So. Um. What the hell?

Fuck the Epstein class.
Give people labor rights.
Give people civil rights.
Democracy good.

That's what I stand for, basically.

Are there people who like capitalism that define it by the abuse of power and massive inequaly? I don't know of any.

Those people *also* tend to ignore those problems, but they don't ascribe them to capitalism.

I think ideas should be defined by their proponents, not opponents. Otherwise ideas like anti-racism could be redefined in time as "anti-white," which is bullshit.

I guess I should accept that critics define capitalism rather consistently as a system where heartless pursuit of wealth goes unpunished. That seems unifying. But that seems like... All societies so far. And not what capitalist enjoyers want?

Is progressive tax really socialism? Or is it just associated with wanting economic democratization and not wanting wealth inequality, which are in turn associated with sometimes nationalizing things, which is socialism?

And isn't socialism really specifically state ownership of capital on behalf of the workers? I guess the meaning of words can change over time, but that seems really simple. Not a huge overhaul just a decision.

Status quo - parts of the status quo I like = capitalism

Or if you are a conservative simp

Status quo - parts I DON'T like = capitalism

So what about something like stock buybacks? That's not specifically addressed alleged "capitalist thinkers" like Adam Smith etc. But that doesn't mean it IS capitalist.

Important example: monopolies. That's not capitalism. There's a good case that's explicitly *against* the "capitalist" value of competition. Monopolies is not capitalism and busting them is not socialism.

And this is not to say that *Marxism* is wrong. Understanding the world in terms of class struggle is vital! But I don't think capitalism is just a place where rich people can do whatever either. There's mercantalist and even communist places where that is true.

And I know it's all semantic, but that's why it's annoying. I agree with basically everything anti-capitalists say. But like… what are we anti? Are we sure those policy solutions are actually "socialism" is are they just potential good solutions to discreet problems?

Or is it just free markets? I mean, I like free markets. A lot. All the not free markets turn to shit. And how free does a market have to be for it to be capitalism? Single payer healthcare I guess it not a free market. Is public option? Is the US with Medicaid/care?

Except honestly most of them don't mean "a system where you can exploit" they mean "exploiting." That is not an ideology or economic system. That is just greed. We know greed is bad and, yeah, we should stop people from being greedy. Is that what anti-capitalism is?

Capitalism is evil people usually mean the ability of people and companies to take almost any economic action with relative impunity. Yeah, that's bad. What great capitalist thinker proposed that idea? I don't think there is one...

Usually it just means "Ya know, *hand waves*, this. What we're doing." Which is like yeah I don't like *hand waves* this but what parts of it are capitalism?

so. i can't be a a dinosaur. are we sure about this one or is it more of a jury's still out situation