thing, so the rules have to be different.
This is the difficult one: what is common to our survival is held in common.
Healthcare is a universal right and not a source of profit
Basic utilities, clean water, and essential shelter are not sources of profit
Education is a universal right and not a source of profit
Service is rewarded more than individualistic, self-centered effort
You can accumulate capital, invest, make and enjoy wealth, but you lose it if you try to buy your way into power, or out of legal trouble. You lose it if you accumulate it illegally.
Only Natural Persons are People and guaranteed all the rights protected by the Consitution
The genetic code of all organisms is inviolate, no one owns it, nor do they own any altered version, either by selective breeding or by technologies capable of altering the DNA, nor any non-natural manipulation of gene expression.
No technological algorithm, digital or otherwise, can undermine critical thinking
The basic premise is this: if people do not have to struggle for bare subsistence, that entrepreneurs do not have to worry about employee healthcare, retirement and pensions, utilities, and rent, how much more innovative and productive can they be. Everyone contributes to the common good and resources with their taxes, everyone participates in that common good through their contributions to the world.
I just listen to your episode great history lesson for me to learn but we need new Democratic who can in this moment!