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> If they paid them a "fair" amount of money, how did they get so fabulously rich? But even if I allow your dubious use of fair, did they really pay them all? D

by michas 13y ago

> If they paid them a "fair" amount of money, how did they get so fabulously rich? But even if I allow your dubious use of fair, did they really pay them all? Did they pay for the streets that they used? Did they pay a higher price for the fire department since they probably have a lot more, much more expensive properties than me? Did the pay the police more for similar reasons? If police, streets and so on were funded from taxes, then yes, they paid much more. If they were built by private companies - the same is true. >Did they pay their parents for raising them into privilege? That's that pure luck, agreed. But you can't punish people for being lucky. You just have wrong understanding of the concept of people being equal. We can be considered equal in our basic rights, but we'll never be equal in talent, IQ, motivation, and so on. So if two people start doing the same thing they can have equal chances at the beginning, but will never achieve exactly the same results. One person will always be more successful than other, and there's nothing wrong with that. It is like sprinters race on the Olympic games: you have to ensure that all competitors will start running at the same time, but forcing them to also cross the finish line at the same time is just ridiculous. And that's what you postulate. > Chile was as close to laissez faire as has ever been tried on that scale. Where did their mass unemployment come from? Stupid monetary policy (fixed exchange rate between dollar and peso), which was against liberalism philosophy that Friedman tried to impose. However Chile basically continues this liberal economical politics and their unemployment rate is currently 6.1% >>In capitalism there's always more work to do that workforce available. >Ideological dreaming. Nothing more. That's not a dreaming, just a mere fact: people's needs are unlimited, we always want new cars, computers, clothes, exotic holiday journeys, etc. otherwise economical growth would have stopped once we had learned how to provide basic food and shelter for everyone (which was in late Middle Ages, i think) >Anyway, even if that's true, how about you mind your own goddamn business and stop worrying about what other people choose to do with their lives? That is just ridiculous statement when coming from your mouth: it is my goddamn business when someone tries to rob me from my money in a name of your weird understanding of "fairnes" Poor people can do what they want with their lives as long as they stay away from me.

flyinRyan 13y ago
>However Chile basically continues this liberal economical politics No they don't. They use the mix of capitalism and socialism that every functioning country on earth uses (though their settings and dials are unique, like everyone else is). >people's needs are unlimited And at some point, given enough time, robots will be able to fulfill even unlimited demands. Your world view has no answer to such a situation. >it is my goddamn business when someone tries to rob me from my money in a name of your weird understanding of "fairnes" It's not "robbing". Money itself is something the state made, so consider taxes a charge to use it. You're welcome to trade in "widgets" if you can find anyone who will. > Poor people can do what they want with their lives as long as they stay away from me. No they can't because you've bought up all the land and allocated all the resources despite using a small fraction of them.
- michas 13y ago
  > Money itself is something the state made, so consider taxes a charge to use it That's a nonsense. Money itself are not a goods, because they are worthless: you can eat those banknotes you have in your wallet or do anything usefull with them. They only serve as a symbol that allows more convenient trade of real goods. And I'm not gonna create any "widgets" to replace them, but still many people uses alternative to state made money, like Bitcoin. Thinking about money the way you think is a main reason of the current economical crysis. >No they can't because you've bought up all the land and allocated all the resources despite using a small fraction of them. Billionaires usually don't spend much on consumption, neither they keep their resources unused. Most of every billionaire wealth is his company, or companies, in which they employ thousands of people (giving them opportunity to earn for their living) and produce things that fulfill needs of millions. That's all they owe to the rest of society.
  - flyinRyan 13y ago
    > or do anything usefull with them O'rly? >They only serve as a symbol that allows more convenient trade of real goods. That sounds pretty fucking useful. >Thinking about money the way you think is a main reason of the current economical crysis. That's a rather silly thing to say. You need to step your game up when posting on HN. >Billionaires usually don't spend much on consumption, neither they keep their resources unused. Did you miss the part where I mention land? >Most of every billionaire wealth is his company, or companies, in which they employ thousands of people (giving them opportunity to earn for their living) and produce things that fulfill needs of millions. You don't have a clue what you're talking about. This is the case for billionaires that you see on HN because that's what we're interested in. There are plenty of billionaires who don't work and don't have businesses. "Old money" families.

by michas 13y ago

flyinRyan 13y ago

>However Chile basically continues this liberal economical politics No they don't. They use the mix of capitalism and socialism that every functioning country on earth uses (though their settings and dials are unique, like everyone else is). >people's needs are unlimited And at some point, given enough time, robots will be able to fulfill even unlimited demands. Your world view has no answer to such a situation. >it is my goddamn business when someone tries to rob me from my money in a name of your weird understanding of "fairnes" It's not "robbing". Money itself is something the state made, so consider taxes a charge to use it. You're welcome to trade in "widgets" if you can find anyone who will. > Poor people can do what they want with their lives as long as they stay away from me. No they can't because you've bought up all the land and allocated all the resources despite using a small fraction of them.

michas 13y ago
> Money itself is something the state made, so consider taxes a charge to use it That's a nonsense. Money itself are not a goods, because they are worthless: you can eat those banknotes you have in your wallet or do anything usefull with them. They only serve as a symbol that allows more convenient trade of real goods. And I'm not gonna create any "widgets" to replace them, but still many people uses alternative to state made money, like Bitcoin. Thinking about money the way you think is a main reason of the current economical crysis. >No they can't because you've bought up all the land and allocated all the resources despite using a small fraction of them. Billionaires usually don't spend much on consumption, neither they keep their resources unused. Most of every billionaire wealth is his company, or companies, in which they employ thousands of people (giving them opportunity to earn for their living) and produce things that fulfill needs of millions. That's all they owe to the rest of society.
- flyinRyan 13y ago
  > or do anything usefull with them O'rly? >They only serve as a symbol that allows more convenient trade of real goods. That sounds pretty fucking useful. >Thinking about money the way you think is a main reason of the current economical crysis. That's a rather silly thing to say. You need to step your game up when posting on HN. >Billionaires usually don't spend much on consumption, neither they keep their resources unused. Did you miss the part where I mention land? >Most of every billionaire wealth is his company, or companies, in which they employ thousands of people (giving them opportunity to earn for their living) and produce things that fulfill needs of millions. You don't have a clue what you're talking about. This is the case for billionaires that you see on HN because that's what we're interested in. There are plenty of billionaires who don't work and don't have businesses. "Old money" families.