Richest 85 people worth more than bottom half of all 7B of us

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shadow9d9

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2004
8,132
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The fact that every communist revolution ends in a dictatorship is a pretty powerful fact.

Yes. It shows that it is easy to manipulate people in order to take over a country because human being are greedy and power hungry... which just so happens to be why capitalism doesn't work without heavy regulations.
 

mikeford

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2001
5,671
160
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Almost all of those people in the bottom half are in countries that are not based on capitalism and/or democracy.

Regulations are what politicians use to keep their beak wet, they serve the general public only indirectly and inefficiently compared to other methods.
 

mikeford

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2001
5,671
160
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Educate yourselves. If you're gonna tldr, at least read the "Social democratic parties' move to neoliberalism" section.

Regarding corruption, just compare most of Europe's rating with the US's.

Bottom line: there is a very significant socialist element in European politics, has been for generations, and corruption is hardly a universal problem for them. Corruption in North Europe and the Nordic countries is actually less than in the US.

More to the point of the thread, I'd say growing wealth inequality is mostly because of refusal to adapt. Many people actively oppose looking for and trying better ways of doing things, i.e. working smarter. Doing the same thing again and again while expecting a different outcome is not realistic.

Socialist countries don't count embedded practices that are functionally the same as recognized corrupt informal practices in other countries.

Almost no one in the USA is forced to spend all they make. People make choices, new car, old car, dinner out, dinner home, wise investments, Las Vegas.
 

shadow9d9

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2004
8,132
2
0
Almost all of those people in the bottom half are in countries that are not based on capitalism and/or democracy.

Regulations are what politicians use to keep their beak wet, they serve the general public only indirectly and inefficiently compared to other methods.

Deregulation is what caused Wall Street to just tank the worldwide economy, BP to poison the gulf with oil, and "Freedom industries" to poison the water of 300k in West VA.

Without regulations, corporations would STILL be firing people who lost their arms to factory machines, allowing child labor, and the meat packing industry would be like it was prior to The Jungle.
 

Agent11

Diamond Member
Jan 22, 2006
3,535
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Not so much deregulation as statistics. If we want to keep digging up carbon in it's various forms to burn we are just going to have to deal with the problems that are inherent to such technology. The government is not omnipotent.
 
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Ruptga

Lifer
Aug 3, 2006
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I'll pass your question and raise you another. Would you rather live in the USA or a communist country?

I don't know about him, but I'm actually in the process of applying to a Dutch university and if the place suits me like I think it will I'll be pursuing a career and citizenship there. Maybe that doesn't answer your question, but it seems we're all equating socialism with communism in here, so there you go.

That said, I would never consider living in China unless I could afford my own county, or whatever they call their counties over there. I'd say Russia could go to hell, but it already has, along with most of its old satellite nations. The other self-professed communist countries are too tropical and low tech for my taste.

Now I will resume lurking.