Jacobin on X - "Imagine a vampire came to the New World with Columbus in 1492. If he somehow managed to earn or steal the equivalent of $1 million 2025 US dollars every day, he wouldn't become a trillionaire until about 4232 — 2,740 years later. Not even Dracula himself would be as effective a blood sucker as oligarchic trillionaires-to-be like Elon Musk."
Friend of the Talking Bird on X - "Flat Earthers have a better understanding of geography than socialists have of economics."
Epistemic Violence on X - "“if you stole continuously for five hundred years you wouldn’t be as wealthy as if you held a large stake in productive enterprises you built” that’s a pretty good reason to be a capitalist instead of a thief, thanks Jacobin!"
Kane 謝凱堯 on X - "Leftists mistake wealth creation for theft. In their zero-sum world, if Tesla didn’t exist, its billions would “belong” to the working class, never mind that it wouldn’t exist at all."
Ryan Palmer on X - "They also apparently have no concept of compounding or exponents."
wanye on X - "Leftism has nowhere to go but authoritarianism, because it demands that you ignore incentives and self interest, which no free humans will ever do. So they have no choice but to put more and more restrictions on your behavior, until finally you just don’t have a choice at all."
Meme - Putting Workers 1st: BladeoftheSun @BladeoftheS: "Many people don't understand that wealth and money are finite. So people having billions and billions of it means your money is worth less AND there is less for you. Extreme wealth causes extreme poverty and it always will. Billionaires shouldn't exist."
Left winger have a zero sum mentality. They love the fixed pie fallacy. Ironic, since they claim rights are not like cake. When there's a much better case to be made that wealth is not like cake than rights
How the Red Cross Raised Half a Billion Dollars for Haiti and Built Six Homes
Clearly, they didn't get enough money and it was the fault of capitalism, and if you ask questions you're a bad person who wants people to die
Wall Street Mav on X - "Only in America can a kid wear $150 shoes, sip a $8 coffee, and post from a $1,200 phone about being oppressed and claiming capitalism has failed them."
MC Squared on X - "Many people are convinced they need a therapist, when in reality they might just need a new economic system, and an egalitarian society that offers hope and meaning to their life"
This helps explain why left wingers are mentally ill. The mentally ill look for someone and something to blame for their problems. But it's a self-reinforcing cycle. Hatred destroys the soul.
Meme - @Batman could just use his money to fix all the problems in Gotham! More social aid and investment would solve everything without violeuce!
He does do that. He literally does that all the time. Homeless shelters, reform initiatives for ex-Cons, youth programs, these are all things Bruce does to solve Gotham's underlying social issues. Try reading an actual comic book sometime."
Why do many westerners on reddit want to see the collapse of western civilization so bad? : r/stupidquestions - "I think this is largely lack of exposure and understanding of how things have been historically. To repurpose a quote from the great work One Piece 'Children who've never seen peace and children who've never seen war have different values', except we are also talking about things like starvation aswell. There are still injustices in the world, and saying things are better than they were doesn't resolve this. However a total collapse situation isn't going to fix this."
"the mindset I have been seeing on reddit is that after the end of capitalism, everyone will be "free" with no elaboration, which sounds just like one of cults that promise eternal bliss"
"That's called "accelerationalism" Its a belief system you will find in people from across a variety of political stances. The basic idea is they think "I cant wait for society to collapse, then MY ideology, the one correct belief system, will take over!" Its a very self centered belief that you can find in left, right, and fringe political groups."
"It also shows a severe lack of a knowledge of history."
"True. It reminds me of people who dont understand logistics and seem to believe it is as simple as chucking stuff on a lorry and driving to a supermarket."
Why do many westerners on reddit want to see the collapse of western civilization so bad? : r/stupidquestions - "Exactly. I hate to be that guy but so many of these “anti-capitalists” think the fall of capitalism when result in them not working or working way less. In other words they are lazy. These people ignore the reality that stuff still has to happen. Food needs harvesting, machines need maintenance, infrastructure needs maintaining. We like electricity, plumbing, internet, etc. these things don’t magically appear. It takes people doing work to make it happen. Sometimes that work sucks or has to happen at inconvenient times. “Destroying” capitalism isn’t going to change that."
"You simply have to ask them what they will do when capitalism falls. "I will be growing my own potatoes and teaching poetry in the afternoon" No my dude you will be sent to the mines."
