Enjoy Capitalism!

[Aragoni]

Seriously. Go out and buy yourself a bottle of coca-cola, a new computer game and some candy. Enjoy the beautiful things Capitalism has brought us.

[Honest Bill]

Huzzah for capitalism

[kordoyn]

I'm going to buy me a GM dealership.
See if I can trade these food stamps for it.

[Apex Vertigo]

I don't get this topic... but ok, I'll do it, for you.

[Empty Pockets]

survival of the fittest ROCKS when you're the fittest
long live capitalism

[verlox2]

Capitalism's theme song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iteRKvRKFA

[Sharuk]

survival of the fittest ROCKS when you're the fittest
long live capitalism

Its also cool how you can become the fittest!

[HauptmannHP]

Shops close early here today so it's too late to buy stuff :(

[Marrik]

survival of the fittest ROCKS when you're the fittest
long live capitalism

and its even better, because we were born into it, and did jack shit to earn it, and we can still act like smug bastards, and we will never get our comeuppance!


NO COMEUPPANCE!




(not that im rich, but im rich compared to someone in say, the slums of Havana, or pretty much anywhere in Africa)

[Empty Pockets]

and its even better, because we were born into it, and did jack shit to earn it, and we can still act like smug bastards, and we will never get our comeuppance!


NO COMEUPPANCE!




(not that im rich, but im rich compared to someone in say, the slums of Havana, or pretty much anywhere in Africa)

born into it?

I'm from a middle class family, but Im working my way through college 100% on my own.

fittest because i'm intelligent, driven, self-motivated, and good looking. nobody gave me shit, im earning it.

Which is the purest form of capitalism.

[inox]

born into it?

I'm from a middle class family, but Im working my way through college 100% on my own.

fittest because i'm intelligent, driven, self-motivated, and good looking. nobody gave me shit, im earning it.

Which is the purest form of capitalism.

So if you were born in a dirt poor family in Zimbabwe, you would also be going to college 100% on your own?

[Empty Pockets]

I know a dude in zimbabwe that is.

Just find one of those christian missionary colleges that try to convert you and they'll bend over backwards to get you educated.

[inox]

I know a dude in zimbabwe that is.

Just find one of those christian missionary colleges that try to convert you and they'll bend over backwards to get you educated.

Why don't everyone in Zimbabwe do that then?

[Empty Pockets]

because they're muslim or tribal religion and are afraid of the white missionaries?

[Empty Pockets]

and wtf does this shit have to do with capitalism, anyway. the way I was born and the family i was born into has nothing to do with my successes in life, just living in a good capitalistic society did that for me.

[StainlessSteelRat]

Why don't everyone in Zimbabwe do that then?

Seems like a question you should ask them.

[inox]

because they're muslim or tribal religion and are afraid of the white missionaries?

Ok, how about Mexicans? Most of them are Christian, right?

and wtf does this shit have to do with capitalism, anyway. the way I was born and the family i was born into has nothing to do with my successes in life, just living in a good capitalistic society did that for me.

What I meant was more like this: If your family couldn't afford proper food, shelter or education, would you still be going through college 100% on your own?

[Empty Pockets]

What I meant was more like this: If your family couldn't afford proper food, shelter or education, would you still be going through college 100% on your own?

I'd have to, I'm obviously not going to be getting any money from them.

[inox]

I'd have to, I'm obviously not going to be getting any money from them.

So you would work for your own food, learn everything needed to enter college by yourself, and pay for your college stay?

[Empty Pockets]

What do you think I'm doing now dumbass?

[inox]

What do you think I'm doing now dumbass?

You skipped school and went straight to college? Congratulations.

[Empty Pockets]

more or less.

I "homeschooled" from grades 1-6, which basically meant I grew up on the internet with a couple textbooks because my lazy piece of shit hippy parents never really taught anything. Read a lot, spent a lot of time in the library, ect.

4.0 GPA.

[Empty Pockets]

Are you a christian?

[inox]

Ok, you might have worked hard with relatively little, I admire you for that. Not sure what GPA is, but I guess your number is decent since you mention it.

But if we go back to Zimbabwe/Mexico, do you think the poor children there have internet access, know how to read, have books and enough time to study sufficiently.

No, I'm not a christian. I'm an atheist.

[Empty Pockets]

Asked if you're a christian because any agnostic or athiest that believes in evolution should be capitalist.

Socialism is at its roots counterproductive to natural selection.

Sure, there's the rich kid that inherits a fortune and the genius that doesn't make it, but in most cases someone with brains and drive can make it if he's in a truely free society that gives him the freedom to make his own way. I'm a perfect example of that.

Doesn't matter where you're born, self motivation almost always gives you opportunities to improve your place in society.

My major may not be from Harvard or Yale, but it's a major I earned.

