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Cake day: June 9th, 2023

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  • I mean, that’s such a broad take, any system can change, doesn’t mean it’s inevitable

    It also doesn’t mean that they’re all the same system. So, if capitalism is one of the many systems that can backslide into authoritarianism doesn’t mean that authoritarianism is a part of capitalism, despite your claim to the contrary.

    We have had systems of feudalism and monarchies that have stayed steady for hundreds of years. In pre history, people lived in communes for thousands of years.

    Yes, in the modern world things change much more quickly. Technologies didn’t change for thousands of years. That meant that the number of people a farmer or a plot of land could feed stayed constant for thousands of years. That meant the maximum size of a city was pretty constant. That dictated the kinds of governments that were stable.

    It was technology that has made systems unstable, not capitalism.


  • You’re claiming that if capitalism tends to backslide into X, then X is part of capitalism. My point is that every system can backslide into something more primitive where a strong man makes the rules. They’re not all the same, so your idea that X is an inevitable part of capitalism is wrong. Capitalism is what we call it when it has a certain set of characteristics. If it no longer has those characteristics it’s no longer capitalism.

    I’m claiming that capitalism in particular is one of the most corruptible systems

    And you’re wrong. There’s nothing about capitalism that makes it more corruptible than feudalism or oligarchy. In fact, those systems are much more corrupt in general.

    It tries to harness the power of greed and turn it into positive sum games

    Whereas feudalism doesn’t even try to do that. It just skips the positive sum games part and accepts greed. At least with capitalism there’s an attempt to make things better.

    I think greed driving society maximizes corruption

    Maximizes corruption? You think capitalism is more corrupt than a strong man system where everybody is forced to constantly flatter and pay tribute to the strong man? A system where the rules are whatever the strong man says, so bribery is baked into everything?

    think we should replace that with something else

    Sure, let’s do it, what do you propose? And how do we get there from here?


  • Nothing is inevitable. Backsliding is always common. Most forms of government tend to backslide towards a strong-man at the top who is above the law. This is exactly what’s happening with the American democratic republic that was previously a mix of capitalism and socialism. That doesn’t mean that a strong man is a natural element of capitalism or democracy or republics or socialism or capitalism. It’s that a strong man who’s above the law is a common feature of human communities.

    Pretty much every form of government that allows for more participation by the people being governed tries to put constraints on the rulers. The US called theirs “checks and balances”. The British started with the Magna Carta.

    It’s like saying you like playing monopoly but then after all the properties are bought out you turn around and say it’s no longer monopoly.

    You’re talking about monopoly, the board game, previously called “the landlord’s game”, a game designed to teach about the dangers of monopolies?


  • It’s not baffling when you realize that there are only 2 remaining car manufacturers in the US, and fewer than 20 worldwide.

    Look at the number of car companies established just in 1900:

    • Auburn: 1900 to 1937
    • California Automobile Company: 1900 to 1902
    • Massachusetts Steam Wagon Company: 1900 to 1901
    • Dodge: 1900 to 1928
    • Friedman Automobile Company: 1900 to 1903

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Vehicle_manufacturing_companies_established_in_1900

    When there are only 2 manufacturers in a space, it’s no surprise if they ignore certain consumers. If there were a hundred different manufacturers like there were in the early 1900s, then there would almost certainly be someone offering something closer to what you want.



  • But then they have the audacity to FORCE us all into it by outright destroying anything else

    That’s because there’s no competition. Capitalism requires competition. Adam Smith thought it was the job of the state to step in and ensure that monopolies were broken up so that capitalism could work.

    You cannot buy a good car anymore

    There are only 2 US car manufacturers, 3 if you want to count Tesla.

    rolling malware that is unfixable by the user

    Because they’re weaponizing section 1201 of the DMCA to prevent people from competing with them.

    What you hate isn’t capitalism, it’s that you can’t even get capitalism because the government refuses to regulate businesses. For capitalism to work, the state has to ensure that there’s healthy competition in the marketplace. But, when there’s competition a rich person who owns capital might lose. So, a rich person much prefers feudalism or a corporatocracy to capitalism.


  • merc@sh.itjust.workstolinuxmemes@lemmy.worldSpy
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    8 days ago

    The mail (a web service), the calendar (a web service), YouTube (web videos), YouTube Music (web music), Google Maps (a web based mapping service)…

    You get the picture.

    Android spies on you when you’re doing things locally on the device. But, the rest of these are web-based services.







  • Somewhat relevant: when I first searched for those videos I searched for “robot that tests Ikea chairs by sitting on them” or something. I got lots of results, but every one of them was about robots that were building furniture, not testing it. To actually get the results I wanted I needed to say “furniture testing machine”.

    So, I guess the Internet doesn’t think those are actually robots, so they don’t worry about their purpose.



  • On the subject of devices lasting a long time, does anybody remember when Ikea used to have displays in their stores where you could see a machine testing a piece of furniture over and over? Like, they had one that simulated someone sitting down in a chair over and over again, or one that simulated a drawer being opened over and over again.

    Those machines were great. They should bring them back.



  • The influencer obviously has much less skill than the boxer. But, he has been getting the best training money can buy for several years, and he’s used a lot of steroids to get as big as possible. It’s not like you or me getting into the ring, it’s a decently talented amateur boxer going up against a pro. He was trained on how to defend himself, and had the experience to do it. I think he got as badly injured as he did mainly because he acted like a twat in two ways. First, he spent a lot of the match running away, which tired him out. Second, he spent a lot of it showboating and taunting Joshua, with his hands down.

    The punch that wrecked his jaw was a clean hit that happened both because the influencer was too tired to defend himself properly, and was acting like in idiot and not defending his head. Joshua was eventually going to win, regardless. But, the influencer probably would have been less damaged if he’d fought fairly and protected his head. Then he’d have been hit through his guard, which would have been enough to drop him, but not to wreck his jaw.


  • I completely agree. He was in the ring because he was earning tens of millions of dollars to do it.

    I could imagine giving him kudos if he’d been willing to stand toe-to-toe and actually engage in a boxing match with Joshua. It would probably mean that he’d have lost more quickly, but at least he would have been trying to win. Instead he spent almost all the time running away, and when he couldn’t run away anymore he’d drop to his knees and attempt to wrestle Joshua to the mat. In a competitive boxing match I think he would have been disqualified, or at least had a major points reduction by the end of the first round.

    Look, if I were offered tens of millions to engage in a real boxing match against a real boxer, I’d definitely take it, and my approach would be basically the same: run away and try to avoid taking damage. For tens of millions I think almost anybody would take the fight, and almost nobody would actually fight to win, if it risked being hit harder. But, the difference is that I wouldn’t be the one organizing the event. I wouldn’t be claiming I had a chance. I wouldn’t be trying to intimidate the actual boxer at the weigh ins.

    The influencer hyped up the fight like he had a chance, he posted training videos showing he was taking it seriously, he used a lot of steroids to try to get as big as possible. Then, as soon as he got into the ring, he did everything possible to avoid fighting aside from leaving the ring.


  • Death is extremely rare in boxing, serious injuries are also rare. The main issue with boxers is the lifetime of getting hit tends to add up, especially hits to the head.

    Jake Paul’s jaw injury is just about the worst thing you could expect to have happen in a single boxing match, as long as the referee was competent and didn’t allow a fighter with a concussion to keep fighting.