Should I be worried about capitalism changing? Or am I overthinking it?

[MJ DeMarco]

Is it going to ruin it for entrepreneurs in America or is this something that I’m over thinking and shouldn’t worry about?

Something to think about, but not something to block your way.

It's kinda like saying, "Why should I build a business when an asteroid might kill us all one day?"

Also, the anti-capitalists are a big voice in America backstopped by big donors and big politics. They have a big bullhorn, but they are a small minority in real America.

Also, you can shift your approach toward social entrepreneurship or conscientiousness capitalism, for instance, offer a % of profit to a cause you find worthy. This might appeal to those who think the market is as large as the bullhorn.

 

[Kak]

Loud politicians aren’t the problem. Idiot voters are.

I am concerned that a wide majority of voting public support 75+ percent taxes on the “wealthy” only basically definied as “not them.”

I am concerned that a wide voting majority supports a retroactive “wealth tax.”

I am concerned when I hear that a voting majority supports a 100% death tax.

Yes, I am concerned.... But no more concerned than I have been for more than a decade. I have always held the notion that when this country no longer makes sense for me to live in, I will leave. I control my life... Not politics.

 

[Kak]

Why these millionaires want to raise taxes on themselves

Check this pompous jackass out... The CNBC host does a decent job of telling it like it is... but wow.

First of all... This guy names his tax and spend liberal organization, “Patriotic Millionaires” as if people that don’t share his viewpoint are “unpatriotic.”

He is using his status and wealth to pontificate for “all the millionaires” his own personal socialistic political views. I find this guy morally reprehensible.

Let’s talk about patriotism.. One of the very premises this country was founded on was because of the taxation from England with no representation. It was one of the reasons for the revolutionary war.

The 99% all but admit they want to take from the 1% (steal at gunpoint). Where is the representation for the 1%? Don’t tell me it is this fat F*cker.

Now in 2019... we have ideologue billionaires like Warren Buffett literally speaking for millionaires (people worth thousands of times less than him). We have jackasses like the guy in this video thinking it is virtuous to surrender more money to a black hole, but is also too stupid to realize that there is zero connection between wealth redistribution and the advancement of society.

Very few would disagree that we have a pretty great standard of living in the USA... Possibly the best of the larger countries in the world. That said, my question for him would be this... What drove our country to this point? No one in the US needs to go hungry, very very few do. No one in the US works in working conditions like that of just 50 years ago. No one in the US is forced to work long hours. Very few that are truly willing to work are unemployed.

Employees are buying big beautiful homes with very little sacrifice, or risk. They are driving luxurious automobiles and flying on airplanes to go on nice vacations every year. They are playing golf. They are eating at restaurants. Leisure has never been more attainable and people are healthier and happier than ever before.

Ask a working class guy from the 1950s what his lifestyle looked like... It was quite different.

Did government do this? HELL No!

The reason for this constant improvement... FREE MARKET Capitalism... Government does not advance society. Evil, greedy, capitalist pigs advance society.

Capitalism begot machinery that reduced human workload.

Capitalism harnessed the energy stored in fuels to further reduce workload and light our homes.

Capitalism begot railways that spread economies far and wide.

Capitalism begot cars that made capitalist exchange even more efficient within city centers.

Capitalism made air travel affordable for the masses.

Capitalism begot technology that turned us into an information sector economy.

Capitalism has cured and continues to cure diseases.

Capitalism creates the value that employs people. Even government indirectly.

Capitalism is virtuous. Win-win, trade-up value exchanges create opportunity for everyone.

All along the way there was a producer that made a killing off of each and every one of these advancements. They deserve it.

What has the government done? Bombs people, jails citizens, blows resources on frivolous endeavors, death marches our soldiers into battle, kills (mostly minority) unborn babies, regulates and creates expensive compliance issues, writes us speeding tickets, indoctrinates our children, makes trying to “capitalism” the world forward a living hell and they charge us 40-60 percent of everything we earn for the privilege.

So much for “progressivism.”

All of this said, the facts are there... The money is much better left with us greedy capitalists.

