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@jeffowski Good post, not related to billionairs, but otherwise a good post I wish more people understood.
You can't have billionaires without capitalism. Billionaires imply capitalism.
You can't have capitalism without enclosure of the commons. Capitalism implies enclosure.
You can't have enclosure without homelessness. Enclosure implies homelessness.
Therefore billionaires imply homelessness.
Wrong on literally all accounts...
> You can't have billionaires without capitalism. Billionaires imply capitalism.
you can have billionaires without capitalism, you only need money to have billionaires and simply having money is not enough to qualify as a capitalism.
Stalin was estimated to be worth 7.5 trillion in todays money, and that was a communistic society.
> You can't have capitalism without enclosure of the commons. Capitalism implies enclosure.
There is also no requirement for one to engage in closure of the commons for capitalism. No capitalism doesnt imply closure. One can have closure of the commons both with and without capitalism. Although generally some degree of this is a good thing anyway, so the fact that it is common both in capitalism and non-capitalism is a good thing.
> You can't have enclosure without homelessness. Enclosure implies homelessness.
You absolutely can. It is entierly possible to have some closure of the commons and still eliminate homelessness. Its also entirely possible to have no closure of the commons and still have homelessness. Having common ground doesnt necessarily mean you have the means to build a home (the resources or ability).
@freemo @jeffowski Soviet Russia was a capitalist society. There are no billionaires without capitalism.
Without enclosure there's no reliable labor force to exploit, so no capitalism. This is why there has never in history been a capitalist economy without enclosure. The fact that there can be enclosure without capitalism is a non sequitur. You're confusing my claim with its converse.
If there's no homelessness then the commons aren't enclosed. Again the argument is historical. There has never been an economy with enclosed commons that failed to have homelessness.
> Soviet Russia was a capitalist society. There are no billionaires without capitalism.
Again, wrong. You only need money, not capitalism, for billionairs.
> Without enclosure there's no reliable labor force to exploit, so no capitalism. This is why there has never in history been a capitalist economy without enclosure. The fact that there can be enclosure without capitalism is a non sequitur. You're confusing my claim with its converse.
Either you really dont understand what enclosure of the commons means or you dont understand what capitalism means.
For starters there has never been **any** form of government that didnt have some degree of enclosure of the commons, capitalism or otherwise.
Second even if you didnt have a closer of the common, you'd still need a labour force. In fact the idea that you wouldnt seems highly ignorant of even the most basic considerations, as if access to land were the only reason people work.
@freemo @jeffowski Great. Why don't you tell me what you think capitalism is. Tell me in a way that shows that Soviet Russia was not capitalist
Why don't you tell me what enclosure of the commons is, then. Also, the fact that non-capitalists may enclose the commons is irrelevant. I'm only claiming that capitalists must enclose Capitalism implies enclosure. The fact that the converse is occasionally true is irrelevant.
I shouldnt need to tell you, these terms are well defined. So it isnt something I or you get to have an opinion on.
Capitalism is where both the means and distribution of production can be privately owned, and free-markets are enforced.
There is of course some room for interpritation of what "free market" means, but generally its accepted as either unregulated, or regulated to ensure all players have equal opportunity in negotiating trade.
Since soviet russia had the means of production as state-owned it is not by definition a capitalism.
> I'm only claiming that capitalists must enclose Capitalism implies enclosure. The fact that the converse is occasionally true is irrelevant.
Still not true by the definition of capitalism. It is enclosed in all societies to some degree whether capitalist or not because it is a good thing for society, something we generally all agree on. But no there is nothing inherent about capitalism that would require it. Land ownership is **not** a requirement of capitalism by definition.
@freemo @AdrianRiskin @jeffowski
Since 1980, Bowley's Law is broken, and wealth inequality increases.
This is because business owners have been creating less value, and simply taking more as rentiers. It is a business trend of cost cutting, rather than serving the market better. It starves the flow of circulating currency, and often takes the form of reducing labor costs. Lower wages. More dividends.
Massive hoards undermine the entire economic system *if they don't ever get spent*.
Wealth inequality is not an issue, what is an issue is the quality of life of those with nothing. This difference is huge.
