#anti-capitalist rant

[drunk0nheat]

Uh-oh! It's "radical propaganda!"

Every time I talk to my stepdad about communism/socialism, the conversation goes noticeably smoother when I repeatedly remind him that HE IS ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO WOULD RECEIVE ALL THE BENEFITS I AM TALKING ABOUT.

People brainwashed by capitalism have such a hard time digesting the idea that SOMEONE ELSE receiving something good... is a good thing. Because under capitalism, everything - EVERYTHING - is affected by manufactured scarcity, so if someone else GETS something, it means unequivocally that YOU did NOT get that thing. This applies to everything: homes, jobs, food, money, medicine, and just about everything else. Life is literally a competition, and the reward is a comfortable life.

One of the most elementary rules of free trade is supply and demand. So naturally, you can increase profit by either lowering supply or raising demand. Raising demand can be difficult, but lowering supply is easy - just produce less of it. Then you can justify raising prices by saying, "Well, we had low supply!" It's a two-fold profit-boosting strategy because not only are you charging an arm and a leg for your product, but you're also decreasing the cost of production.

Or you can just lie. Say "supplies are low" then raise the prices and everyone will understand, AND you have more product to sell.

Anyways, the point is that capitalism is a manipulative, deceptive, opportunistic system meant to simulate a worse version of the intentionally misinterpreted darwinian philosophy of "survival of the fittest," except being fit means little compared to being born lucky.

... and a more equity-oriented government system that DOESN'T intentionally marginalize its own people and deprive them of the resources they need to live is, I would argue, preferable.

Use whatever word you want - socialist, communist, democrat, whatever. I just want my disabled mom to have the option to live on her own if she wanted to, without being forced to do work that she can't do for money that won't even pay rent, let alone pay her medical bills. Luckily, she has a husband with a good job - he is, let me be clear, the ONLY reason she is not homeless or worse.

Capitalist pigs call her a "free loader" or "a waste."

Socialists and communists call her a woman who isn't getting the help she needs.

Capitalists pigs call me, a trans person, "sex offender" or "rapist" or "brain washer."

Socialists and communists call me someone who shouldn't have to hide for my own safety

So idk what I am, but if I had to share a drink with a capitalist or a communist, I'm sharing a drink with the communist.

(PS: Read the tags for a little anti-zionist message as well. My heart goes out to Palestine - don't let anyone tell you that you don't have the right to live or that you're choosing the "unethical" way to crawl out of hell. To say that zionists give the jewish people a bad name is the understatement of the millenia; zionists have wasted their chances. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.)

[silvermoon424]

So fucking sick of the "infinite growth/everything needs to be the next biggest hit or we're axing it" mantra of capitalism.

It's not enough for a company to be successful and sustainable, it needs to have record profits every single quarter or the shareholders and investors start panicking. It's not enough for a new tv series to have good ratings and loyal fanbase, it needs to be as big as Stranger Things or Game of Thrones or it's getting canceled. Products that are a tiny bit more expensive to make but are loved by loyal customers have their ingredients switched with shitty, inferior, yet cheaper versions that save a little money at the expense of some of the customers leaving.

This entire ideology is so self-destructive but who cares, it made a handful of people a tiny bit richer in the short term, right?

[itsyaboibananaboi]

A question I hear a lot is "why are so many losers defending billionaires online?" and I realized why.

It's not because they think that they will be given money or get noticed, it's because they want to maintain the narrative of capitalism as a pure meritocracy. Capitalist theory tells us that hard work and risk is what will make you rich, and an incongruence between what rich people should be and what they are breaks this. To admit that someone like Elon Musk is an idiot who only got rich off generational wealth is to admit that capitalism is inherently flawed. That's why rich people are placed on this pedestal of perfection where they can do no wrong.

They aren't defending the individuals; they are defending the ideal of capitalism they have been taught all their lives.

[raincheckow]

Capitalism is pretty, but still whack.

Line should go up for a little bit, then plateau. The idea of infinite growth is absurd, but the dream is that everyone is wealthy and better than everyone else.