[DocGonzo]

Asked if you're a christian because any agnostic or athiest that believes in evolution should be capitalist.

Socialism is at its roots counterproductive to natural selection.

Sure, there's the rich kid that inherits a fortune and the genius that doesn't make it, but in most cases someone with brains and drive can make it if he's in a truely free society that gives him the freedom to make his own way. I'm a perfect example of that.

Doesn't matter where you're born, self motivation almost always gives you opportunities to improve your place in society.

come back to us in 10 years when you have made your million, THEN i might be impressed

what i see now is a cocky piece of bullshit who has never had it truly "hard" in his life, thinking that because he came from suburbia and had all things handed to him until he got into college, he is somehow some kind of "special"

we will see AFTER college, when that debt load is on you and you have to try and hit the job market....

like i said, talk to me in about 10 years...when you are married, have a house, as well as your college debt...

until then, you are just another snot nosed kid who doesn't have a fucking clue about the real world, or the huge advantage you have been given merely due to being raised in the US by a middle class family

[Qikdraw]

They should just legalize prostitution already. Its the oldest profession, yet not legal. WTF is with that?

[Empty Pockets]

And what I see is a cynical, angry middle aged person who didn't achieve his childhood goals and blames that on the "man", the "system", and the "establishment" like some overgrown rebellious teenager.

I don't care where I was born, I'd be workng my way up the ladder as best I could. Sure, I had an advantage being born in America. Maybe my successes are a lot better because of that luck.

But I promise you, if I was some mexican fruit farmer's kid, I'd still be finding some way to improve my lot rather than waste my time blaming the world for being unfair.

Because guess what; life never was fair.

[inox]

Asked if you're a christian because any agnostic or athiest that believes in evolution should be capitalist.

Socialism is at its roots counterproductive to natural selection.

I'm not against capitalism, I just disagree that it doesn't matter what you are born into.

Sure, there's the rich kid that inherits a fortune and the genius that doesn't make it, but in most cases someone with brains and drive can make it if he's in a truely free society that gives him the freedom to make his own way. I'm a perfect example of that.

Doesn't matter where you're born, self motivation almost always gives you opportunities to improve your place in society.

I would agree with you if every country was rich. If someone isn't able to finish high school here, they are either retarded or lazy.

[DocGonzo]

And what I see is a cynical, angry middle aged person who didn't achieve his childhood goals and blames that on the "man", the "system", and the "establishment" like some overgrown rebellious teenager.

I don't care where I was born, I'd be workng my way up the ladder as best I could. Sure, I had an advantage being born in America. Maybe my successes are a lot better because of that luck.

But I promise you, if I was some mexican fruit farmer's kid, I'd still be finding some way to improve my lot rather than waste my time blaming the world for being unfair.

Because guess what; life never was fair.

get glasses...

i'm pretty pleased with my life, and don't suffer from any of your projected difficulties

and your "promise" is pure bullshit

here's the challenge if you think you are up to it...take the summer and a hundred bucks...travel deep into Mexico, or even a very rural area in the Rust belt...until that hundred bucks is gone

start there, and live with NO bank account, money from mommy, things you could hock...any of it, until school starts again

now do that from the age of 13, and then you might have a clue where i'm coming from...but you can't, and i defy you to even attempt it for a few months

but you keep running your childish mouth about things you know nothing about because you think you are "special" when the reality is you are just a lump of shit waiting to die like all the rest of humanity since the beginning of Time

enjoy your day, nublet

[Chernobog]

more or less.

I "homeschooled" from grades 1-6, which basically meant I grew up on the internet with a couple textbooks because my lazy piece of shit hippy parents never really taught anything. Read a lot, spent a lot of time in the library, ect.

4.0 GPA.

Mandark? :eek:

[Khantrah]

Do you know something we don't Aragoni? Is Sweden going to invade the U.S. and steal all our capitalisms?? :ohno:

[Empty Pockets]

get glasses...

i'm pretty pleased with my life, and don't suffer from any of your projected difficulties

and your "promise" is pure bullshit

here's the challenge if you think you are up to it...take the summer and a hundred bucks...travel deep into Mexico, or even a very rural area in the Rust belt...until that hundred bucks is gone

start there, and live with NO bank account, money from mommy, things you could hock...any of it, until school starts again

now do that from the age of 13, and then you might have a clue where i'm coming from...but you can't, and i defy you to even attempt it for a few months

but you keep running your childish mouth about things you know nothing about because you think you are "special" when the reality is you are just a lump of shit waiting to die like all the rest of humanity since the beginning of Time

enjoy your day, nublet

That's strange... your overtly aggressive nature, the obvious cynicism and self-hated that's obvious in so many of your posts through the way you approach other people online whenever you disagree with them for whatever reason, your distrust of the establishment...none of that points to a happy person.

