r/Capitalism

I have never understood why there is a group of people in the U.S. who hate people who are rich.

There are bad people who are poor, and bad people who are rich… Is it just because they have the ability to influence outcomes more? Help me understand.

As society faces growing economic strain, the glossy lifestyle being promoted, luxury, excess, endless consumption, may begin to feel hollow or even offensive. For many, survival outweighs spectacle, and the projected image of prosperity becomes less aspirational and more alienating. This tension raises the possibility of a quiet boycott, people rejecting the illusion, turning away from the marketed dream, and seeking simpler, more sustainable ways of living.

The deeper question is whether this shift will remain individual and scattered, or whether it could grow into a collective refusal, a cultural pushback against the lifestyles that no longer match the reality of financial hardship.

I’m in the process of looking for a new phone, and it’s starting to feel like that one video where all the news casters are lined up and side-by-side each each other saying the exact same thing.

My phone company offers three options; iPhone, Samsung, and Google. Realistically, it’s only two, if we’re talking about OS.

The length to which we are going to be provided, the illusion of choice is absolutely insane. Like we’re no longer allowed to buy Chinese phones, for Satan knows what reason this time.

But the same goes for a lot of manufacturers there’s only one or two companies that you can realistically go to. And any company that gets a significant following is simply bought out, merged into the conglomerate, and then we pretend that we’re eating different food when we go to Applebee’s or Wendy’s, when realistically both companies buy it from the same food distributor.

There’s eight or nine sets of decent apartment complex neighborhoods in my town, four sets in four different areas are owned by the same company. You really don’t have a choice when these kind of things happen. A billionaire owns the entire length of a river in Beloit, Wisconsin for businesses, and a great portion of the companies that operate in that town — Losing your job means you have to leave the town for the most part.

There is no more small business, there is no living wage, things don’t feel affordable, and there’s no way you could do life on your own.

And being clear here I have an 800 credit score make $45,000 a year am debt free. Anyone who makes less than me or has more debt, I truly don’t know how they’re getting by. Because I’m struggling. And we’re provided the illusion of options, as if the same manufacturing company isn’t slapping a sticker on every single one of the products we make and pricing it according to the value of the name.

I feel like I’m living in the USSR, It just looks prettier. And that’s not hyperbole my family immigrated from there.

And now we have the US government taking stakes companies, that’s literally the government seizing the means of production, on top of massive manipulation and fraud of what would otherwise be a horrifically failing economy.

Like I don’t know what to do anymore because nothing seems real and consequences don’t seem real anymore. and don’t get me wrong. They really are real and horrific consequences, bordering on cruel and unusual punishment for handing out a flyer. They seem unreal in the same sense that a billionaire is allowed to live while their communities suffer… or struggle in any way… Like if any of this shit was happening underneath the black president, not only would he have been removed, it would have been permanently. Those would be assassins wouldn’t have missed him. What is it— four or five times now?

This post contains content not supported on old Reddit. Click here to view the full post

That’s all.

Basically, i'm running a diamond pickaxe store, and each diamond pickaxe takes ~$15k (about) to make. I sell them usually in a fluctuating range between $25k minimum and $50k maximum. I make about 2-3x as much from selling the diamond pickaxes as it takes to make them.

Any ideas on how to maximize profits (or just move to a more profitable industry)?

So many things the earth provides free and yet someone decided to make humans pay for it all and why do we allow it?

"Capitalism... Is simply the worst form of Governance to ever be attempted... If, one only discounts All other forms of Governance ever conceived."

-Think I'm ripping Churchill here honestly.

Later.

A local official in Shandong — one of China's richer provinces, on the coast — recently described her workweek. Her department hadn't paid the bill for a rented office vehicle since last August. Her own travel expenses had been sitting unreimbursed for six months. And the county hadn't sold a single plot of land in two years.

Sit with that last part. Not "sold less land." Zero. For two years.

This isn't a poor backwater. It's a functioning county in a wealthy province — and the government can't cover a car rental. If you want to understand China's economy, forget the GDP headline for a second and start here, because this is the number that doesn't lie.

Here's the thing nobody tells you: GDP and whether the government has money are two completely different things. GDP counts economic activity. It says nothing about whether a county can make payroll. A province can post 5% growth while its local governments quietly go broke. And that's exactly what's happening.

Why? Follow the money, it's not complicated:

For 20 years, selling land was how local governments made rent. In a lot of cities, land sales were 40–60% of the money they could actually spend. Then the property market cracked. That income didn't shrink — for many counties it went to basically zero. Two years, no plots sold, means two years with the main faucet turned off.

Most of the country can't pay its own way. Of China's 31 provinces and regions, only about 5 or 6 can fund themselves from their own revenue. The rest live on money wired from Beijing. Tibet generates roughly 10% of what it spends. This isn't a few sad exceptions — it's most of the map.