You should instead reach your target audience, and keep pace with inflation. It’s not great for The Economy, but it requires fewer sacrifices in the name of “line must go up”.

If you have a game/site/service that’s *good* in our current system, it gets worse over time. Overcomplicated updates to appease design metrics and over-monetization of every behavior, all engineered to keep investors happy. (Others have talked the idea of enshittification to death already) The very same investors that don’t care about your product, just getting a return for their capital. Optimizing the soul out of your product leaves you with a profit-generating husk.

A company becoming publicly traded is genuinely an excellent way of getting a cash infusion, empowering it to achieve its founding goals. The bill still comes due, and the line must go up, no matter the cost.

[the-beacons-of-minas-tirith]

Somewhere out there is a better timeline where The Hunger Games is getting a full-length book-accurate HBO adaptation instead of the mediocre wizard series

[bleachedclownguts]

i find it funny when people are like "if youre gonna be like that you can just leave" expecting you to immediately change your attitude and beg to be allowed to stay. i didnt even want to be here in the first place if you say the words "you can just leave" im outta there so fast i leave a me shaped hole in the wall.

especially if that person has been my employer for 10 whole minutes and has done nothing but rapid fire everything wrong with my outfit when they didnt tell me the dress code besides "black shirt and black pants" and then start getting rude and disrespectful when i start getting overwhelmed and ask if i can come in on thursday instead of wednesday so i can fix everything wrong with my uniform.

"if youre gonna be like that we cant have you here" ok bye! am i supposed to get on my hands and knees and beg you to let me stay? you have already shown enough disrespect for the whole day in 10 minutes when i have made it abundantly clear that this is my first job EVER and i am extremely nervous. you will not disrespect me just because you are my boss. respect is earned and that goes for people in positions of "authority" as well

(i write authority in quotes becasue what the hell are you gonna do? fire me? i just left! you have no real authority in the real world and you take that out on the people who work for you, because youre a weak little man with no control over his own life, who conditioned them into thinking they have no other real option besides working for you and homelessness. but you forget there are still people who have free will and can leave whenever they want, and autistic people who dont give a shit about what you think about them for doing that)

[j2zara]

Someone needs the put the clones on game changer. I need j3 performing mind games to get get his Elliego (aka j4 themed bingo card)

[uncanny-tranny]

I was always enraged at the way capitalism has devalued some of the most important labour in human history, but now I'm even more angry since I have started getting more into crafts.

So many people are alienated from the world to such an extent they don't realize how fucking important textiles and construction and art and culinary labour is, because its all ubiquitous under capitalism: it is all profit, and if it isn't profit, then it is worthless. People don't realize just how revolutionary all of the labour was, how important it is, and was, to our survival. And that enrages me.

[notallfay]

Me chatting with my besties...

[cherrirui-official]

I FORGOT TO POST THESE HERE!!! But please take the sillies that i did a while back while i work on other art stuff!

[anidaladefencelawyer]

The "B..but...Muh Two Marriages!" argument from Jedi Positives/Uncriticals gets problematic the more you think about it

Old but good analysis particularly regarding how the choice between love and duty, and Anidala being unequipped emotionally to make that choice in a way that would allow them to find happiness together, or even have the means to even want to step away from the galactic chessboard altogether, while facing peer pressure to focus on their duties(and I don't mean in a way where they can achieve the best of both worlds together) and being brought up in environments where they can't really say no; this ultimately leading to tragedy.

On this note, I do not know where this argument crawled out of, but I going to say on that note that I've never found the arguments from modern Star Wars Jedi-positive/uncritical fans that Anidala is inherently toxic because of the fact that supposedly, to paraphrase said fans, "when you get down to it, it's an asshole with a inherent fascist impulse from day one and his moral depravity enabler(yes, this is literally what some of the more virulent Jedi-uncriticals reduce Padme to when literally Palpatine is around the corner) literally wanting to have everything, duties be damned" to be very compelling, and I frankly find it really problematic given the state of modern society.

