#i am not a capitalist

[cashthecomposer]

I think one of the biggest failings of the anti-socialism argument is the existence of artists.

People often say that under socialist ideals such as a universal base income, people would just stop working, because without a paycheck as compensation, there's no incentive to work. But then you have artists, who spend years studying and honing their craft, creating and working, for no guarantee of compensation. You have singers and actors and dancers, who train their bodies and minds for a particular skill, again, with minimal hope for a reward. Not to mention musicians, writers, etc...

If you think for a few seconds, you realize we have a surplus of people working for no reason other than to create something. To produce a result, not for monetary gain. They are working for the sake of the work itself, and that is the primary motivation. This extends beyond the arts- look at home gardeners and cooks, parents, folks who sew, etc. We're doing necessary things for the sake of the work, because the work must be done, because we like the work, because we want a challenge... for whatever reason, but a reason directly related to the work.

A lot of people work jobs that make them miserable because they need the money, and they'd rather do something else. I would love to work at the local bookstore, but I can't live off minimum wage, so instead I teach, while the guy I spoke to working there said he'd love to teach, but he doesn't have the degrees needed to qualify. My mother loves serving coffee and chatting and tbh would love to be a barista, but if she goes to work she'll not be able to get her retirement account money, while the barista at my favorite coffee shop wants to spend a few months at home raising her pre-preschool toddler, but can't afford it. My insurance adjuster would love to do work in chemistry research but can't afford the expense of grad school yet, while a friend of mine in a local lab is burned out and would rather go do some mindless work but can't leave because of student loans.

The truth of the matter is that people enjoy being productive. But the 'right' ways of being productive are the ways that cause debt and unhappiness, that force you into one path, and to stay there forever. And god forbid you do something creative- you're going to have to do something else instead if you want to pay rent. Fostering discontent keeps the masses suppressed, and that's all there is to it.

Next time someone says that 'people don't want to work', point out all of the poor people out there having kids despite their economic situation. Being a parent is a full time job and then some. Point out the millions of authors who will never be published, but who keep writing anyways, and their agents, whose job most of the time is to believe in unproven individuals. Point out their hobbies, their loves, their joys, and that they bring no gain except the profit of work's results.

Fuck capitalism. Go draw a picture.

[uncanny-tranny]

The leftism/anticapitalism leaving people's bodies the zeptosecond you imply that disabled people who aren't "productive" still matter in society and need to be treated like intrinsic equals who have a place in this world:

[decolonize-the-everything]

"vote with your wallet!" "All they care about is profit." "go after their wallets where it hurts!" "New boycott list dropped!" "we want to make them care" "calling doesn't work so expose them to donors!" "email them to let them know you'll stop buying-" "if they won't listen we won't pay taxes!"

[will-pilled]

"Being poor is a choice, you can get out of it if you work hard."

I live with 4 people, one of which is a child. I work a full time job. So does another. And the third works two part times.

We have no heating. Our electric keeps getting shut off. We didn't have anything AT ALL to drink for 3 days.

You REALLY fucking think we choose to live like this? You think I want to fucking FREEZE right now as I type? FUCK all the out of touch lucky people saying this shit.

Is it possible to get out of a poor family? Yes. But the majority of the time your area of living is what predicts your wealth.

[eerna]

I somehow didn't realize that Amazon produced Fallout until I was already done with the show, so now my mind is reeling with the implications of one of the biggest pillars of capitalism creating a show where US capitalists united and started the apocalypse on purpose bc it was the only way to ensure capitalism wouldn't collapse

[kindredsoulsoftimesofold]

I think cancelling series that ended on cliffhangers should be banned, literally not allowed.

I am aware they sometimes don't know if they're gonna be cancelled until after the series is out, but so many goddamn series ended on cliffhangers only to be cancelled and I am sick and tired of it.

Esp if not based on anything (book, manga etc.), so you won't know the ending unless the creators decide to post it online (which never happens).

We need to normalize completing stories even if they're not the next BIG THING or at least giving the creators one more season to wrap things up. It's difficult to get invested in anything nowadays, because unless it explodes online you know you're pretty much screwed.

I'm actually more scared of liking something, then seeing its fandom even when small love it so much, and never see it through.

Yes, I am talking to Netflix directly actually.

[jkpng]

im so fucking tired man i need him gone i need him gone immediately. keep their names out of your stinking fucking mouth. hes the fucking roach of the music industry literally everyone hates his guts and he just wont die

[radley-writes]

Cannot believe that 'access to quality art and writing made by other people is a luxury not a right, and artists and writers deserve to be compensated for their labour, because as much as I believe in the ethos of UBI, we live in a post-capitalist hellscape, and creators need to eat' is a controversial opinion in Leftist spaces.

[suntails]

bad day by alvin and the chipmunks

[snebsy]

idc if it’s a tour or documentary or nord vpn ad,, just PLEASE give us sister daniel and blonde phil lesbian merch PLEAAAASSSEEE i love capitalism i love spending money please

[bittersweetblasphemy]

[h2oaffirmations]

[whispsofwind]

I know they are jokes but I still utterly disagree with the people in the Dickens December tag going "Scrooge has a point/Scrooge is a mood" etc.

Because the problem with Ebenezer Scrooge is not that he dislikes Christmas and hates people forcing it on him, or that he refuses to give money to an unknown charity banging at his door.

The problem with Ebenezer Scrooge is that he is everything wrong with capitalism.

Scrooge doesn't refuse to participate in charity because he thinks it's a sketchy business and social problems should be addressed systematically at a higher level: he simply thinks any charity is a waste of money because to him, the problems are already taken care of. Poor people should be in prison or put to work, sick people should be in prison or in hospitals or even better, should be dead, and at the end of the day it's not his problem because he worked his whole life and he is perfectly fine and people die every day, so who cares.

And Scrooge doesn't shut down Christmas because Christmas is an over saturated, inescapable commercialised hell that he doesn't believe in. He hates Christmas because he dislikes anything even vaguely joyous, because joy doesn't bring money, or even worse, it requires money to be spent.

The only thing that counts to Scrooge when the reader meets him is to make money, and that drive shuts down any compassion in his heart. The more money he makes, the more miserable he becomes, and the more miserable he is, the more money he wants. Christmas is just a symbol of how utterly devoid of... Well, anything, Scrooge is.

Love is ridiculous, anything that makes anyone happy is useless because it distracts them from earning more money, and if you are poor it's your fault for not working hard enough.

And that's why the contrast with his nephew and employee in these first 3 entries work so well: because here's a man who married for love, and is as warm and ruddy as a candle in winter, and here's a man who would stop to play with the children in the street on his way home, just for the joy of it.

And then there's Scrooge.

[snarkspawn]

light of kshahrewar ✨

[dragongirltail]

Every time I'm reminded of Spotify I just wanna chew my table, how do you people still use that shit whyyyyy

Go torrent or stream via bandcamp or anything that's not the algorithm fed DRM machine where your money doesn't even support the artist

PLEASE

[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?