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Pure capitalism and why it probably will never work.

2011-05-10 - Category: politics

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Warning: this is sort of a hodgepodge of thoughts that I'd like to spew all the sudden. That's the beauty of Facebook notes, no? So if you're not really interested in economics and social justice, then go read something else. ;-)

Every now and then, I look at the US market and it makes me feel happy, warm and fuzzy that it has the ability to "fix itself" magically after such a god-awful recession that happened circa 2008. Aww, capitalism, you work so well. On the other hand, from the other side of the coin, my good friend and really-smart-guy, Jordan Best, wrote a really good rebuttal to the seemingly beautiful and lovely pure capitalism way of thinking, which Ayn Rand was a big fan of. He uses some humorous profanity, so viewer discretion is advised. :-)

Ayn Rand is the Ur-advocate of unchecked materialism. Her philosophy, at its most bare bones summary, is a justification to be a giant dickhole to everyone else.

In Atlas Shrugged Rand establishes a binary political situation of the corporate elite, an oligarchy of railroad tycoons and industrialists (who are the good guys) and the "looters," those who are impoverished and, like the entitled parasites they are portrayed to be, expect the wealthy echelon to support their deadweight laziness.

Atlas Shrugged is simply a vehicle to expound on Rand's philosophy (plenty of scenes where characters go on protracted speeches about Rand's philosophies, some as much as 80 pages long).

So to be brief: think Gordon Gecko. Selfishness, greed, and disregard of others is virtuous. Social Darwinism is the name of the game - if you can't procure for yourself you deserve the mean life you get.

If there is one good thing about Objectivists, at least they're upfront about being douchebags. It's better than, say, the Religious Right who have made doublespeak an art form, being quite vocal about the importance of helping the poor and infirm, while simultaneously doing their utmost to hamstring the poor and skullfuck the infirm. The Objectivist would say that if the poor and infirm can't help themselves then they deserve what they get.

Reprehensible stuff, but appealing to those who want to be shitheads but also want to try sounding like there's actually a rationale behind it.

I am sort of a natural capitalist. It is just my personality I suppose. I'm sort of a natural competitor. And this is why I need to read through the opposing philosophy every now and then, to sort of balance my brain out a bit. If you get too "capitalist" in your mind, you kind of turn into an immoral, money grubbing nutcase I think. Or it is definitely easy to get that way. And this brings me to yet another thought. I've read quite a few articles lately about how humans brains are pre-programmed genetically from however their parents and ancestors minds were. It's a hardwired thing. Environment and learning only tack on a bit of "software" on the outside, but 80% of who you are is who your ancestors were and there's not a lot you can change about yourself. So, my hypothesis is that the reason some people are gun-toting, conservative, capitalist Republican types is because they have sort of a more aggressive / competitive mind and being a Republican "feels good" to them. And the same can be said for those born with a more giving / nurturing mind and leaning more towards liberalism, socialism, and being a Democrat. So which ever kind of politics you lean toward is determined by nothing more than your Myers-Briggs test results. :-) So, yeah. I hope I have helped you understand yourself. Or maybe I've just pissed you off? Yeah, my writings are always rife with assumptions and twists, so feel free to post your thoughts and any corrections to my philosophy!
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