So many of us, as the contradictions of capitalism drive the world to the abyss, have to work extremely tough or low paying jobs, or have to spend so much time doing what society expects of us, are we somehow assholes if we decide "ah fuck it, I'm going to try to have both". I've personally found Anidala to be the struggle between following one's heart vs. adhering to the dictates of society at large—which is honestly really relatable in the era of late stage capitalism, and being stuck in a situation where one is unable to harmonize passion with duty(which resonates a lot considering how multiple canon and EU material show them to be a very good team, but they are always separated) albeit one that ended very tragically. While others may have the emotional control to hold as long as possible, not everyone can go down that path.

Overall, I don't even consider their marriage decision(which likely came from Padme tbh) selfish even through the idea of selfishness is framed into the narrative, it's less "selfish" and more "shortsighted" for me, shortsighted because they get pulled into a war and never get to truly develop as a couple, leading to them having no time to talk to each other, growing paranoia, and eventually the tragic conclusion of their story. But is it the sign of a toxic or selfish belief that existed from day one because of an powerhungry asshole with a fascist gene embedded into his DNA wanting everything? I honestly don't think so.

[healingheartdogs]

A lot of liberals use the words "liberal" and "leftist" interchangeably and then act like the world is ending and lose their shit when an actual leftist says totally normal not even radical actual leftist things because they don't realize that liberals are actually right wing, including themselves.

[thefriendofdorthea]

I fear I'm succumbing to capitalism. I never wanted to be rich, but now I do. Not because I love money or the idea of it- I despise it. Abhor it even. But I want my family to be safe. Why does money give me that? Safety? I don't want it to. I would boycott money if I could. But it takes money to boycott.

Don't let it take me.

[jesusinstilettos]

I love that boomers and gen x think tiktok radicalized me into a communist because I can tell you right now the thing that has radicalized me the MOST is working at a business. I see first hand how exploitative and wasteful capitalism is every day of my life. And I have seen the spreadsheets of how much money a worker here produces for the company a quarter (it’s in the millions) and they barely get paid above minimum wage. I know the millions and millions the big guys at the top make in bonuses ALONE while doing a small fraction of the work middle management does. I was told I would get a bonus that was 10% of my salary, and I was so happy because I was gonna use it to make a small dent on my student loans, only for them to say “sorry bad economy :/“ and give me 100 dollars, meanwhile the company profited almost 1 billion dollars last year. You could redistribute a fraction of a fraction of that profit and change the lives of everyone in the company. I see constantly how this business is contributing to the climate crisis tremendously in the name of short term profit for a small few at the top. Living in capitalism radicalized me, not the crochet tutorials I watch on tiktok.

[gelarshiesprofruitboarder]

you know youre fucked when your biggest source of gender envy is a marshmallow made of jello

[avianvowel]

not to undercut those of us who have found immense help unpacking trauma of all types through therapy but capitalism and its economic instabilities have directly caused so much more harm than we're able to rectify, individually, in a reoccurring session with another person who is also under its hand therapy treats the symptoms of capitalism rather than addressing the core problems of simply existing in it cycles of boom-bust inflation leading to runaway material goods prices, unaffordable housing, artificial scarcity, peddling a promising prosperity gospel of the working class as we are sold ideas to believe all of us are but temporarily embarrassed millionaires... therapy aims to realign your perspective that the issues you face are just ordinary things people of all eras have had to face, nothing out of the norm. capitalism is abnormal. capitalism is a perversion of an existence that uses your emotions for profit, uses your creativity for profit, and therapy is not capable or equipped to fix any of these objectively stressful things while charging you money you don't have to persevere through living another day in a world that sees you simply as human capital. I don't want to exist in a slow ooze of despair where even if I've realized my confidence and worked through the abuse I've experienced, I'm one step away from homelessness. one lapse of groceries away from starving. if I can't afford my phone bill I'm cut off from society. if I can't sell my art I'm a failed artist. It's a parasite that gnaws gently, over time, wearing you down mentally until you can't do anything but pay for someone else to tell you that you matter and you're doing your best. because unless you pay for it, everything around you tells you you're not

therapy is the human resources department of capitalism :)