International Oligarchy is not just a Russian phenomenon. It exists right here in the USA.

[filthybliss]

For whatever reason people go mental when it comes to Sanders having accumulated some wealth after working forever as a politician and writing books. He advocates for economics more akin to northern Europe and people think there aren't millionaires or wealthy people in northern Europe or you can't get rich in an economy tilted a bit more socialist. It's really weird and amateurish thinking.

Being successful within in a system doesn't mean that you can't critique it. That's like saying that the white people that protested against Jim Crowe Segregation were hypocrites....

There are better reasons to not be a fan of Bernie....But, I am not starting another left civil war.

 

[heloder]

For whatever reason people go mental when it comes to Sanders having accumulated some wealth after working forever as a politician and writing books. He advocates for economics more akin to northern Europe and people think there aren't millionaires or wealthy people in northern Europe or you can't get rich in an economy tilted a bit more socialist. It's really weird and amateurish thinking.

I genuinely believe a major part of the problem is simply how bad most Americans are at math. They think a million and a billion and a trillion are all pretty much the same. They have no level of comprehension when it comes to the level of wealth a few hundred people in this country possess. If you put the richest 400 Americans on a passenger jet, that jet would contain more wealth than the bottom 200 million people in this country combined. That's just about the population of every state in the US apart from California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

400. Wealthier than 44 states worth of people.

Our economic system is broken, and Trump and his billionaire buddies are about to absolutely rob this country blind, while 77 million indigent cretins cheer them on. If that's not a perfect encapsulation of what America has become, I don't know what is.

 

[Sinister]

Being successful within in a system doesn't mean that you can't critique it. That's like saying that the white people that protested against Jim Crowe Segregation were hypocrites....

There are better reasons to not be a fan of Bernie....But, I am not starting another left civil war.

They're just conditioned to believe that the ONLY people who have these criticisms are failures. It's the running theme of suggesting that they are the arbiters of their own misery. Because that's the kind of sh*t people who pick your pocket want you to believe.

 

[Sinister]

Being successful within in a system doesn't mean that you can't critique it. That's like saying that the white people that protested against Jim Crowe Segregation were hypocrites....

There are better reasons to not be a fan of Bernie....But, I am not starting another left civil war.

If we dont critique each other earnestly, we wont get any better.

 

[DoctorTaco]

I genuinely believe a major part of the problem is simply how bad most Americans are at math. They think a million and a billion and a trillion are all pretty much the same. They have no level of comprehension when it comes to the level of wealth a few hundred people in this country possess. If you put the richest 400 Americans on a passenger jet, that jet would contain more wealth than the bottom 200 million people in this country combined. That's just about the population of every state in the US apart from California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

400. Wealthier than 44 states worth of people.

Our economic system is broken, and Trump and his billionaire buddies are about to absolutely rob this country blind, while 77 million indigent cretins cheer them on. If that's not a perfect encapsulation of what America has become, I don't know what is.

Bernie could be worth 5 million and it’s a nickle to elons 500 bucks.

 

[DoctorTaco]

Relevant;

 

[Deleted member 577981]

That's a lot of books bro. And a lot of people buying a lot of books. Imagine the capital needed to be floating fluidly in society to ensure everybody has a couple million by 70 from writing a book. Or doing anything.

Sounds like that utopia would require a helluva lot of principal from capitalist methodology.

it would... you are correct about that. where you are sadly under educated is that Bernie believes in that capitalist methodology. you guys not knowing that is why you embarrass yourselves daily when you speak about him. its a case of you having alternative facts and not knowing that.

also if you make 170000 a year its hard to not have a million dollars by the time you are Bernie's age which is 83 btw. I already do (nearly at leaste) and I'm only 52 AND I do half of my work pro Bono.

now add his wife's salary and see what happens.....

 

[Deleted member 577981]

delete

 

[Fox by the Sea]

Comical misunderstanding of what leftism or rightism is. If you want heirarchies maintained, you are a rightist. The wealthy want to remain on top and dont want to be challenged, they also want limitations of political engagement of the citizenry.

Thats rightism by definition

wait, you actually believe the left doesn't want hierarchies?
what left are you talking about that doesn't?
has that type of left ever existed or is that only a theoretical scenario?

 

[Sinister]

wait, you actually believe the left doesn't want hierarchies?
what left are you talking about that doesn't?
has that type of left ever existed or is that only a theoretical scenario?

Leftism, by definition, is egalitarianism. But rightists have always propagandized people away from leftism by accusing the left of doing sh*t they do.

Now if you're referring to authoritarians who establish a very distinct caste system in their societies while calling themselves "leftists" then what I'm saying is those people are lying. Like Kyrsten Sinema lied about being Progressive, like Federman did. Like how Hitler joined a Socialist party then wacked the actual socialists and people, to this day, keep saying Nazis were socialists.

Nazis were corporatists who immediately courted the wealthy then second they got into power. Hence, fascism, the marriage of Government and Corporation.

 

[Fox by the Sea]

Leftism, by definition, is egalitarianism. But rightists have always propagandized people away from leftism by accusing the left of doing sh*t they do.

Now if you're referring to authoritarians who establish a very distinct caste system in their societies while calling themselves "leftists" then what I'm saying is those people are lying. Like Kyrsten Sinema lied about being Progressive, like Federman did. Like how Hitler joined a Socialist party then wacked the actual socialists and people, to this day, keep saying Nazis were socialists.