So build... build the most audacious pile of money you possibly can. Be an “evil” producer. Capitalistically exchange your way to the biggest business you possibly can build. Along the way you will provide means for all of your employees and value to your customers and shareholders. The value you provide the world is exponential. The working class value is linear. The undeniable fact is that the world is better for your efforts... Don’t ever let a fat, pompous, communist F*cker tell you otherwise.

Never cede these truths.

 

[Kak]

America, despite having many hungry people, is far from a hungry country. They're not going to break the system that's been working so wonderfully.

America’s poor are obese.

 

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[Rabby]

Switch your news feed or go no-news temporarily. Delete your facebook feed. It will make you feel better. Yes, there are people who hate everything "capitalist." For the most part they just make noise though.

The best thing you can do to preserve capitalism and free (-ish) markets is participate in them!

Second best thing, get other people to participate too. Show people that entrepreneurs are the ones bringing products and services to their neighborhoods, and that directly affects quality of life.

Next best after that, help out some free market non-profits that want to improve the human condition by making poor people richer, as opposed to liberal ones that gas-bag about their zero-sum world where successful people are evil. Reason, Atlas, and FEE are decent starting points if you're interested. Don't let them distract you from starting a business though.

 

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[WJK]

Hey guys I’m new to the forum, just finished Millionaire Fastlane and on to unscripted now, but something I’m really worried about with starting to be an entrepreneur and can’t get out of my mind so hopefully someone can help me clear my head, is anyone else worried about liberals wanting to change capitalism? I hear they think the current system is unfair and want to change it which sounds scary. Is it going to ruin it for entrepreneurs in America or is this something that I’m over thinking and shouldn’t worry about? If you haven’t heard anything about this then it probably means It’s not as big a deal as I think, thanks

Yes, they think they want change in our society. What they don't know is how far we've come in just my lifetime.

I came from the Ozark Mountains. Many of the people around us didn't have indoor plumbing. My aunt washed the banker's white shirts in a big black pot over an open fire out in her yard. No, we didn't have TV service available since we were in a rural area. My whole family slept in the guest room downstairs during the winters -- which was located off of the family/dining room with the pot belly stove -- our only winter heat. We didn't heat the upstairs with our bedrooms during the winter. We were elite in our town. We had indoor plumbing, but the toilet froze every winter because there was no adequate insulation available for the pipes. I had ear infections, and there were no antibiotics for that problem invented at that time. I had lost 1/3 of my hearing by the time I was in second grade from those untreated infections. And that's not the half of it.

In contrast, I live like a queen today... due to capitalism. These liberals just haven't had to work hard at the basics. My life has made me really tough. They're a bunch of snowflakes. They think they know what they want. When things don't go their way, they will fold their hand.

Carry on with creating your business. It's the most powerful thing you can do.

 

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[Longinus]

Of course not, who else will pay for all this?

 

[Rabby]

@Ninjakid as much as I wish I could agree, it's pretty easy to find people who can be convinced to destroy themselves economically. Venezuela is a disaster because people with no understanding of economics took the reins... and they have supporters even now, with the people starving and jumping into the ocean to swim to the nearest island, because their chance of survival is higher that way than staying and starving.

I know several people in the US who believe business is inherently evil. Only wise and appropriately diverse people in government can distribute what little the planet has to offer, in their minds. A cousin of mine, fresh from a liberal arts education in Ireland, explained with a straight face how she so admired Mao's farm programs, and some of Lenin's wise policies. People believe what they believe.

That said, it should absolutely not stop anyone from starting a business. If you think whackos are gaining power and control, you should also gain power and control. Business is your tool for doing that. Plus, it's more fun than most of the other options.

 

[jon.M]

LOL

LOL

LOL

LOLx1,000,000

Dude, almost every country in the world is capitalist, except for North Korea, and maybe some others.

Don't listen to the labels. America will forever be a capitalist country.

Even the "liberals" you describe wouldn't be able to stop it; nor would they want to. Polititians all rely on money from business to get/keep their positions.

Where do you think all that tax money comes from?

Don't you realise this exact thing could've been said before the communist takeover of any previously capitalist regime?

People aren't so hell-bent on their own self-destruction that they would abolish capitalism.

That didn't stop nearly a third of the world being under communist rule at one point.