But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

Your challenge? lump of bullshit.

Nobody lives in a vacuum. nobody. Even the poorest manual laborers in Ecuador have people they know, things they can do to improve their life.,

unless you're going to tell me that no matter how hard you work or what you do, if you're born in a poor country you're fucked, and if that's the case i'm calling bullshit.

I would ask again what poor, poor Zimbabwe has to do with American capitalism and its effectiveness, and how come every poor and undeveloped nation out there is automatically considered a capitalist nation, when no matter what fucking government system you put on Africa, for example, it's going to be a hellhole.

but I'll probably get generic greed rhetoric about how we're abusing Africa for economic gain or some random shit, and I'd rather not get into another long and pointless argument that goes nowhere.

[DocGonzo]

That's strange... your overtly aggressive nature, the obvious cynicism and self-hated that's obvious in so many of your posts through the way you approach other people online whenever you disagree with them for whatever reason, your distrust of the establishment...none of that points to a happy person.

But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

Your challenge? lump of bullshit.

Nobody lives in a vacuum. nobody. Even the poorest manual laborers in Ecuador have people they know, things they can do to improve their life.,

unless you're going to tell me that no matter how hard you work or what you do, if you're born in a poor country you're fucked, and if that's the case i'm calling bullshit.

I would ask again what poor, poor Zimbabwe has to do with American capitalism and its effectiveness, and how come every poor and undeveloped nation out there is automatically considered a capitalist nation, when no matter what fucking government system you put on Africa, for example, it's going to be a hellhole.

but I'll probably get generic greed rhetoric about how we're abusing Africa for economic gain or some random shit, and I'd rather not get into another long and pointless argument that goes nowhere.

you are indeed a fucking imbecile, aren't you?

do quote anything from me about Zimbabwe..go ahead, try it...i'll wait

................

.....................

can't find it? that's right, because i didn't

have you ever traveled outside of the US/Canada? ever been to the poorer places where the vast majority of people actually live? ever seen children actually starving slowly? ever look into the economic history that got those places into those circumstances? how about the sociopolitical?

i doubt it, just like i doubt you have ever really worked hard for your daily bread a single day in your life, or ever been in a position of actual uncertainty about the next day's meal/shelter

that's the crux of my challenge, nublet...if you are such a "special" snowflake, go on out into the real world, flat broke with nothing, and try and make something of yourself...learn some real life lessons, deal with some actual consequences where mommy and daddy aren't around to help you...

you know, something actually on your own where you are the only one you can rely on

but you won't...

but here's my cynical hope...someday down the road, some minor adversity will find you...whether it's yours or someone you know/care about..then maybe, just maybe..you will dimly remember this conversation and realization will dawn on you like a gnostic's enlightenment

but i ain't counting on it, i think you will probably remain a blind, smug, self centered consumer...buying into all the bullshit about just how "special" you are

as for yer olde Doc...you have no fucking clue, learn that and you may actually begin to really learn things, rather than parrot what you are told

[ZeaL-]

I think what doc is trying to say is that you're a spoiled little shit, and that your opinion doesn't matter until you support yourself and live outside of your comfortable life thanks to your parents.

[DocGonzo]

I think what doc is trying to say is that you're a spoiled little shit, and that your opinion doesn't matter until you support yourself and live outside of your comfortable life thanks to your parents.

omfg...someone who can not only read, but comprehend what's typed?

oh...wait, yer from NYC...

explains a lot...greetings from down the Shore (now in Maine)

but i digress...

[Honest Bill]

born into it?

I'm from a middle class family, but Im working my way through college 100% on my own.

fittest because i'm intelligent, driven, self-motivated, and good looking. nobody gave me shit, im earning it.

Which is the purest form of capitalism.

What so you were born in to a middle class family in a capitalist society, yet you weren't "born into it" ?

That's as "born into it" as one can possibly get

[Strangia]

Asked if you're a christian because any agnostic or athiest that believes in evolution should be capitalist.

Socialism is at its roots counterproductive to natural selection.

Sure, there's the rich kid that inherits a fortune and the genius that doesn't make it, but in most cases someone with brains and drive can make it if he's in a truely free society that gives him the freedom to make his own way. I'm a perfect example of that.

Doesn't matter where you're born, self motivation almost always gives you opportunities to improve your place in society.

My major may not be from Harvard or Yale, but it's a major I earned.

You don't understand natural selection.....

Capitalism is an economic system. When Darwin came up with natural selection, I don't think he meant that those with 6 digit salaries were "fittest". You do realize "fittest" means "able to reproduce with the most surviving offspring", right? It doesn't mean "strongest" or "fastest" or "smartest", it means "able to have the most offspring". In the end, survival of the fittest is related to the passing of genetic material, not success as a species, and that goes back to the phrase that "there is no positive or negative evolution, just evolution".