Nazis were corporatists who immediately courted the wealthy then second they got into power. Hence, fascism, the marriage of Government and Corporation.

I asked you to give me an example of such a "left" that has thecharacteristics you mentioned and actually existed in real life.
Just one example of a working society that uses that system over a meaningful period of time.
Just one.

 

[Deleted member 592570]

We had a billionaire putting millions of dollars into a presidential candidate's campaign. Of course this should be a concern.

George Soros?
Bill Gates?
Michael Bloomberg?

All donated tens of millions to Kamala.

 

[badascan]

It's always been and always will be this way, most people have no ability to think objectively or to be honest or have any ability to self reflect or to ultimately take control their reality and recognize what's to their benefit and their detriment. Sadly we have to be controlled... Are you part of your problem?

 

[Sinister]

I asked you to give me an example of such a "left" that has thecharacteristics you mentioned and actually existed in real life.
Just one example of a working society that uses that system over a meaningful period of time.
Just one.

Leftism isnt a system of social organization, it's just a principal that says you're no better than anyone else because you fell out of a more convenient vagina. That's what rightists cant comprehend because they desperately want heirarchichal order so they know who to applaud and who to look down on. Societies have aspects of leftism such as democracy, where in theory there's no permanent ruling class, you can cycle out representatives as you see fit. Though sooner or later rightists will always start slandering democracy when they're unpopular and suggesting things like democratically electing autocrats should be ok.

The moment you implement functioning democracy, equal protection under the law, progressive taxation, a healthy welfare state, those are leftist principals because they're based on the idea that no one gets treated better than anyone else. The moment you erode those things to implement even a semi-permanent ruling class whose top priority is maintaining a perceived heirarchy, that's rightism.

 

[Fox by the Sea]

Leftism isnt a system of social organization, it's just a principal that says you're no better than anyone else because you fell out of a more convenient vagina. That's what rightists cant comprehend because they desperately want heirarchichal order so they know who to applaud and who to look down on. Societies have aspects of leftism such as democracy, where in theory there's no permanent ruling class, you can cycle out representatives as you see fit. Though sooner or later rightists will always start slandering democracy when they're unpopular and suggesting things like democratically electing autocrats should be ok.

The moment you implement functioning democracy, equal protection under the law, progressive taxation, a healthy welfare state, those are leftist principals because they're based on the idea that no one gets treated better than anyone else. The moment you erode those things to implement even a semi-permanent ruling class whose top priority is maintaining a perceived heirarchy, that's rightism.

This rambling isn't an answer to my question.

CAN YOU NAME A REAL, EXISTING SYSTEM THAT APPLIES THE REQUIREMENTS YOU PRESENT INTO A FUNCTIONING SOCIETY?

if your next reply doesn't present a direct answer, and not some copy pasted rambling from yoga moms blogs, i'll just assume you're full of shit and completely ignorant of real, actual human history.

 

[Deleted member 592570]

Leftism isnt a system of social organization, it's just a principal that says you're no better than anyone else because you fell out of a more convenient vagina.

I'm sure your mom would love to hear how unlucky you think you are for being her son.

Jesus dude...

 

[Jack V Savage]

It did not. This "inequality" trend is ancient. Probably started around the time we figured out agriculture, or before, and accelerated with every other epochal advancement to society (ex. modern banking, industrialization).

Even among modern inequality inflation spiked first under Carter, and so did the explosive gap in wealth share. But that means nothing. All that really happened was everything began to globalize.

Partial credit here. Inequality was way down from 1930 to 1970. Started trending up everywhere in the developed world in the early '70. Not ancient. Globalization plausibly could have made some contribution, but it's not plausible that it was most of the story. Reagan/Thatcher-type policies leaned into the trend, but also can't be much of the explanation. Weakened unions, same (that is, you can see how it could have contributed but it doesn't explain the magnitude, and the timing is wrong for it to be a major cause).

 

[Deleted member 592570]

This rambling isn't an answer to my question.

CAN YOU NAME A REAL, EXISTING SYSTEM THAT APPLIES THE REQUIREMENTS YOU PRESENT INTO A FUNCTIONING SOCIETY?

if your next reply doesn't present a direct answer, and not some copy pasted rambling from yoga moms blogs, i'll just assume you're full of shit and completely ignorant of real, actual human history.

What's so hard to understand? People who get up and work hard every day shouldn't be treated any better than drug addicted criminals. Duh!

 

[Sinister]

This rambling isn't an answer to my question.

CAN YOU NAME A REAL, EXISTING SYSTEM THAT APPLIES THE REQUIREMENTS YOU PRESENT INTO A FUNCTIONING SOCIETY?

if your next reply doesn't present a direct answer, and not some copy pasted rambling from yoga moms blogs, i'll just assume you're full of shit and completely ignorant of real, actual human history.

"I'm going to pretend you didnt cite specific examples of egalitarianism and substitute aggravation for argument because I refuse to engage with your points of contention."

You could have just said "yeah I think those aspects of social order that promote egalitarianism are bullsh*t and we are better off with heirarchichal rule."

Or admit you're too stupid to know when your question has been answered because the actual answer isnt what your algorithms have convinced you it MUST be.

 

[Sinister]

What's so hard to understand? People who get up and work hard every day shouldn't be treated any better than drug addicted criminals. Duh!

Leave it to you to argue something as smooth-brained as that criminals and non-criminal should be treated the same, as if anyone ever contended that other than you.