I learned something disgusting today

But, they have no other money.

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I am certain capitalism, in the comparison earns rather than through falsehoods extorts livings.

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Dude, you are likeable. Realistic.

If you think, for example, Jeff Bezos ā€œearnedā€ the $200 billion he was recently quoted to be worth, you have a strange definition of the tne term.

This is an individual who stole quite a few peopleā€™s good ideas, used those ideas to develop the financial firepower to shut out the original inventors, and who subjected workers in his ā€œfulfilment centresā€ to conditions one step removed from a concentration camp. People have died working for Bezos.

Pretty much none of the corporate decabillionaires and beyond actually earned their money. They acquired their mansion, private jet and yacht collections by luck or by screwing the workforce.

To put matters in perspective, Bezos is now so rich, he can afford to buy his own nuclear powered AND nuclear armed blue water navy, and still have enough money left over to live a life of nonstop decadence and hedonism until he dies. Heā€™s fully fifteen times richer than a mythical dragon sleeping on an actual mountain of gold.

This is an individual who is rich enough to buy his own personal African country.

No way was that vast continent of loot ā€œearnedā€.

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Huh? What theā€¦ Seriously? :astonished:ā€¦ Damn, where did I go wrong? What in the world could I have possibly said to make ANYBODY think that? :thinking:ā€¦ Oh, wait. I get it! Cog put you up to this, didnā€™t he? Or was it Old Man? Although, it could have been Skrit, I suppose. Hell, wouldnā€™t surprise me if they ALL suckered you into telling me that. @Cognostic @Old_man_shouts_at_cl @skriten Okay, guys. Very funny. Messing with Phil like that. Ha-ha-haā€¦ Thatā€™s a good one. You almost had me. Nice try, but not quite good enough. Oh, and no hard feelings, Phil. I forgive you. Word of advice, though, if I may. Never listen to those jokers. They will get you in trouble every time.

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It getā€™s worseā€¦ We even convinced him to build a statue of you in a Chicago park.
image

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Uh huhā€¦same old story, blame the innocentā€¦far be it from me to ever utter a syllable of a disparaging comment directed towards such an exemplary specimen of a mechanical manifestationā€¦

Edit (only a defective pile of discarded junk with fermented nog for a brain would think such a thing)

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No man. Realism, religion can make people do things the sleaziest whore would find morally objectionable. In addition, for practical reasons she at least earns her own living. A quarter at a time, sheā€™s still more human than delusional groups bending unreasoning ā€˜Godā€™ to their whim. You may get something you wanted from the whore. Nothing from ā€˜Godā€™. Limitless problems from groups of believers. Overall the whore is just a better person.

Fiction in place even of anecdote is not persuasive. Iā€™m not hesitant to admit what people will do for second hand money is often questionable to criminal, but where compared to demanding second hand money through patent deceit and thinly veiled threats is in no way, nor at any time a virtue. Religion is the root of all totalitarianism.

Furthermore, the world touting socialism (another bastard offspring of thy brotherā€™s keeper) while damning Capitalism as Fascist (Socialism is its origin) where inadequately contested has gone from concentration camps to concentration to refrigeration camps.

I wonder what kind of PC response would be demanded from ubergruppen if I wore a tee stating ā€œHelping to Keep Women and Children Out of Dim Sumā€.

a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state.

I would disagree: Kim, Jong-un (North Korea - is a god to his people.)
Mao Zedong was a God to millions of Chinese.

Other totalitarian leaders require ā€˜beliefā€™ in their system of government (religious zeal) as in the Nazi Movement, to get good people to do horrible things. (No one is rationally thinking, if we butcher half a million Jews the world is going to be a better place. This sort of thought takes religion.

Not sure what you are alluding to: Prosperous socialist countries include: Iceland, Spain, Ireland, Netherlandsā€¦

Dim sum is a large range of small Cantonese dishes that are traditionally enjoyed in restaurants for brunch.

Iā€™m wondering what your point is and why you have posted.

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My point is ultimately socialism and religion are all about the control of individual minds. That in efforts to control all productive aspects of Man. No unauthorised thought. No independent constructive act. All under threat of death, torture, or in the lighter cases you presented threat of incarceration, censure, persecutionā€¦ Redistributing independent virtues to subsidise the least to worst of absent human character. There exists no ā€˜powerā€™ (the goal) but the destructive. Well and good when exclusively to mitigate or curtail its own. Inherently destructive, a threat to individual and human existence when applied to independent thought or independent constructive acts. I thought it was self-apparent why I posted.

Who is doing this? Specifically. Who is ā€œdamning Capitalism (sic) as Fascist (sic)ā€? Who is ā€œtouting socialismā€?
Are you suggesting that socialism grew out of religion? Or are you suggesting fascism grew out of religion?
Are you suggesting that socialism always leads to concentration camps? If so, can you demonstrate this?
I find your post a bit confusing and, tbh, angry.

Hmm, sweeping absolutes set of my OCD, maybe religion unchecked can sometimes lead to totalitarianism and theocracy. Though of course if one believed in the abrahamic deities then that notion in itself describes what the late Christopher Hitchens described as,"a kind of celestial North Korea.

That need not be the case with socialism or religion, though in reality it may have worked out that way. I think it more likely that because humans have evolved to live in hierarchical societies, it is in the nature of some humans to want to control and seek power over others, and ideas like religions and ideologies like socialism canā€™t exist independently of human nature.

Can you even imagine an opening line to their own company execs. Scene 1 A group of white men sitting around a big oval table: Chairman: " We need to increase profits any ideas any ideas at all". Minion 1 ā€œI was reading about the catholic bishop talking about having to sell off some property to payā€¦ Anyway the thought popped into my head, if only they had insurance and well its risky but we can run some numbers. What do you think! Chairman: Um your right about the risk those bible thumping shits are worse than youth sports coaches. But as we all know the higher the risk the higher the cost and the higher the cost the higher the profits. Do it.ā€ Minion 2 ā€œI can have legal draw up some exclusion clauses. Something similar to pre condition disclosure could pretty much bullet proof usā€ Chairman: ā€œOK Go Go Goā€. :smiley:

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My first reaction was ā€œhuhā€! My second was, ā€œwow Phil derailed the thread.ā€ You seem to be equating socialism with all that is wrong in the world. Are you saying that Socialism is the origin of religion, fascism communism and probably men who beat their wife and kids. That socialism maintains a bevy of concentration camps, or are they refrigeration camps, where anyone who has an independent action or unauthorized thought are sent to be tortured and even killed. And finally that the only ism standing in the way of this destructive power is capitalism. Am I understanding you? If so then Phil Iā€™m back to HUH!

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I donā€™t think socialism actually means what you think it means. Much less social democracy.

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ā€œSocialismā€ is one of the catch-all bogeyman words used by conservatives in the U.S.

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I know. And they are woefully unaware of the disconnect between reality and what they claim.

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Yes, in the US; socialism just means something the speaker doesnā€™t like.

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Socialism is an economic system. Itā€™s about control of peopleā€™s money. All governments are about the control of social order. Which economic system they employ is a part of that order. Are you assuming some system of government does not have as its final goal, control of the population it governs?

Youā€™re weird. I gave you a list of prosperous socialist countries.

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This is an atheist forum: I am not a socialist. I do happen to believe that the USA medical model is shit and could certainly use an overhaul. I had knee surgery here in Korea, I spent two weeks in a hospital, and the entire affair cost me $800. Can you imagine the bill I would have had in America? Do you know that Medical Debt is the number one cause of bankruptcy in America?

You seem very determined in your position but also very uninformed.

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