Your thought that capitalism is a form of evolution comes from the likes of Andrew Carnegie. Lets just say, he wasn't the most scientific person.

I won't deny that capitalist societies have plenty of opportunity, especially American society. But don't ever suggest that capitalism is a form of natural selection.

[myrmex]

getting out of poverty is about the same ratio as being picked by a nba/nhl recruiter and given a 1 million a year contract.

Only when you hit the bottom can you see how deep the well is.

[Empty Pockets]

you are indeed a fucking imbecile, aren't you?

do quote anything from me about Zimbabwe..go ahead, try it...i'll wait

................

.....................

can't find it? that's right, because i didn't

have you ever traveled outside of the US/Canada? ever been to the poorer places where the vast majority of people actually live? ever seen children actually starving slowly? ever look into the economic history that got those places into those circumstances? how about the sociopolitical?

i doubt it, just like i doubt you have ever really worked hard for your daily bread a single day in your life, or ever been in a position of actual uncertainty about the next day's meal/shelter

that's the crux of my challenge, nublet...if you are such a "special" snowflake, go on out into the real world, flat broke with nothing, and try and make something of yourself...learn some real life lessons, deal with some actual consequences where mommy and daddy aren't around to help you...

you know, something actually on your own where you are the only one you can rely on

but you won't...

but here's my cynical hope...someday down the road, some minor adversity will find you...whether it's yours or someone you know/care about..then maybe, just maybe..you will dimly remember this conversation and realization will dawn on you like a gnostic's enlightenment

but i ain't counting on it, i think you will probably remain a blind, smug, self centered consumer...buying into all the bullshit about just how "special" you are

as for yer olde Doc...you have no fucking clue, learn that and you may actually begin to really learn things, rather than parrot what you are told

and here we go on the official DocGonzo ad hominem barrage, proving yet again that he's fundamentally uncapable of following implication and the flow of a conversation.

the entire premise of your "argument" that situations in poorer countries are completely out of the hands of the people living in it, which plays back to my earlier discussion about Zimbabwe and the direction that lead the discussion which you entered so eloquently with your long list of personal attacks moments later.

with my comment about Zimbabwe metaphorically representing all 3rd world countries.

But basic reading comprehension completely flies over your head, appearently.

your assumptions about my supposedly "easy" life, completely unfounded, considering that I haven't spoken with my parents since before my 17th birthday and have been independent of their financial aid my entire college life.

Easier than life in Sudan? Maybe, but it's not easy, and your overgeneralization of my nature based on nothing more than the nation of my birth is simply cultural hatred for a society based on individual responsibility, which with all its flaws has proven its effectiveness.

this fight is going to go nowhere, with insults flying both ways to little effect, and honestly, I do have better things to do on my weekend, so go diaf of charbroiled kittens, or whatever your favorite forum burn is lately.

[DocGonzo]

and here we go on the official DocGonzo ad hominem barrage, proving yet again that he's fundamentally uncapable of following implication and the flow of a conversation.

show your proof...you are the one that brought up Zimbabwe, not me...check the thread again and perhaps you won't project as much but actually be conversant with the facts presented

the entire premise of your "argument" that situations in poorer countries are completely out of the hands of the people living in it, which plays back to my earlier discussion about Zimbabwe and the direction that lead the discussion which you entered so eloquently with your long list of personal attacks moments later.

again, you fail basic reading comprehension and appear to have NO fucking clue as to the actual argument presented..but rather assume things based on your own prejudices and ideology rather than the objective data of what is actually typed in front of your face....learn2read nublet

with my comment about Zimbabwe metaphorically representing all 3rd world countries.

that's YOUR argument...not mine, cupcake..again, learn2read then we can work on learn2debate

But basic reading comprehension completely flies over your head, appearently.

o'rly?..i present the evidence in this thread, and am more than happy to let Forumfall decide that particular bit of your bullshit

your assumptions about my supposedly "easy" life, completely unfounded, considering that I haven't spoken with my parents since before my 17th birthday and have been independent of their financial aid my entire college life.

i make no "assumption", but rather work from your own typings...as is my wont

you self described as from a middle class background...i am taking it form your own typings that at age 17 you moved out of the protection of mommy's house and into a campus dorm, paid for by financial aid/scholarships, another controlled and relatively risk free environment that cushions and protects you from the real world in the shield of academia...you take the meal program too, i bet...or you could surprise me and tell me you have your own apartment that actually working a job off campus pays for...but i doubt it

Easier than life in Sudan? Maybe, but it's not easy, and your overgeneralization of my nature based on nothing more than the nation of my birth is simply cultural hatred for a society based on individual responsibility, which with all its flaws has proven its effectiveness.

