I don’t practice wage slavery. I do have my own business, and I don’t even have employees. I use technology and softwares as leverage.
And I’m not part of the 1% either. Far from it.
But I understand that to make money, you have to understand how money operates and work for it.
I don’t think expecting the government to pay and provide for everything is a good solution.
The gov should definitely take care of some things, but not everything. Some things should be accountable to the individuals themselves.
Cool, so you’re a self-proprietor, and still think you can magic the system into a bunch of self-proprietorships. Simply “understanding how money works” isn’t all you need to succeed, otherwise the system would work for the vast majority rather than the vast minority.
You clearly have no actual idea what Socialism is if you think it’s just welfare, it’s worker ownership of the Means of Production. Directing production towards fulfilling needs and uses, rather than the profits and wealth hoarding of the few.
You do realize Lemmy was made by Communists along Communist principles, right?
I came to Lemmy because I like the free and open source aspect of it from a software perspective.
Now, FOSS and communism do share common ideologies about collaboration, community, accessibility, etc. But they are fundamentally different.
I hope you realize that ‘business’ and ‘making money’ usually mean exchange of services. You buy something because you need it. You sell/work something because someone needs it.
Generally speaking, from a capitalist perspective, the more money you have, the more useful you are to society. It means that what you have to sell/give/work is more valuable and people need it.
Socialism isn’t all bad, but generally wants to redistribute resources to people that might not necessarily deserve it. And I think perfect equality is a hoax.
Socialism isn’t all bad, but generally wants to redistribute resources to people that might not necessarily deserve it.
Everyone deserves to eat, to have access to clean water, to have a roof over our heads, to have our physical and mental health needs met, and access to a quality education. All these are enablers to become what you define as “deserving” and are also good for society at large.
NO ONE has worked hard enough to deserve a billion dollars, and they certainly don’t deserve it because their parents supposedly did. The hoarding by those people (and IMO anyone in the “hundreds of millions” category) is the reason artificial scarcity of water, food, and healthcare exists, and why secondary education is unobtainable for many, and things like UBI and single-payer healthcare look unsustainable to folks who don’t want to support those measures anyway.
These are people who could continue to live fantastic amazing lifestyles that most of us can only dream about, even if they gave huge sums in taxes to help the common good.
You also seem to suggest that everyone who works hard is deserving. Plenty of hard working people live in poverty, and deserve the things I listed even by the most cold-hearted conservative standard.
Edit - I’m going to pick just ONE thing: UBI
In the past few years, aided no doubt by the economic consequences wrought by the pandemic, centuries of theory have at last been put to the test. A few dozen cities across the country have begun basic-income programs, and the early results have been overwhelmingly positive. In Denver, more than 800 of the city’s most vulnerable residents received monthly stipends of up to $1,000. So far the program has reduced homelessness, increased employment, and bolstered the mental-health outcomes of participants. A similar program in Stockton, California, had similar effects — the unemployment rate among the 125 participants was nearly halved. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania studying the program concluded it could have “profound positive impacts on local public health.”
https://www.businessinsider.com/universal-basic-income-works-red-state-blue-state-2023-10?op=1
https://gizmodo.com/universal-basic-income-has-been-tried-over-and-over-aga-1851255547
The biggest problem I see - folks hung up on what people “deserve.” I got news for you - no one deserves to be a billionaire. No one.
I came to Lemmy because I like the free and open source aspect of it from a software perspective. Now, FOSS and communism do share common ideologies about collaboration, community, accessibility, etc. But they are fundamentally different.
That’s all well and good, but the devs have outright stated that they are Communists and made Lemmy along Communist lines. I didn’t say that because Lemmy is FOSS, but because of what the devs have said.
I hope you realize that ‘business’ and ‘making money’ usually mean exchange of services. You buy something because you need it. You sell/work something because someone needs it.
Trade does exist, yes. That’s not Capitalism.
Generally speaking, from a capitalist perspective, the more money you have, the more useful you are to society. It means that what you have to sell/give/work is more valuable and people need it.
Completely and hilariously incorrect. The bulk of the money in society is owned by people who contribute the least amount to it and simply gain more money from ownership.
Socialism isn’t all bad, but generally wants to redistribute resources to people that might not necessarily deserve it. And I think perfect equality is a hoax.
Socialism wants Worker Ownership of the Means of Production, so the people that contribute to society can control their lives instead of working for warlords as wage slaves. As such, the workers deserve no less than the products of their labor without a parasite sucking it up. Capitalists are parasites that seek income from ownership, not labor.
What the hell is “perfect equality?” What Socialist has said they want “perfect equality?”