Meme - Nina Turner @ninaturner: "Yes, the person who makes the fries at McDonald's should be able to pay for housing, groceries, and other bills with their paycheck alone."
Major Swagger: "Then I wanna quit my job and make fries at McDonald's Waaaay less stressful"
anordinaryperson @GoodTimes2024: "If pay for work should be based on how stressful it is then CEOs need a pay cut in America because playing golf isn't stressful."
Meme - "GREAT IDEA FOR SOCIALISTS. THE ACTORS UNION WOULD BE THE PERFECT PLACE TO TRY SOCIALISM! AN ACTOR EARNING $20 MILLION COULD REDISTRIBUTE THEIR WEALTH TO GIVE HUNDREDS OF STRUGGLING ACTORS A LIVING WAGE. *Mark Ruffalo*"
Meme - Mark Ruffalo @MarkRuffalo: "It's time for an economic revolution. Capitalism today is failing us, killing us, and robbing from our children's future."
Peter Schiff @PeterSchiff: "Agree, too many getting rich making movies. Entertainment should be free, a public good. No one should profit from it. That's exploitation. Entertainment is a human right. Let's create a Dept. of Entertainment to be the single provider. Equal pay for actors and postal workers!"
Meme - Jen Kiggans @JenKiggans: "Sunday afternoons are for grocery shopping at the commissary. So thankful to the Defense Commissary Agency for taking care of the military families and veterans in Hampton Roads and around the world (and I save an average of $2 $3 off my favorite Tillamook chocolate peanut"
More Perfect Union @MorePerfectUS: "This Congresswoman is saving money at a government owned and operated grocery store."
Xavier Morocco @_Xavier_Morocco: "That isn't available to the public, charges a 5% surcharge on all purchases, and is expected to operate at a $26,000,000 loss in FY 2026."
Left wingers were claiming this showed Zohran Mamdani was right and when told it lost money saw no problem with that. They're really clueless
FischerKing on X - "The West has already conquered genuine poverty. Poor people have apartments, cars and flat screens. But what never goes away is envy, which is just rooted in human beings. UBI, even a really good UBI, will not solve this problem. And AI making everyone idle will magnify it."
Meme - Quokka: "I don't like economists"
Nicholas Decker...: "There is no statistically significant impact of income on crime. Criminality and poverty coexist because they are both caused by the same underlying traits. Giving poor people money will not make them any less violent."
"Does Wealth Inhibit Criminal Behavior? Evidence from Swedish Lottery Winners and Their Children"
Weird. I thought reality had a liberal bias
Clearly, they didn't receive enough money
RE-OPEN THE SIZZLERS on X - "That economists are often the only social scientists willing to tell people uncomfortable truths is evidence in favor of the validity of their field."
wanye on X - "Quite a lot of the progressive worldview is just simply not true. One wonders what percentage of progressives are aware of this and still believe it anyway. That’s possible. There are aspects of progressivism that are based on a particular weighting of various trade-offs and that don’t really require that you believe things that simply aren’t true; but what is that — like, 5% of progressives?"
Meme - Crying Soyjak: "RAISE THE TAXES! INCREASE MINIMUM WAGES!"
Shocked Soyjak: "Why is everything so expensive?!"
Rep. Dan Goldman on X - "If Starbucks can spend billions on buybacks and executive payouts, it can negotiate a fair contract with its workers. The “Red Cup Rebellion” is what happens when a company chooses to union-bust and retaliate against employees seeking a living wage and benefits. I proudly joined the @Labor_Caucus in demanding Starbucks bargain in good faith."
Bad Hombre on X - "You’re literally the heir of Levi Strauss, which relocated production to sweatshops in Haiti and Honduras, screwing thousands of American workers, and then infamously got caught retaliating against and intimidating workers trying to unionize in those countries."