sudan? you are pulling shit out of your ass...just like your ad hominem about me "hating" the very Nation i spent time serving in the military, but you wouldn't know anything about that ...even for all your glaring assumptions about things you have demonstrated you really have no fucking clue about...gg indeed, nublet...

this fight is going to go nowhere, with insults flying both ways to little effect, and honestly, I do have better things to do on my weekend, so go diaf of charbroiled kittens, or whatever your favorite forum burn is lately.

ah yes, do run along and once again fail to actually address any of the points made..or the challenge presented...but rather throw out your poorly aimed attacks, don't show any causal relation with your conclusions from your premise and go enjoy some frisbee on the campus green...you are only young once, enjoy the lack of responsibility while you can...the real world comes soon...even for a "special" snowflake such as yourself...

oh yes..and if you think anything i have typed in this thread is an "insult"..then you again show just how ignorant you are, if i felt like being insulting you would probably be off crying under your bathroom sink while snorting drain-o to make the pain end...

once again...this is me, being "nice"

[ZeaL-]

I won't deny that capitalist societies have plenty of opportunity, especially American society. But don't ever suggest that capitalism is a form of natural selection.

Actually his problem is that he is confusing natural selection with the phrase, "survival of the fittest," which is what he is trying to explain capitalism allows to take place. Many leftists even misunderstand this and believe that those that believe in the free-market are after creating some biological experiment with the world.

people mistakenly assume natural selection and survival of the fittest are interchangeable words except they are confusing the theory of evolution with the natural byproduct of market forces.

[SSguy]

more or less.

I "homeschooled" from grades 1-6, which basically meant I grew up on the internet with a couple textbooks because my lazy piece of shit hippy parents never really taught anything. Read a lot, spent a lot of time in the library, ect.

4.0 GPA.


4.0 GPA on homeschooling is like winning the retard olympics.

[ZeaL-]

4.0 GPA on homeschooling is like winning the retard olympics.

how so? You do know homeschooled children are far more intelligent than highschoolers at times. However, they also are sexually repressed...

[StainlessSteelRat]

capitalism is a form of natural selection.

No, but it allows for natural selection to occur. Those who succeed and reproduce are the 'strongest' (as defined by the needs of the times; physical strength means less now than before, for example).

Socialism props up the weak, keeps the old around longer. Socialism fights against natural selection.

EDIT-yes, being 'born into it' will help; but that is natural selection at work. The fittest reproduce and their offspring get the benefit of the parents fitness. If the offspring are completely worthless, that benefit will be erased over time (think Paris Hilton).

[Qikdraw]

I'm seeing a lot of the Horatio Alger myth being perpetuated here.

[DocGonzo]

i take exception to the Paris Hilton analogy...

her, and many like her..will continue on and keep breeding, because the trust fund money they were born into cannot possibly ever be spent in their lifetimes..they live off of interest, as will their kids, grandkids...on and on

it's worked for a thousand years in Euro aristocracy, because the ancestors who made it were smart folks...and the lawyers/accountants who have handled those worthless kids accounts get a piece and thus are motivated to keep it all running properly

on and on...

[Sharuk]

get glasses...

i'm pretty pleased with my life, and don't suffer from any of your projected difficulties

and your "promise" is pure bullshit

here's the challenge if you think you are up to it...take the summer and a hundred bucks...travel deep into Mexico, or even a very rural area in the Rust belt...until that hundred bucks is gone

start there, and live with NO bank account, money from mommy, things you could hock...any of it, until school starts again

now do that from the age of 13, and then you might have a clue where i'm coming from...but you can't, and i defy you to even attempt it for a few months

but you keep running your childish mouth about things you know nothing about because you think you are "special" when the reality is you are just a lump of shit waiting to die like all the rest of humanity since the beginning of Time

enjoy your day, nublet

Umm your Story is Capitalism at its finest, assumming your talking about yourself, not playing the What if Game

What if i had no legs, was blind and my dad beat me twice a day, is that fair!?

Seriously

[Sharuk]

Really people life isnt fair this thread is so full of whining little kids its not even funny, you dont care about the kids in Africa, you dont care about the poor, all you want to do is make yourself look cool on the internet, just because your not Rich doesnt mean Capitalism sucks, sucesses in life isnt measured in Money, and Money doesnt buy Happiness

Buck up if your life is hard try hard and it will get better

[DocGonzo]

Umm your Story is Capitalism at its finest, assumming your talking about yourself, not playing the What if Game

What if i had no legs, was blind and my dad beat me twice a day, is that fair!?