You made some points I agree with. Yes Venezuela is an example of a country destroying itself economically. It mostly went bad right after Hugo Chavez died.

1950: Most prosperous country in Latin America, 4th highest per capita GDP in the world. Bolivar currency was one of the strongest, stablest in Latin America.

1995: 70% of population live in poverty.

2006, Foreign Affairs:

Mexico’s former Foreign Minister Jorge Castañeda stated that “Venezuela’s poverty figures and human development indices have deteriorated since 1999, when Chávez took office.

No, it didn't "mostly went bad right after Hugo Chavez" died. They just entered another circle of hell.

---
Being scared and overthinking is a waste of time and emotional energy, but at the same time it's idiotic to dismiss someone's concern with "LOL". Bad things are real. And just because you've lived in a safe little bubble until now, doesn't mean future risks are zero.

 

[TheCj]

Reminds me of a story I heard somewhere about 5 people go to dinner..

Beauty of google here it is, seems to be a couple of similar version's of the story:

The cost of dinner

Each and every day, 10 men go to a restaurant for dinner together. The bill for all 10 comes to $100 each day. If the bill were paid the way we pay our taxes, the first four would pay nothing; the fifth would pay $1; the sixth would pay $3; the seventh $7; the eighth $12; the ninth $18. The 10th man – the richest – would pay $59. Although the 10 men didn't share the bill equally, they all seemed content enough with the arrangement – until the restaurant owner threw them a curve.

"You're all very good customers," the owner said, "so I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20. I'm going to charge you just $80 in total." The 10 men looked at each other and seemed genuinely surprised, but quite happy about the news.

The first four men, of course, are unaffected because they weren't paying anything for their meals anyway. They'll still eat for free. The big question is how to divvy up the $20 in savings among the remaining six in a way that's fair for each of them. They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33, but if they subtract that amount from each person's share, then the fifth and sixth men would end up being paid to eat their meals. The restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each person's bill by roughly the same percentage, and he proceeded to work out the amounts that each should pay.


The results? The fifth man paid nothing, the sixth pitched in $2, the seventh paid $5, the eighth paid $9, the ninth paid $14, leaving the 10th man with a bill of $50 instead of $59. Outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got one dollar out of the $20," said the sixth man, pointing to the 10th man, "and he got $9!" "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too! It's not fair that he got nine times more than me!" "That's true," shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get back $9 when I only got $2? The rich get all the breaks!" "Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine outraged men surrounded the 10th and brutally assaulted him. The next day, he didn't show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they faced a problem that they hadn't faced before. They were $50 short.

End of day more money more options..

See large businesses move there company assets from country to country region to region if the laws, taxes are better elsewhere.

Can only enjoy that freedom if have the means to afford it. So get to that point as soon as you can, and less to worry about.

 

[Jello]

Are you reading a lot of fake news or are you spreading fake news?

 

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[ruzara5]

the current system is unfair

It is about things that are "beyond" the control of the 'system'. Free market is and will be. If you are a afraid to fail. You are unfair. Nothing in life worth living is 'fair'. People saying 'things' will be fair cannot deliver and will be unfair. Capitalism? It is. It is not going to have any concern. Look to provide value. Look to produce before you consume. Find that fair. It is beyond what they consider. Get into unscripted .

 

[Ninjakid]

I heard Nicholas II wasn't a tyrant, but definitely incompetent.
He just didn't give a shit about ruling, and eventually abdicated the throne.
But it was too late cause the seeds of revolution were planted and he got killed anyway.

The emancipation of the serfs happened in 1861, and the Russian government hoped a free market economy would blossom.
Seems like it didn't quite work out. Guess not everyone had the entrepreneurial spirit.
Some serfs bought the land they lived on from their former masters.
Many serfs couldn't afford it and basically became employees who now had to pay rent.
It's all very complex and i won't pretend to understand all the economic nuances of that.

By the early 1900's, many were indeed impoverished, and i believe land ownership inequality played a big role.
The rich landowners spent much of their time out of country in places like Paris, and didn't give a shit about the state of the masses either.

I guess when a lot of people collectively feel like they can't survive any other way, they start a revolution.

