I often daydream about how society would be if we were not forced by society to pigeon hole ourselves into a specialized career for maximizing the profits of capitalists, and sell most of our time for it.
The idea of creating an entire identity for you around your “career” and only specializing in one thing would be ridiculous in another universe. Humans have so much natural potential for breadth, but that is just not compatible with capitalism.
This is evident with how most people develop “hobbies” outside of work, like wood working, gardening, electronics, music, etc. This idea of separating “hobbies” and the thing we do most of our lives (work) is ridiculous.
Here’s how my world could be different if I owned my time and dedicated it to the benefit of my own and my community instead of capitalists:
- more reading, learning and excusing knowledge with others.
- learn more handy work, like plumbing and wood working. I love customizing my own home!
- more gardening
- participate in the transportation system (picking up shifts to drive a bus for example)
- become a tour guide for my city
- cook and bake for my neighbors
- academic research
- open source software (and non-software) contributions
- pick up shifts at a café and make coffee, tea and smoothies for people
- pick up shifts to clean up public spaces, such as parks or my own neighborhood
- participate in more than one “professions”. I studied one type of engineering but work in a completely different engineering. This already proves I can do both, so why not do both and others?
Humans do not like the same thing over and over every day. It’s unnatural. But somehow we revolve our whole livelihood around if.
Why is there so much communist content on lemmy?
Not every criticism of capitalism is communism.
But also, is it any wonder that a platform built without a profit incentive and centred around the concepts of mutual voluntary interaction rather than hierarchical control would attract a more anti-capitalist userbase?
I’m generally baffled that an anti-capitalist user base even exists to be attracted at all.
Having criticism is one thing, but this thread just reads like State Propoganda from the CCCP
And I’m genuinely baffled that anyone can still support modern day capitalism, given the state of the world.
Sure thing, man
I mean no way are you better off than cavemen, hunter getherers, Cubans, Venezuelans, 1940’s Germany or the old USSR.
Medieval England, would you rather live there than here?
Where is this non-capitalist utopia that you’re thinking of when you’re saying this?
I just don’t make the mistake of attributing every advancement of human living conditions to capitalism, all while conveniently omitting all of the horrible conditions capitalism also creates.
Let me just explain something very simple here. The base state of man is suffering.
That’s our default. That’s how living works.
What our system has done is alleviate so much of that base suffering that now, we are so incredibly unused to any real suffering that we just make up things to be ‘hurt’ over.
Capitalism has removed almost all of that base suffering from your life. The ‘horrible conditions’ capitalism ‘creates’ is simply handing you much much too cushy of a life.
I mean, who had time to be offended when you’re too busy trying not to starve to death, hiding in the bushes with a spear, hoping a rabbits gonna run by.
No. Sod off with your “explanation” you condescending prick.
Literally just doing the thing I mentioned in my last comment, making “the mistake of attributing every advancement of human living conditions to capitalism, all while conveniently omitting all of the horrible conditions capitalism also creates.”
You can misunderstand how life works all you want.
Go be miserable somewhere else
I’m sorry what do you think happened before capitalism existed? Do you think that all Indigenous peoples were struggling to survive before white colonists came and enslaved them? Capitalism has created suffering around the globe.
Wait wait, do you think the rest of the world was in perfect harmony until the white man came?
AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA
Where the fuck do you think African slaves came from? Most europeans didn’t enslave them, they just bought them in the well established african slave markets after other africans and arabs enslaved them first.
In North America, do you think the indians only started scalping when the europeans appeared, or that it was a common practice in tribes that were at constant war with each other?
In South Africa a lot of the land europeans got was payment from tribes for help fighting other tribes.
Did europeans cause extra suffering in the places they colonized? Definitly.
Were those places peaceful before that? Fuck off.
Everything you’re spouting as a gift from capitalism is exactly what capitalism has taught you to say in its defence.
You’re just parroting Thomas Hobbes uncritically
Listen to some other philisophers
Oh! Yes, I also remember 10th grade philosophy class. Was it your first week this week?
Back to school is always fun
I love hearing this delusional thinking. “we actually shouldn’t complain about anything, we only complain because we have it better! So if things got even betterer, we would complain morer!! Get it?”
If you’re so into suffering, why do you want to involve everyone else in it? We want a better world. No one will force you to live happily.
Look, I’m from Hong Kong, and I despise the CCP.
This is nowhere near anything like the CCP.
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I love how the mere idea of thinking about a better world away from capitalism immediately says “communism!” to you people, and you don’t see the irony of it
It’s pretty obvious by the language you’re using that you’re a communist ‘selling your time to capitalists’ isn’t really very subtle
It’s called “describing the reality of capitalist economy” not “being a communist”
Apparently one of the instances is extremely pro communism.
Even though communism has been proven historically to be detrimental by nearly every metric. Detrimental economically, detrimental environmentally, detrimental socially, and very much against basic human rights.
The pro-communists call normal people the extremists
Well they can move to Russia and check out the result of the USSR experiment.
I know, it’s crazy. Like all of a sudden capitalism is evil. It baffles my mind. Like do people actually believe this stuff?
I’m hardly a communist but if this is the first time you’re hearing “capitalism is evil” you live in quite the bubble lol
At the very least I hope you can be critical of the system.
Absolutely not the first time, but is seems like Lemmy as a whole is very anti-capitalist. I can be critical of any system, all systems have flaws. However, I believe that capitalism is the best system there is.
OK so you’re just in an environment where a lot of people disagree. Plenty of online spaces are full of people who are like-minded to you. Lemmy is this way because a lot of anti-capitalists are drawn to the idea of decentralized federation not controlled by a corporation.
That’s what is funny, I am drawn to the idea of decentralized federation as a capitalist because I don’t want stuff controlled by the government.
I mean maybe you should leave lemmy if you can’t handle differing opinions. Reddit would love to have you.
I can handle differing opinions just fine, I left Reddit and will not be returning.
All of a sudden? Yeah, if over a century of critique counts as “all of a sudden”
Lemmy appears to be going more and more anti-capitalist is all I’m saying. There will always be detractors of any system.
Look at the state of the world right now. It’s pretty bleak - capitalism is the cause of all of this. It had its good days, sure, but in the end capitalism + greed has ruined it for everyone.
You are very much incorrect there, capitalism isn’t the cause of any bleakness you may be seeing. Greed and more importantly cronyism in the government is the real issue
Bullcrap.
Greed and cronyism which is directly incentivised and rewarded under capitalism.
Capitalism allows there to be a wealthy, ruling class that can ruin the world with their greed.
Capitalism has been evil for a long while I would say, and this has been written about for a long while now.
Capitalism has never been evil, people have been evil. Yes, that has been written about for a long time, but it seems like Lemmy has gone off the rails recently