Seriously

silly little boy...that's EXACTLY the point i am making

you see, some folks think they are pulling themselves up by their bootstraps , Horatio Alger style...when nothing could be further from the Truth

my little "challenge" was to be actually informed about it, step outside the social safety net that has cocooned from birth, and take a little to time to experience the Reality, and thus have your opinion/ideology informed by personal experience and actual empirical data...rather than hand fed talking points

until then, some have no fucking clue and are purely talking out of their asses

i used to write a political column for an online e-zine, and i made this same challenge to an editor there...for 30 days...he swore it wouldn't be a problem for him, since he had such marketable skills

he lasted 4 days...but kept ranting, in complete denial over his own account of what actually happened and rather tried to argue that somehow the Test was to blame...the city he chose, that he couldn't use his name/degrees/contacts/bank account...the economy at the time, 9/11 and the fact he is of middle eastern descent (but is a hard core American living in Texas)

ANY excuse except that reality that the "game" is fixed , for the most part, and that precious few can actually ever drag themselves form nothing with out, yes...a lot of hard work, but most folks word hard...but a shit ton of pure Luck, whether it be a connection stumbled into, or a circumstance that appeared not from their own work...

before you can opine about shit, you really should walk that proverbial mile in the shoes you are talking about....not doing so is a common mistake among academics/ideologues and the ignorant...willful or otherwise

[Qikdraw]

For chuckles and mirth...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkeZ2P4SiY8

[Strangia]

No, but it allows for natural selection to occur. Those who succeed and reproduce are the 'strongest' (as defined by the needs of the times; physical strength means less now than before, for example).

Socialism props up the weak, keeps the old around longer. Socialism fights against natural selection.

EDIT-yes, being 'born into it' will help; but that is natural selection at work. The fittest reproduce and their offspring get the benefit of the parents fitness. If the offspring are completely worthless, that benefit will be erased over time (think Paris Hilton).

You actually quite effectively quoted one part of one of my sentences which, and left out the rest which completely changed the context...

I said capitalism ISN'T natural selection.

Also, capitalism isn't "survival of the fittest", again, in evolutionary terms, "fittest" means "able to reproduce the most survivable offspring".

[kordoyn]

Only communism can save us and keep us safe.

Go out and do a good deed for the commune my comrades.

:bang:

[PainlessDeath]

come back to us in 10 years when you have made your million, THEN i might be impressed


Marginally impressive.

To be the MAN though, you have to make a million, get married, get divorced, lose all your shit, and then make a million again.

For that, you get a handshake and a pat on the back!

[Vanno]

You don't understand natural selection.....

Capitalism is an economic system. When Darwin came up with natural selection, I don't think he meant that those with 6 digit salaries were "fittest". You do realize "fittest" means "able to reproduce with the most surviving offspring", right? It doesn't mean "strongest" or "fastest" or "smartest", it means "able to have the most offspring". In the end, survival of the fittest is related to the passing of genetic material, not success as a species, and that goes back to the phrase that "there is no positive or negative evolution, just evolution".

Your thought that capitalism is a form of evolution comes from the likes of Andrew Carnegie. Lets just say, he wasn't the most scientific person.

I won't deny that capitalist societies have plenty of opportunity, especially American society. But don't ever suggest that capitalism is a form of natural selection.

To be frank, you don't know what you are talking about. Evolution is simply adaptation, or responsiveness to extraneous variables (aka change). Passing of genetics is just a mechanism of evolution and is specific to Biological Evolution. Survival of the fittest in economic evolution refers to agents, who are more adaptive and innovative, passing down their traits and technologies. Capitalism is essentially a theory that assumes an endogenous selection mechanism and a dynamic interaction/information system. There is numerous literature on Economics as an evolutionary process. I suggest you pick up a book and learn something before speaking on the mater.

Great article for anyone that actually wants to learn something today. (http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/126/beware-the-puppet-master.html)

[Gloomrender]

Seriously. Go out and buy yourself a bottle of coca-cola, a new computer game and some candy. Enjoy the beautiful things Capitalism has brought us.

Now this is a legitimate thread!

[StrawberryClock]

To sum up Empty Pockets.

I'm a little shit who thinks I can survive anywhere cuz I am awesome. Don't marginalize my easy upbringing with realities cuz I'm a little shit who also needs to feel good about my accomplishments.

[Silverhandorder]

Fuck capitalism is dead. Fascism is the new system. Good thing I have it all figured out.

[StrawberryClock]

Fuck capitalism is dead. Fascism is the new system. Good thing I have it all figured out.

You live in New York City, therefore you were butt-raped in the past. Since the rapist's balls touched your balls, you are automatically a faggot. Due to your gayness, we will disregard your post.

[Silverhandorder]

You live in New York City, therefore you were butt-raped in the past. Since the rapist's balls touched your balls, you are automatically a faggot. Due to your gayness, we will disregard your post.