Maybe some people don't give a shit about business or entrepreneurship and just wanna own a small plot of land, farm to sustain themselves, pay a little tax to the powers that be, and live life.

Or i could be totally wrong about all this LOL

I think you know the history better than me haha.

But Nicholas II was called "Nicholas the Bloody." He frequently had people assassinated and in general used violence to suppress his opponents. Not that this was uncharacteristic of monarchs in the old days. Many monarchs were weak rulers who relied on fear to keep their subjects in line.

But yeah, Russia lacked the infrastructure and systems to facilitate entrepreneurship. They were about 50-100 years behind the rest of Europe. It's hard to see opportunity when you're just trying not to freeze or starve to death.

And yeah, Russia was very much like a feudalism; landowners held all the wealth and didn't give a damn about the welfare of the common folk.

I guess when a lot of people collectively feel like they can't survive any other way, they start a revolution.

This is the major point: Russia didn't turn communist because extreme-leftists got a voice. It was because things were so bad that the average person literally had nothing to lose. Communism just appealed to people's deep hatred for the upper class, who prospered while everyone else suffered.

Maybe some people don't give a shit about business or entrepreneurship and just wanna own a small plot of land, farm to sustain themselves, pay a little tax to the powers that be, and live life.

You also have to understand, people's perspectives are often based off of that they see. When everyone around you is fighting to stay alive, then having a small farm which is enough to keep yourself and your family afloat often seems more than enough. We generally don't realize this today because we're so insanely well-off today compared to people 100 years ago.

Societies become more developed as they move away from agriculture and towards industry as the primary means of production. It makes sense, first you make sure there's food then you can worry about having things.

In Russia, the farmers who were sustaining themselves actually WERE the entrepreneurs. And they weren't even really rich, they just weren't starving. But they were better off than their peers, and they were the first targets of the communist revolution. Ironically, they were also the ones feeding everyone, so when they got purged, the commies basically shot themselves in the foot.

 

[Kak]

Side note... both parties should be enriched at the end of a transaction.

Win-win... That is the premise of capitalism.

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. -Adam Smith

 

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[DonTriumph]

Win-win... That is the premise of capitalism.

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. -Adam Smith

Yes, win-win is the premise of capitalism.

Even if we give way to the fact that capitalism has holes out of human imperfection - corporate greed, rip offs, irresponsibility to workers, customers and environment, among others - only capitalism so far gives every people a chance to pull themselves out of poverty and improve their lot in life.

I don't understand why some people don't understand this.

And I'm not talking about poor people who knew nothing because they didn't finish grade school and can't afford school or books to read.

I am talking about college students, and especially I'm talking about professors.

Obviously with exceptions, they preach the "evils" of capitalism in their classes, highlighting how businesses "exploits" their workers... how the bourgeoisie exploits the proletariat. But so far, I never heard anyone of them talk about the Gulag, Soviet Union, North Korea, forced labor from these dictatorial states, and economic collapse that follows after.

I do not understand if they are just naive and hoping for a Marxist utopia - which premise is flawed from the very beginning, LOL. Or do they really want to exchange their freedoms with communist dictatorship?

It makes me scratch my head.

 

[Rabby]

Greed, rip-offs, etc pre-date capitalism by centuries, so they should be no surprise. The real innovation is that when people are given rights, and when property can be freely exchanged, people thrive despite the underlying problems caused by bad actors.

Professors like to extend from theoretical frameworks. Marx has become a popular choice for their theoretical basis. In the US, it reaches the point of absurdity -- graduate school was akin to political catechism at times.

@DonTriumph The attractive thing about Marx, to them, is that while he talks about community, and fairness, and putting the tools in the hands of the workers, and whatnot, he also relies on wise and benevolent elites to decide what is best for the community. This makes professors blush and get all huffy because, in their minds, they are the aforementioned elites. It's like making yourself the aristocracy without having to admit you're putting yourself above other people... very attractive!

Also worth noting... "capitalism" was a term coined by Marx(ists) as a slander against modern (classical liberal) values. What it really refers to is property rights and the moral rights to free action and life choices. These rights are seen as damaging or dangerous because, in their theoretical framework, an individual can not be trusted. A small number of elites deciding what is best for "the collective?" Sure, they can be trusted all day.

