Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Yanlin]

I like how people think the communism in USSR was communism. It wasn't. It was VERY fake. If anything, it was hardcore capitalism. Except the government was the only corporation.

[Creamcorn]

I like how people think the communism in USSR was communism. It wasn't. It was VERY fake. If anything, it was hardcore capitalism. Except the government was the only corporation.

Eh, corruption sows the seeds of destruction. If anything I feel that this is how the U.S is beginning to become, corrupt not so much in it's politics but mostly in the way that people try to run buisnesses. Than again it could just be the whole economic situation that makes it seem like this to me. Eh, theres a whole bunch of shit in this pile of shit, I guess you can only clean it up bit by bit or burn it up.

[Taniec]

I guess you can only clean it up bit by bit or burn it up.

Burn it with magma!!! Magma solves all problems.

[Yanlin]

Yes! Then when the LIBERAL revolution is over, we shall write the MAGMA CARTA!

[RAM]

lol

[Ampersand]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzSj1yNZdY8

[Leafsnail]

if the poorest people can't even afford healthcare, what's the point?

The problem isn't so much the poorest people being unable to afford healthcare, the real problem is when the poorest people are unable to afford the GDP, then suddenly your unstoppable industrial complex is unable to actually sell the stuff that it makes and your get a depression... It isn't about how desperate people are, it is about their means.

 One unfortunate thing about capitalism is that it is easy to manipulate. It would probably work fairly well if people just spent their resources making more resources and trading them around, but when people start spending money to increase their market share then you have a situation where people are receiving more than they should based upon their contributions. This isn't coming from nowhere, they are are still trading their efforts for others, but their efforts or worth more compared to absolute value, which means that they can keep getting more and more money regardless of their environment. Which is great if you assume that there are unlimited resources, but there aren't, and the more that the money is concentrated the less that the system can continue supporting people with lost of money, at which point the system fails.

Or to put it simply, capitalism is not fool-proof...

I'd agree.  There's also this sortof consensus among politicians that GDP = happiness (eg GDP is up 5% this year!  Great!  Never mind if everyone's now holed up in sweatshops!).  Hmm, that's pretty much how Stalin operated (industrialising at any human cost).

[LegoLord]

It's a better to look at GDP per Capita; that is, per person.  It's a little more accurate at rating the standard of living of a country.

[Ampersand]

GDP per capita is still going to be an average. The GDP per capita can be relatively high if there are one million people with no money and one man with one trillion dollars. GDP Per Capita, one million dollars. Sounds like a grand place.

[LegoLord]

In such a country, I doubt people would even be paying attention to GDP or per Capita GDP at all.

[ToonyMan]

Toonavilla.

The place I live.

GDP: Priceless.

[Leafsnail]

In such a country, I doubt people would even be paying attention to GDP or per Capita GDP at all.

Still applies though.  GDP is an average - a few big business men with billions each don't outweigh the suffering of the poorest people.  Noone's asking for redistribution, just a healthcare system that actually aknowledges people's right to live.

[Rysith]

GDP per capita is still going to be an average. The GDP per capita can be relatively high if there are one million people with no money and one man with one trillion dollars. GDP Per Capita, one million dollars. Sounds like a grand place.

Except GDP is the Gross Domestic Product. It's a measure of how much stuff the country produces, not the wealth of the country. GDP up 5% means that you produced 5% more worth of stuff that year, thus more productive thus good. Nothing to do with wealth, standard of living, etc. at all.

[Cthulhu]

There's a correlation, though.  High GDP suggests a high standard of living, even if it's not a sure thing.

[Yanlin]

I'm guessing China has a MASSIVE GDP then...