What a wild imagination you have. Speaking from experience? Mhmmmm...

[StrawberryClock]

What a wild imagination you have. Speaking from experience? Mhmmmm...

Yes, I was the one who buttfucked you and I gotta admit, you got a tight asshole.

[Silverhandorder]

Yes, I was the one who buttfucked you and I gotta admit, you got a tight asshole.

It was you??? Omg I thought it was the attack of pencil people!

[StrawberryClock]

It was you??? Omg I thought it was the attack of pencil people!

You should have done proper racial profiling and said it was a black man.

[Silverhandorder]

You should have done proper racial profiling and said it was a black man.

Then my stereotype of their genital prowess would have to considerably change.

[StrawberryClock]

Then my stereotype of their genital prowess would have to considerably change.

I just realized my joke went two ways. Rape and big dick, YEAH!

[Aragoni]

Now this is a legitimate thread!

All my threads are legitimate!

[inox]

All my threads are legitimate!

Are you legitimate?

[holychicken]

Cola as an example of the beautiful things capitalism has given us? Soda is fucking terrible and probably one of the worst things, health-wise, unleashed on the populace by capitalism.

There are far better examples than Cola. Why didn't you pick copious amounts of porn?

[Blixa]

Cola as an example of the beautiful things capitalism has given us? Soda is fucking terrible and probably one of the worst things, health-wise, unleashed on the populace by capitalism.

Shut up.

[holychicken]

Shut up.
It's the truth. Cola is nothing but garbage that idiot sheep who are controlled by advertisement drink. Time to open your eyes, son.

[Silverhandorder]

It's the truth. Cola is nothing but garbage that idiot sheep who are controlled by advertisement drink. Time to open your eyes, son.

They drink what they want to drink. Would their decision be different if they were not ignorant about the facts? Maybe. I bet in socialism they would not be able to even get the facts. If anything Cola would probably buy all the politicians and make it the state drink!

[holychicken]

They drink what they want to drink. Would their decision be different if they were not ignorant about the facts? Maybe. I bet in socialism they would not be able to even get the facts. If anything Cola would probably buy all the politicians and make it the state drink!
I'm not knocking capitalism. . .what I am doing is pointing out that it is a terrible example of the "beauty" of capitalism as it is a pulsing and pussing open sore on the ass of capitalism.

[Silverhandorder]

I'm not knocking capitalism. . .what I am doing is pointing out that it is a terrible example of the "beauty" of capitalism as it is a pulsing and pussing open sore on the ass of capitalism.

I guess, that wasn't my point, he could have picked some good example.

[Blixa]

It's the truth. Cola is nothing but garbage that idiot sheep who are controlled by advertisement drink. Time to open your eyes, son.

Yes, cola is not healthy, I'm not doubting that, I still think it tastes well and I will keep drinking it. I'm neither overweighted nor am I ill that often; I don't see any need to not drink cola. Yes, it's unhealthy, but most enjoyable things in life are. Spending large amounts of time in front of my computer (like everyone here does) is one of them.

[holychicken]

Yes, cola is not healthy, I'm not doubting that, I still think it tastes well and I will keep drinking it. I'm neither overweighted nor am I ill that often; I don't see any need to not drink cola. Yes, it's unhealthy, but most enjoyable things in life are. Spending large amounts of time in front of my computer (like everyone here does) is one of them.
I never said anything about being overweight. Funny how defensive you got about that when no one said anything about it.

Real believable.

[Ceneko]

silly little boy...that's EXACTLY the point i am making

you see, some folks think they are pulling themselves up by their bootstraps , Horatio Alger style...when nothing could be further from the Truth

my little "challenge" was to be actually informed about it, step outside the social safety net that has cocooned from birth, and take a little to time to experience the Reality, and thus have your opinion/ideology informed by personal experience and actual empirical data...rather than hand fed talking points

until then, some have no fucking clue and are purely talking out of their asses

i used to write a political column for an online e-zine, and i made this same challenge to an editor there...for 30 days...he swore it wouldn't be a problem for him, since he had such marketable skills

he lasted 4 days...but kept ranting, in complete denial over his own account of what actually happened and rather tried to argue that somehow the Test was to blame...the city he chose, that he couldn't use his name/degrees/contacts/bank account...the economy at the time, 9/11 and the fact he is of middle eastern descent (but is a hard core American living in Texas)

ANY excuse except that reality that the "game" is fixed , for the most part, and that precious few can actually ever drag themselves form nothing with out, yes...a lot of hard work, but most folks word hard...but a shit ton of pure Luck, whether it be a connection stumbled into, or a circumstance that appeared not from their own work...

before you can opine about shit, you really should walk that proverbial mile in the shoes you are talking about....not doing so is a common mistake among academics/ideologues and the ignorant...willful or otherwise

I have to say I strongly agree with you. Personally I live on two sides of the same coin; at my mother I live in an upper middle class family and have everything I need hand-fed to me on a golden spoon, so to speak. On the other side when I live with my father (2 months of the year due to geographical differences) I have a roof over my head when I need it. That's it. The change in lifestyle is enormous, but I enjoy both sides just as much, as I'm somewhat used to them. What I am not foolish enough to think is that I could actually support myself completely without ending up in debt for the next ten to fifteen years.