 

[Longinus]

So poor supply lines and millions of poor russian cannon fodder defeated nazis.
ok if you say so.

Scorched earth, ever heard of?

Germany: between 4.4M and 5.3M casualties (in total in WW2, all fronts).
Soviet-Union: between 8.6M and 11.4M casualties.

"Death solves all problems. No man, no problem."
- Stalin, Man of Steel, Great Leader and Noble Father of all Soviet-children.

I didn't make my arguments personal, but it seems ur going in that direction so whatever.
I can equally say you got McCarthyism and the red scare propaganda stuck in your head.

People tend to minimize crimes against humanity for some personal reason. I have nothing personal to do with the Soviet-butchery, I just can't stand selective ignorance.

Raised and live in Europe btw, pretty immune for American indoctrination too. Every country has a blood soaked history. Geez, one of the kings of my country was responsible for one of the biggest genocides in Africa (Leopold II). Should I just ignore those facts and call him a great man too? I rather don't.

But thanks for the brilliant victory, Stalin! Europe loves you! Eastern-Europe was so much better off with your Red Terror

 

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[Longinus]

It was a lot more than 11M. The nazis were trying to commit genocide on the russians.

Those numbers were military casualties only.

The whole "more bullets than people" is propaganda. I've visited historical forums who debated this topic. In reality by 1940 the Soviet Army was industrialized and had plenty of bullets to go around.

That was a joke that you are taking literally. Yes, Soviet Army was industrialized, badly, like the rest of their "industry". They were incompetent as F*ck.

Here's some more numbers about the Superior Red Army in 1940:

I'm tellin you i don't believe the Soviet regime casualty numbers thrown out there.
There's not even a consensus! you see death counts ranging from <10 million to F*ckin 80 million.

I'm telling you numbers of the victims of his terror regime aren't even relevant. Same argument is often used by neo-nazis denying the holocaust. What does matter is that people were killed for not supporting the State, which is pure terror. If you're ok with that, you are probably living in the wrong state.

Honestly the only reason i ever got curious about how EVIL stalin and Soviet Union really was, was because it's been pretty brutally demonized.
As a Russian I just needed to see the evidence for myself.
I started googling this stuff with an open mind, if it was really that bad than ok history is history.

Like I said, selective ignorance. You believe what you want to believe.

Why would one source contain more truth than another for you? Because you want to believe it, it fits in your vision. That's what most people do. If you would "start this googling stuff with an open mind", you would at least admit that he caused serious crimes against humanity.

I can find "evidence" on Google that the holocaust was a hoax. But I choose not to believe those. Why? Because people that spread those sources have agendas, like spreading hate to other cultures and people.
Interpreting history means you question all sources, apart from your own opinion. And 99% of (also Russian) historians agree that the Stalin regime was pure terror. But those 1% probably speaks the truth for you, fine.

As far as Iron Curtain, yea i bet there were nationalists in the soviet bloc who wanted full independence for their countries.
At the same time, there were plenty who felt the communists were liberators and wanted to be part of the Soviet Union.
Its not all black and white.

I'm sure some people in Hawaii and Puerto Rico feel the same way about the United States, but it is what it is!

So one side is nationalist and the other side is communist, seems like you yourself are seeing it black and white?

The "liberators" become "occupiers". Most people just wanted to get rid of the totalitarian regime that was orchestrated from Moscow. Want examples? Prague Spring, Hungarian Revolution, Poznan Protests... Of course all followed by a blood bath. Those weren't just "nationalists", they were being occupied by the Soviets for almost 50 years just like the nazis occupied countries for 4-5 years! Nationalism was fed by this, yes. Soviets were even deporting whole families to gulags just for being Latvian, Estonian, Polish, or whatever (these are known facts). The few ones that supported the communists had usually good reasons for that, like having a good job or getting some favors.

Seriously, if it was all that good, they wouldn't ditch this Red Terror like all those countries did starting 1989.

Perhaps you should go see for yourself and go visit Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine and see what this Red Terror did with those people instead of "doing serious research" on Google safely behind your computer.

