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[Frumple]

... the point of making profit is making profit. It's not a means, it's an end. Anything else is incidental/necessarily follows insofar as capitalism is concerned. It posits that by the folks within the system pursuing that, everything'll work out (something something market forces _{don't think about it too hard, there's a reason there aren't many pure capitalist systems out there}), but the point for the capitalist doesn't really have anything to do with that.

And ninja'd, but eh.

Though there's always jonesin' or somethin', if you want to try to find other reasons. Driving your enemies before you and supping on the tears of their loved ones. Social/psych stuff.

[Rolan7]

Corporations are algorithms for maximizing profit, running on wetware.  That's the core contract between company and shareholders, the scrap of paper that runs the golem.  But what does that mean if a corporation becomes powerful enough to supplant the local government and print money?

I guess currency really just represents power.  The board of directors would continue to represent the best interests of the shareholders (including the directors who hold many shares).  Those interests would involve infrastructure, military defense, all the normal issues of a country...  But the highest priority would remain, by contract, shareholders.  More shares would mean more value to the algorithm, and non-shareholders are merely important resources...  Just like normal companies, but in a new business.  The business of running a country.

My knowledge of colonial times is not as great as it should be, but I'm pretty sure this is pretty much what happened.  Large corporations were given nearly free reign over undeveloped countries, to develop and exploit.  Sorta like a oversea vassal trade republic, in Crusader Kings terms?

[Reelya]

Corporations are algorithms for maximizing profit, running on wetware.  That's the core contract between company and shareholders, the scrap of paper that runs the golem.  But what does that mean if a corporation becomes powerful enough to supplant the local government and print money?

Well there are two ways to think about it: "we can print money now, let's print infinity money" or "we can print money now, let's minimize the amount of money in the economy, while returning more to our shareholders". Reducing the money supply would increase the value of the dollars already out there, which would increase their shareholder's effective net wealth.

 After all, the shareholders don't care if they have less money or more money (numerically) they want the value of their personal assets to increase. Hence, they still won't help the "economy" etc if a corporation gets that large: they'll just maximize their shareholder's slice of the pie, even if the pie itself contracts as a result.

[BorkBorkGoesTheCode]

I am noticing a large number of fnord popups on my computer.

Time for cleanup I guess.

[pisskop]

a ... "weathered" looking older female came by.

i was watching her.  she has a bag and a fo-leather duster on.  she didnt speak but for grunts and deaf people speak.  deaf from a young age, at least.


but, she dealt with people in wild gesticulations, ie like somebody with whom you donnt speak a common language.  when people turned away she started to sign all manners of ranting, with frantic and freqent cussing.

curious that she may have been talking to herself in sign.

[IcyTea31]

curious that she may have been talking to herself in sign.

Considering people who are pre-lingually deaf are known to think and dream in sign language, it's not all that weird. It can be hard to comprehend for people who can hear, but it does make sense.

[Zangi]

Corporations are algorithms for maximizing profit, running on wetware.  That's the core contract between company and shareholders, the scrap of paper that runs the golem.  But what does that mean if a corporation becomes powerful enough to supplant the local government and print money?

I guess currency really just represents power.  The board of directors would continue to represent the best interests of the shareholders (including the directors who hold many shares).  Those interests would involve infrastructure, military defense, all the normal issues of a country...  But the highest priority would remain, by contract, shareholders.  More shares would mean more value to the algorithm, and non-shareholders are merely important resources...  Just like normal companies, but in a new business.  The business of running a country.

My knowledge of colonial times is not as great as it should be, but I'm pretty sure this is pretty much what happened.  Large corporations were given nearly free reign over undeveloped countries, to develop and exploit.  Sorta like a oversea vassal trade republic, in Crusader Kings terms?

Non-shareholders are simply resources, not necessarily important in the eyes of the corporation or its shareholders.  Resources to be managed and spent in the pursuit of prosperity/enrichment, for the corporation/shareholders. 
It does not necessarily mean those resources will be treated particularly well.  You only need to spend enough for them to keep their population stable/up and to willingly work, one way or another.  Maybe educate some of them for specialized roles.

...  Non-shareholders being the equivalent of medieval serfs or slaves is a possibility. 
And its not like the time of the trade empires particularly cared about indigenous people.  British(?) trading in Opium over at China as one example.

EDIT: Also originally came to post this:
Sexual Healing

[heydude6]

----

I don't know what fiction you've been reading, but I don't recall a situation like this. The closest I can think of is Lan from Wheel of Time, and there the sex does not work.

One example I can think of is in the "One flew over the Cukoos nest" movie, one of the guys gets their stutter fixed by having sex with the main character's girlfriend. He then regains it after the nurse promises to punish him for it.

[BorkBorkGoesTheCode]

----

I don't know what fiction you've been reading, but I don't recall a situation like this. The closest I can think of is Lan from Wheel of Time, and there the sex does not work.

Wilhelm Reich? But that is billed as non-fiction

EDIT: Wilhelm. (It was one of the Reichs)

[Tack]

The board of directors would continue to represent the best interests of the shareholders (including the directors who hold many shares).  Those interests would involve infrastructure, military defense, all the normal issues of a country...  But the highest priority would remain, by contract, shareholders.

So basically the shareholders become the new bourgeois?


Edit:
Okay this probably belongs in "random questions" but does anyone know if there's a shorter slang phrase for getting a boner from an unintentional positive feedback loop?

Like if a guy got excited every time he picked up a dog because he used to have to haul his pooch out before Harry could meet Sally.

[Rolan7]

That's exactly what I meant!

[itisnotlogical]

The Youtube ad for the Mummy resell is literally half a second of film, followed by "Please Google the full trailer on your own time" (paraphrase). I suspect this is because a trailer with a skip button will be skipped by literally everyone, so they shorten it to the point that it's over before you even think of skipping it.

[Yoink]

Ok SERIOUSLY!!! Fiction really REALLY needs to retire this

No, Neo, it/they don't. It's fiction, they can write whatever they want.
Now, if there are non-fiction guides to sexual healing popping up and causing horribly unhealthy, well, views, that could be a problem. But fiction? Fiction has no limits, fiction is anything. You could write something totally crazy, like a picture book about an, an elephant, who has... lost his balloon! Oh no! Where could it be? Oh wait, the monkey has it! Up in the tree! Let's all go drink lemonade.

[overseer05-15]

Edit:
Okay this probably belongs in "random questions" but does anyone know if there's a shorter slang phrase for getting a boner from an unintentional positive feedback loop?

Like if a guy got excited every time he picked up a dog because he used to have to haul his pooch out before Harry could meet Sally.

Yeah it's 'the Pavlovian'

[hector13]

Ok SERIOUSLY!!! Fiction really REALLY needs to retire this

No, Neo, it/they don't. It's fiction, they can write whatever they want.
Now, if there are non-fiction guides to sexual healing popping up and causing horribly unhealthy, well, views, that could be a problem. But fiction? Fiction has no limits, fiction is anything. You could write something totally crazy, like a picture book about an, an elephant, who has... lost his balloon! Oh no! Where could it be? Oh wait, the monkey has it! Up in the tree! Let's all go drink lemonade.

Then you go to sleep and win some money from your friend 'cause she's not friends with her old friends no more.