Watch what they do when the money runs out. In 2024, most Chinese cities saw income from fines and fees go up while actual tax revenue flatlined or fell. When a government starts leaning on traffic tickets and penalties instead of taxes, that's not a crackdown — that's a broke government shaking the couch cushions. Next time you read about aggressive fines somewhere in China, that's the mechanism.

The debt "fix" isn't a fix. Beijing's big debt program swaps expensive hidden debt for cheaper bonds. That lowers the interest, sure. It doesn't lower what's owed by a single yuan. It's refinancing your credit card, not paying it off.

Now — I'm not going to tell you China is collapsing, because it isn't, and anyone who says so is selling something. Beijing has real tools. The debt is mostly domestic, which is way more manageable than owing foreigners. Plenty of coastal cities are genuinely rich and productive. That's all true.

But here's what's also true, and it's the part the GDP number buries: underneath a national figure that looks fine, most local governments have quietly bled out to where they can't cover routine bills. The average hides the reality.

So next time someone tells you China's economy is booming — or crashing — based on one national number, ask them a simpler question: what are the counties doing? That's where the actual answer lives. A rental car in Shandong tells you more than the GDP print does.

i love capitalism so much. sadly, i suck at writing. if you don't understand this post then please copy and paste it into your favorite ai for clarification.

why do i love capitalism? because i love fruit trees. thanks to markets, there's a wide variety of affordable fruit trees available for purchase.

personally i wish that fruit trees were everywhere. unfortunately, my hoa doesn't allow fruit trees to be planted in common areas. i know the reasons by heart... the fruit attracts rats and other pests, the fallen fruit is messy and slippery, people might climb the trees to pick the fruit and break their necks falling out of them, and so on.

my workaround has been donating my time, labor, and fruit trees to plant in neighbors' front yards, creating an informal arrangement where anyone in the community is welcome to pick the fruit. basically i go around the hoa.

yes, i know how to change the hoa using civics 101. i know that i can gather signatures, and if that doesn't work i can run for the board. and if that doesn't work i always have the option to just leave the community.

the incoherence that needs to be solved is that my hoa is socialist or communist or whatever. we can debate what it is, but we shouldn't debate what it isn't... it isn't capitalist. neither is starbucks. no organization is capitalist. it might sound strange to hear that for-profit companies aren't capitalist.

what I’m saying isn't new. if its new to you, then you've been super screwed by schools just like everyone else. it makes sense... since schools aren't capitalist, why would they teach you about ronald coase? coase was the one who attempted to explain why corporate firms themselves aren't actually capitalist. he used a quote by d.h. robertson, describing organizations as 'islands of conscious power in this ocean of unconscious co-operation like lumps of butter coagulating in a pail of buttermilk'.

what coase missed is how easy it would be for every organization to actually be capitalist. for my hoa, rather than letting a committee decide whether fruit trees should be planted in common areas, the community would decide by donating for either yes or no. whichever side donated the most money to the hoa wins. not only would this lower hoa dues, but individuals would be using their own money to steer the hoa in the most valuable direction—as opposed to the current system, which lets a small handful of popularity-contest winners steer it in a far less valuable direction.

introducing this simple 'decision by donation' (dbd) system would easily transform my hoa from socialist to capitalist. the proof of its validity is irrefutable when you look at its critics: the number-one objection to dbd is that it would give too much influence to wealthy individuals. this argument is entirely ignorant. dbd doesn't grant disproportionate influence to the rich—it gives every individual the freedom to exercise the influence that they've already earned.

so the incoherence of capitalism is the notion that its beneficial to have countless spaces, both big and small, where people don't have the freedom to exert their earned influence. this freedom either is, or isn't, important. which is it?

because i love capitalism, i am acutely aware of its absence. it’s the same with fruit trees. when i walk into a public park and immediately notice the total absence of fruit trees, i recognize it as the direct result of a total absence of capitalism within the park's organization. the solution is simple, and it is entirely within our reach. we all belong to multiple organizations. all that is necessary is to introduce dbd, lightly disguised as a fundraiser. that’s it. the wolf, disguised in sheep's clothing, will tear socialism to shreds.

Everyone lives an average of somewhere between 70-80 years old with severe physical decline after their 50's.

Money can't save you from what's coming 💀☠️💀

If you lived a lucridolaterous life you have bigger problems to worry about than death because this will be something God judges against.

A poor peasant can outlive a wealthy person by the grace of God.

Biden, Trump, all establishment Zionist wealthy Democrats and Republicans that are super wasted, they're not going to live long.

Democratic Socialists of America are eventually going to replace these people because they can't hold on to power in their grave and these DSA candidates I'm telling you now I have never seen such a youthful slate of candidates and I am not even a leftist but I welcome their progressive populism.

Money can't buy you communion with God or a longer lifespan to avoid his judgement after death.

Death is the great equalizer. I am not a wealthy person but I honestly don't care to become it. I want spiritual growth so I am ready for Paradise.