 

[B. Cole]

Let’s step back and ask ourselves - Are we wasting time here arguing over invalid sh*t instead of furthering our fastlane ventures?

Jim Rohn - “Don’t major in minor things.”

Moving on.

 

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[ExaltedLife]

Let’s step back and ask ourselves - Are we wasting time here arguing over invalid sh*t instead of furthering our fastlane ventures?

Jim Rohn - “Don’t major in minor things.”

Moving on.

"Just because you don't take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you" - Pericles

"I am interested in politics so that one day I do not have to be interested in politics" - Ayn Rand

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Not privy to all the details of the NYC/Amazon debacle but I'm guessing it went a little like this...

Amazon: We will give you $25 if you cut us a $12 tax break, a net of $13.
NYC: Sounds like a win-win.
Anti-capitalists: No, we want all $25.
Amazon: F*ck you, now you get nothing. A big fat ZERO.
Anti-capitalists: We win!

Scary that these people hold high offices.

 

[Kak]

Not privy to all the details of the NYC/Amazon debacle but I'm guessing it went a little like this...

Amazon: We will give you $25 if you cut us a $12 tax break, a net of $13.
NYC: Sounds like a win-win.
Anti-capitalists: No, we want all $25.
Amazon: F*ck you, now you get nothing. A big fat ZERO.
Anti-capitalists: We win!

Scary that these people hold high offices.

Boeing does international water deliveries in the sky now to avoid Washington state sales tax.

They offered like $20-50 grand in sales tax per plane because the whole debacle of flying to international waters costs about that... Washington state said no and wanted their whole 8% or whatever. Boeing says OK F*ck you we will sign papers and deliver over open ocean. So they do. Washington gets nothing.

Go Boeing.

It is about time governments start competing for the opportunity.

 

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[Ninjakid]

Hey guys I’m new to the forum, just finished Millionaire Fastlane and on to unscripted now, but something I’m really worried about with starting to be an entrepreneur and can’t get out of my mind so hopefully someone can help me clear my head, is anyone else worried about liberals wanting to change capitalism? I hear they think the current system is unfair and want to change it which sounds scary. Is it going to ruin it for entrepreneurs in America or is this something that I’m over thinking and shouldn’t worry about? If you haven’t heard anything about this then it probably means It’s not as big a deal as I think, thanks

LOL

LOL

LOL

LOLx1,000,000

Dude, almost every country in the world is capitalist, except for North Korea, and maybe some others.

Don't listen to the labels. America will forever be a capitalist country.

Even the "liberals" you describe wouldn't be able to stop it; nor would they want to. Polititians all rely on money from business to get/keep their positions.

Where do you think all that tax money comes from?

Even in my Canada, which many people think is more liberal, the day business disappears is the day society collapses. The best places to live here have the most business activity.

People aren't so hell-bent on their own self-destruction that they would abolish capitalism.

 

[Longinus]

Agree with Ninjakid here.

Don't you realise this exact thing could've been said before the communist takeover of any previously capitalist regime?

Most communist takeovers were rooted in extreme crisis, social unrest or coups. For that to happen in the US, there should be a larger depression than they saw in the 30s.

There's simply no way that the USA will suddenly change into the United Socialist States of America. People just like to bitch, but no-one wants to trade their fancy latte iPhone lifestyle with a sober Soviet "I only have one pair of shoes" one.

Funny they call socialists "liberals" in America btw. Because almost all capitalist countries have a "liberal" government, some mix it even with "socialist". It's all rooted in capitalism after all.

 

[Rabby]

This is a good thing, snowflakes are the easiest ones to separate from their money. Don't be one of them, be a producer. Fulfill their fears and insecurities, ditch yours.

Side note... both parties should be enriched at the end of a transaction.

 

[Jonathan Hoch]

Maybe we can capitalize on this... put together little Marxism survival starter kits, but they’re actually highly profitable turnkey entrepreneurial businesses. That’ll teach em! Mua hahaha

 

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[Rabby]

Well Lenin only got to be in power because people were already dying from starvation, cause there were too many people and not enough land to farm, and as we know the landowners gave 0 F*cks about the masses.
It was a catastrophic situation all around, hence the revolution.