[Vessol]

capitalism is the only thing that makes the world fun, I can have five hookers and a bag of coke

with socialism ill be lucky to get one malnurished helga and have some bread crumbs to snort off her ass

[Black Thunder]

Smells like Bureaucrash in here.

[StainlessSteelRat]

You actually quite effectively quoted one part of one of my sentences which, and left out the rest which completely changed the context...

I said capitalism ISN'T natural selection.

Also, capitalism isn't "survival of the fittest", again, in evolutionary terms, "fittest" means "able to reproduce the most survivable offspring".

I didn't leave it out. But it misses the point b/c no one is saying that capitalism "is" natural selection. Neither capitalism nor socialism are or are not natural selection.

So what? Able to and doing are two different things. It doesn't always work out. And environment and education can overcome genetics in this day and age. Natural selection operates differently today than among cave men.

[StainlessSteelRat]

i take exception to the Paris Hilton analogy...

her, and many like her..will continue on and keep breeding, because the trust fund money they were born into cannot possibly ever be spent in their lifetimes..they live off of interest, as will their kids, grandkids...on and on

it's worked for a thousand years in Euro aristocracy, because the ancestors who made it were smart folks...and the lawyers/accountants who have handled those worthless kids accounts get a piece and thus are motivated to keep it all running properly

on and on...

She'll blow it soon enough. She or her kids or their kids. One offspring could come along and save it b/c anything is possible. But it won't last forever.

[Marrik]

They drink what they want to drink. Would their decision be different if they were not ignorant about the facts? Maybe. I bet in socialism they would not be able to even get the facts. If anything Cola would probably buy all the politicians and make it the state drink!

"But... Brawndo has what plants crave! It's got electrolytes!"

[TrikkyMakk]

Capitalism is a myth.

[Sqarak]

They drink what they want to drink. Would their decision be different if they were not ignorant about the facts? Maybe. I bet in socialism they would not be able to even get the facts. If anything Cola would probably buy all the politicians and make it the state drink!

You still confuse corruption with a political system. Corruption can occur regardless of the system. Modern Soviets might have made Cola the state drink, but the US can just as easily instate laws that are directly or indirectly more favourable for a chosen few companies.

The amount of corruption simply depends on the amount of transparency when it comes to governmental agreements.

[Silverhandorder]

You still confuse corruption with a political system. Corruption can occur regardless of the system. Modern Soviets might have made Cola the state drink, but the US can just as easily instate laws that are directly or indirectly more favourable for a chosen few companies.

The amount of corruption simply depends on the amount of transparency when it comes to governmental agreements.

Actually this is exactly what US does in most of it's law. If you acknowledge that corruption is present in every system then giving one group of humans called the government more power does not help limit the effect of corruption on society.

I would argue that transparency is needed too. Transparency is not enough. For one our honorable leader has renegaded on that promise and there is no reason to believe that a corrupt politician would not try to obfuscate the situation.

[Milo Hobgoblin]

I'm seeing a lot of the Horatio Alger myth being perpetuated here.

Because you're looking for it.

The existence of a fable that portrays ambitious, hard working people pulling themseleves out of shitholes does not deny the fact that they still did it.

And although US capitalism is FAR from perfect.. anyone who is willing to work hard, sacrafice for a few years.. not spit our babies they cant afford and work some extra hours and get a second job... can make a decent life for themseleves no matter what their starting circumstance may be.

There are simply too many examples of this to deny.

And as far as "luck".. luck only favors the well prepared. You can have all the luck in the world.. but if you have created no opportunity to take advantage of it.. it will simply pass you by.

And using luck as the basis of your arguements for success is a double edged sword.. because luck being a random event.. affects us all equally.. and as I stated above.. only those who have put themseleves in a position to take advantage of it through hard work and perseverance will benefit from it.

[Jezrith]

I'm seeing a lot of the Horatio Alger myth being perpetuated here.

Good thing it isn't a myth then...

[Dakeus]

Capitalism in Sweden? :confused:

[Milo Hobgoblin]

good thing it isn't a myth then...

qft.

[StrawberryClock]

Capitalism in Sweden? :confused:

Didn't we destroy Sweden right after Ronald Reagan won the cold war?