So many of my friends on the left are anti-capitalism, without having any real understanding of what capital is or how to change things. It's like all they want to do is complain about the system, instead of actually fixing it.
Discussion
I just got a new friend like that. Love the guy, but thinks it’s “profit and greed”. he realizes that something went broken, though. I suspect it’s because he’s a generalist and does not or cannot dig deep.
Well, he's right. It is profit and greed. But WHAT profit, and WHY greed? The answers to those questions is what completed the assimilation for me.
I'm in a lot of investing groups/chats/etc. When someone tells me that they are buying $50k in t-bills because they are earning a 5.40% annualized interest rate, I just shake my head. Inflation from currency devaluation is 3X what CPI is, so they're losing capital by investing in any dollar based security. I'll invest in stocks and funds with a proven historical rate of return higher than 15%, but I won't touch anything that is dollar denominated. Why invest in something where the floor is eroding faster than we can build?
I also have many friends like this and most new people I meet are the same way. It can be frustrating. In my experience it often comes down to semantics. If by "capitalism" they mean big corporations+the fiat money system+corporatism/”corruption" then yes, I agree with them. Fuck capitalism.
If by "capitalism" they genuinely mean free markets and private ownership of property, then no, obviodly I disagree vehemently.