The communist party did that whole farm collectivization approach because that was their strategy to produce enough to feed everyone.

It's easy to look back now and criticize their strategic decisions, but i really don't feel Lenin was some evil a**hole who wanted to starve people to death.

You got it right about the problems of managing the country. Russia was fukin HUGE! i believe over 160 million people fell under it's jurisdiction.
I can't even begin to imagine what a challenge it was to govern all that back in early 1900's!

No, Lenin did not necessarily want to starve people. Maybe the more inconvenient ones, but not all of them. He did murder people if they were suspected of disagreeing with him though, so let's stop short of making him a saint. He wasn't better than previous leaders, and he was worse than quite a few.

It was easy to criticize their strategic decisions, even at the time. Not just looking back. They put the people who knew how to do things in jail, or killed them. The natural result was that those things were not done anymore. People looking from the sidelines understood this (if they weren't part of the propaganda), but the ones implementing it, perhaps, thought their ideas would just make everything work. This is the problem, and the danger. People who "just believe" that their ideas will work on a large scale, without any knowledge or skills (other than murdering dissenters), and without the consent of the people who pay the price for their actions, are by definition ******** who starve people to death.

We don't really need to apologize for people like Lenin and Mao and Stalin and Pol Pot and [insert long list] ... they're worthless people who caused millions of deaths that would not have happened otherwise. I'm sure some of them had unhappy childhoods that I could be made to sympathize with, but it frankly doesn't excuse their choices as adults. All of them presided over rapid declines in population, or quality of life, or both. And it was simply because they wanted power and control over other people, and followed a philosophy that makes no room for individual rights. Well, other than their own right to rule over other people, which was effectively unlimited. They were hypocrites who railed against kings in order to make themselves kings.

Sorry. I hate to take a thread that's about "should I start a business even though the communists might take over" and turn it into a history/philosophy talk. But we can't just start making excuses for totalitarian murderers and leave it at that. That's seriously step 1 toward what the OP is worried about. It's what The Road to Serfdom is about. It's what The Vision of the Anointed is about. It's incompatible with capitalism, free trade, business, family success, you having any liberty. Next we'll be defending the most infamous, whose name I have intentionally not mentioned (since every unpopular political leader is inevitably compared to him...). It's Ok -- we can just call them all worthless jackasses.

But yeah, Russia lacked the infrastructure and systems to facilitate entrepreneurship. They were about 50-100 years behind the rest of Europe. It's hard to see opportunity when you're just trying not to freeze or starve to death.

^ Big reason for this... people didn't have rights. Yes there was snow and ice and whatever. But people couldn't make things. Wherever you free people up to build, experiment, exercise free will, you find entrepreneurship and opportunity. Russia was behind politically because it didn't have an elected parliament and people were not free to choose anything... profession, location, education, etc. That was the root of its problems, more than the weather.

[So the point is...] Now exercise your right to own property in your own name, to trade, to make profit off of your own work, your own risk, to give your children a better start than you had, etc., so that we can continue to progress as a species, and maybe one day overcome these self-inflicted mental disorders we call political ideologies.

 

[Thoelt53]

Why these millionaires want to raise taxes on themselves

Check this pompous jackass out... The CNBC host does a decent job of telling it like it is... but wow.

First of all... This guy names his tax and spend liberal organization, “Patriotic Millionaires” as if people that don’t share his viewpoint are “unpatriotic.”

He is using his status and wealth to pontificate for “all the millionaires” his own personal socialistic political views. I find this guy morally reprehensible.

Let’s talk about patriotism.. One of the very premises this country was founded on was because of the taxation from England with no representation. It was one of the reasons for the revolutionary war.

The 99% all but admit they want to take from the 1% (steal at gunpoint). Where is the representation for the 1%? Don’t tell me it is this fat F*cker.

Now in 2019... we have ideologue billionaires like Warren Buffett literally speaking for millionaires (people worth thousands of times less than him). We have jackasses like the guy in this video thinking it is virtuous to surrender more money to a black hole, but is also too stupid to realize that there is zero connection between wealth redistribution and the advancement of society.