There is a fatal clash of two ideas at the heart of Western society - "It is the cost of eggs, not the appeasement of Russia, that is undermining the Trump White House and American voters are not shy about saying so. That is because they are unabashed in their belief that the American way of life is based on an abiding principle: that individuals have an inalienable right to improve their circumstances in life by their own efforts. If they find that their aspiration and determination are frustrated by things that are beyond their control like inflation or competition for jobs from illegal migrants, they expect the government to act effectively on those problems. Traditionally in the United States, it has been believed that this was what government was for: to remove obstacles to individual achievement and progress. Much more recently the European model of state intervention and the creation of a welfare state which is designed to protect the disadvantaged and to care for those who, it is believed, cannot succeed on their own, has been brought into the US electoral arena. It is espoused by Left liberals like Bernie Sanders and the new mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, who have gained a hearing but whose ideas are still considered exotic and profoundly at odds with mainstream discourse. It is important to appreciate this because, paradoxically, it could help to illuminate the identity crisis that European democracies are undergoing. Americans who demand that the obstacles to individual success and personal advancement be removed – that it is, in fact, the most important function of government to remove them – do not see themselves as selfish or callous. On the contrary, they believe quite sincerely that they are upholding an important moral standard: individuals must fulfil their potential and make the effort to succeed as best they can in order to take responsibility for their own lives. Most importantly, to as great an extent as possible, they must see to it that their children will have greater opportunities for self-advancement than they did. That was, and still is, the great American promise. But it is not only Americans who think this way. Large proportions of the populations, perhaps majorities, of almost all the European democracies believe it too. Self-determination, the right to make your own decisions and take control of your own fate, could be said to be the whole point of a free society. Whether they would say so explicitly or not, most people feel that they should be able to take decisions for themselves about their social and economic condition – and that they should be prepared to accept the consequences of those decisions. Indeed, they believe that it is the possible consequences – the risks – that may follow from those choices which are the only things that make people behave sensibly. It follows that they resent the idea that the state should support those who have made no effort to improve their lives. They do not see this resentment as nasty or unkind. On the contrary, they regard it as a conscientious expression of concern for the longer term well-being of those who might be consigned to lifelong failure. This perfectly plausible moral view has been almost drowned out in European politics by generations of class-based ideology. The very idea of a public morality based on individualism – generally termed “selfish individualism” – was attacked. Then there was the inviolable credo that those who appeared to fail, even if they refused to try, were not to blame. Their bad choices were determined by the misfortune of their circumstances which were out of their control. In some cases, of course, this would be true – but as a general principle applied to the whole of a population it became an insidious vindictive force: all those who succeeded were guilty of stealing wealth and advantage from all those who failed. Allowing people to prosper and achieve the rewards of their own ingenuity or hard work could not be acceptable because their success created inequality and was, in effect, a form of theft from those who lacked those fortunate traits. The only decent political solution was to take some of that advantage away and hand it out to those who, through no fault of their own, had achieved less. Wealth redistribution or, as it came to be known, “social fairness”, relied on the idea that even your apparent virtues – self-reliance, responsible behaviour, determination – were actually unfair privileges. If your actions are constructive and conducive to success, that is just the good luck with which you happened to be gifted at birth. The problem for contemporary democracy is that a great many people believe this too. In fact, it is probably the case that a majority of the populations of Western countries believe both of these arguments – that people should be rewarded for succeeding by their own efforts, and that they should be penalised by having to support those who have not made an effort. It has simply become impossible for societies to sustain this contradiction any longer."
Rob Moore on X - "Socialism is when you take £10,000 from one productive person who works & give £1,000 to 10 people who do not work, and then blame the one productive person for all the country’s problems so the 10 people will vote for you Then the productive people leave & the system implodes on itself"
John Rain on X - "Having antisocial behavior is influenced 41% by genetics, according to this study published in the Journal of Criminal Justice."
Proof that poverty causes crime
Billie Eilish's $11,500,000 donation sparks confusion - "While on stage accepting her award at the Wall Street Journal Innovator Awards, Billie, 23, took aim at the billionaires in the room. ‘If you have money, it would be great to use it for good things and maybe give it to some people that need it,’ the Birds of a Feather singer said. ‘Love you all, but there’s a few people in here that have a lot more money than me. If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but give your money away, shorties.’... However, backlash bubbled when fans noted that while Billie’s speech urged billionaires to give up their own wealth, the money didn’t appear to have come from her own funds. Billie’s net worth is an estimated $50million (£38million) for her music, brand deals, and other business ventures. Instead, it’s believed a large portion of the money came from fans willing to pay extra at her tour — which she did not mention in her speech... ‘Wait what 😭😭😭 she charged her fans extra and she is claiming it as a donation as if she made it from her own pocket and personal gain,’ imalltoowell wrote."
Like with Ms Rachel, literally 五十步笑百步
Sam Schulenberg on X - "Abundance is rejected by sections of both the DSA and the establishment left because it treats policy as a tool to deliver what people need (more homes, cheaper electricity) rather than a weapon in a performative class war or a spoils system for favored interests and industries."