Very few would disagree that we have a pretty great standard of living in the USA... Possibly the best of the larger countries in the world. That said, my question for him would be this... What drove our country to this point? No one in the US needs to go hungry, very very few do. No one in the US works in working conditions like that of just 50 years ago. No one in the US is forced to work long hours. Very few that are truly willing to work are unemployed.

Employees are buying big beautiful homes with very little sacrifice, or risk. They are driving luxurious automobiles and flying on airplanes to go on nice vacations every year. They are playing golf. They are healthier and happier than ever before.

Ask a working class guy from the 1950s what his lifestyle looked like... It was quite different.

Did government do this? HELL No!

The reason for this constant improvement... FREE MARKET Capitalism... Government does not advance society. Evil, greedy, capitalist pigs advance society.

Capitalism begot machinery that reduced human workload.

Capitalism harnessed the energy stored in fuels to further reduce workload.

Capitalism begot railways that spread economies far and wide.

Capitalism begot cars that made capitalist exchange even more efficient within city centers.

Capitalism made air travel affordable for the masses.

Capitalism begot technology that turned us into an information sector economy.

Capitalism creates the value that employs people. Even government indirectly.

Capitalism is virtuous. Win-win, trade-up value exchanges create opportunity for everyone.

All along the way there was a producer that made a killing off of each and every one of these advancements. They deserve it.

What has the government done? Bombs people, jails citizens, blows resources on frivolous endeavors, death marches our soldiers into battle, kills (mostly minority) unborn babies, regulates and creates expensive compliance issues, makes trying to “capitalism” the world forward a living hell and they charge us 40-60 percent of everything we earn for the privilege.

All of this said, the facts are there... The money is much better left with us greedy capitalists.

So build... build the most audacious pile of money you possibly can. Capitalistically exchange your way to the biggest business you possibly can build. Along the way you will provide means for all of your employees and value to your customers and shareholders. The world is better for your efforts... Don’t ever let a fat, pompous, communist F*cker tell you otherwise.

Amen! I don’t think it could be said better.

Too bad you’ll be labeled a bigot, racist, misogynist for believing such things.

 

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[Zach123]

Hey guys I’m new to the forum, just finished Millionaire Fastlane and on to unscripted now, but something I’m really worried about with starting to be an entrepreneur and can’t get out of my mind so hopefully someone can help me clear my head, is anyone else worried about liberals wanting to change capitalism? I hear they think the current system is unfair and want to change it which sounds scary. Is it going to ruin it for entrepreneurs in America or is this something that I’m over thinking and shouldn’t worry about? If you haven’t heard anything about this then it probably means It’s not as big a deal as I think, thanks

 

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[Rabby]

I read somewhere that monarchies (before) actually hate capitalism because it threatens their class structure where the monarch can safely safeguard his throne.

Hmmm... I just realize it. At least for the Russians, communists didn't fought capitalism but monarchy. And clearly they're different structures: monarchies has a class structure that safeguards the monarch. Capitalism cuts this structure off and gives way to those who are willing to risk and work hard, meaning any people can be as rich as a monarch. Of course kings won't like this!

This is true, they did not overthrow a capitalist society in Russia.

The problem with both monarchy and socialism/communism is control over property. Only in "classical liberal" societies are rights to property (land and chattel) enforced more or less equally among classes.

In monarchic systems, there is an elite class that can own land and make claims, and lesser classes that generally can not. Even merchant trade was seen as a threat to this structure, but by the late middle ages mercantilism was too powerful to stop.

In Marxist systems, the theory is essentially for elites to hold all property and land in trust for the collective; unfortunately the net result of this is totalitarian power for a few elites. Secondary result is deplorable mismanagement, because the elites, even if they were benevolent, simply don't know enough to manage the thousands of farms, factories, and distribution points that would normally (for us) be handled by thousands of specialized people with knowledge and skills related to their jobs. This is why Lenin, as much as he hated business people, actually had to let them out of jail and put them back in business. It was that or more starvation (Lenin's policies killed a sobering number of people through starvation, just as most other Marx-inspired leaders did).

And once again, this is why we all need to get good at business and stay that way. Let's go save the world from communism folks.

 

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