50 Nerds of Grey | Facebook - ""I once saw someone use food stamps to buy..." Why are you watching what other people buy? 🤔 Normal people don't do that. Please be normal."
Of course, these are the same people who keep bitching about billionaires buying yachts
Evie ♡ on X - "if you believe that someone needs to work in order to not starve or freeze to death then you’re a horrible person. i don’t make the rules"
Wilfred Reilly on X - "This guilting approach just doesn't work on me, personally, at all. I have no duty to give hostile strangers my resources, if they are ALSO so lazy and useless they might otherwise die."
To think we used to be told "the world doesn't owe you a living"
Seattle’s New Socialist Mayor Goes Full Communist, Says She Won’t Allow Private Grocery Stores To Close - "Democratic Seattle Mayor-elect Katie Wilson declared that she will not allow private grocery stores to close in a resurfaced video from September. Wilson said during her mayoral run that corporate grocery chains should not be allowed to only sell food to those who can afford it and expressed support for a “public option,” meaning that government-run grocery stores would be established. Her proposal emerged at a time when Democratic New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani had promised to establish government-run grocery stores throughout the city. “Access to affordable, healthy food is a basic right. We cannot allow giant grocery chains to stomp all over our communities, close stores that will leave behind food deserts,” Wilson said. “Together, we can build a Seattle where fresh food is for everyone, not just for those who can afford it. Food deserts are not natural, corporations create them when they abandon our communities.”"
Next step - nationalise them!
antifa🔻girlfriend on X - "boy i sure do love exiting subway stations through the emergency exit door! unfortunately i am a very slow walker and easily distracted so sometimes i look up from my phone and find that i’ve been holding the door open for a minute or more without even realizing it"
Daniel Trubman on X - ""More of the economy should be publicly owned" and "It's good to steal from publicly owned agencies" seem like obviously contradictory statements, but somehow it's the primary stance of a lot of DSA types? Sewer Socialists would hate these people."
keysmashbandit on X - "Literally why. Why. Why. Why. Why. It costs money to run the trains. They're good for everyone. Modern miracle. Under what leftist philosophy would you want to fare evade. I don't understand it."
wanye on X - "One thing you notice with communist types is that they experience a kind of mental anguish in regards to things most of us are fine with, like paying for things that they genuinely find useful and good. Like, when I pay my rent or my mortgage I feel fine about it. But they experience deep psychological torment. They’re not faking it. You almost have to feel sorry for them that they’re so bothered by such ordinary aspects of life."
The left wing position is that these things should be tax-funded, but they have no answer to the death spiral where higher and higher taxes are imposed on fewer and fewer productive activities, since they want more of the economy to be public
Why do right wingers vote against their self-interest more than left-wingers? : r/AskSocialScience - "This isn't really answerable unless you clearly define what "one's self interest is." If a left wing movie star votes for higher taxes, it's not in their immediate financial interest but might be in their long term financial interest or might be indirectly in their interest if it helps their community. If a right wing business tycoon votes for lower taxes, it might be in order to give more money to charity to help their community or to hire more workers in their community, etc. So what kind of interests are we talking about? Moral? Financial? Structural? Who are we talking about? The wealthy? The poor? Specific racial or ethnic groups? And are we talking about short term interests? Long term interests? Direct effects? Indirect effects? Even getting much more specific like this, it would be hard to establish even your premise, but at least it would approach answerability. As a case in point, here's an attempt to analyze self interests by political party for just housing policies: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/711717 If you even just read the abstract, you'll get the idea that decision making when voting is far more complicated than simply being for it against one's self interests."
Meme - Rock @TheCensoredRock: "Me going to work everyday and paying for my own shit doesn't make me "lucky""
Liberal Jane @liberaljanee: "You are not 'better' than someone on welfare - just *luckier*"
Left wingers don't believe the "oppressed" have agency
Craig Weiss on X - "imho, when you hit $1B+ net worth, you are morally obligated to serve the human race"
Bojan Tunguz on X - "imho, if your $1B+ net worth was achieved through a successful business, then you have already served the human race more impactfuly than the 99.9999% of all humans who have ever lived. and far, far more than all the petty grandstanders."
Wall Street Mav on X - "“ if you are getting 85% of your needs met through food stamps, Medicaid and rent subsidies, and then someone offered you a job for 40 hours per week…” “ work 40 hours to get 100% or do nothing for 85%. People looked at that and said 85% is fine.” “ and once people figured that out, there was no way to get them out of that.”"
