The Heisman Trophy, Collegiate Rules, and Capitalism

Fiscal mentions the Heisman.
Devolves into a discussion on Capitalism.

The Shoutbox, ladies and gentlemen.

A purely capitalistic society would be evil, but we don't have that.

Whatever we have is certainly superior to any communist government that ever existed. Nobody in their right mind would want to live in North Korea.

>communist government
>North Korea

lolwut

>pain of switching systems

=/=

>bring down even more totalitarianism upon yourself

problem?
'Tis is vital issue at hand!

Zuh? The pain is equal to...what? Or am I forgetting my programmatic operators?

Yoda, you will have to wait until Friday before I can write a good response, as that's when my finals are finished. However, I can simply point you to any change in government as an explanation. The rise of Hitler and Lenin were brought about by people who were sick of the conditions they were in, so they abandoned their governments and created new ones, which brought down even more terror and facisim upon them. The same thing applies to capitalism, which is why I'm not in favor of abandoning it. We could just bring down more s*** on our arse. Besides, the small lines of flight (cooking your own food, making your own soap, changing your own oil) is much more possible in a capitalistic society than an other, I might imagine. I would need to run that idea by my professor, though, and see if he agrees.

Now, off to school!

I'll second that thumbs up. Usually the "ladies and gentlemen" comes first, but the timing is perfect.

When did Capitalism become a form of government?

...also good mornin..late that it is mofos

When Cam Newton won the Heisman?

[/quote]
You can do that stuff even in a totalitarian state. I never heard anyone getting arrested in those countries for cokling their food and changing oil.

That's true, I think, but in the broad scheme of history this hardly seems compelling. Unless you think the alternatives to capitalism are only very slightly better, then any short-term tumult has to be worth installing a better social system, for which we will have a better society for (presumably) a very long time. Fighting for American independence (and then American unity) was awfully difficult, but if it's for a better, fairer way of life, you pretty much have to do it.

Also, you could easily make the argument that the pain and danger of switching systems has to be factored into all these choices, which would leave the "best except for all the rest" sentiment pretty valid, at least in any real-world scenario, where you're never operating in a vacuum.

Those examples apply strictly to a capitalistic society because capitalism gobbles up every enterprise. There are no assurances that what you do won't get sucked back up into its vortex and marketed. That's the whole point. Such a society appears to have limitless freedom, but it's just not the case. You are subject to an authoritative machine built on one thing: consumption.

I don't understand how a capitalistic society will "gobble up" your right to farm in your own backyard, or make your own soap, or anything like that.

I have a belly button, and nobody can take that away from me.

OK, here's an excellent example: let's say a person wants to go off the grid and be entirely self-dependent. Well, in a capitalistic society, that would totally be possible and, BTW, we'd love to write a book about you.

There are laws about the rights to one's own life story, but putting that aside for the moment, I'm not sure I see the problem. You can still live off the grid and farm and make your fight club soap, yadda yadda yadda, but yes, people are allowed to talk and write about it. My questions are 1) so what? and 2) in what kind of society is this not allowed?

No, they want to buy the rights to his life and market it. You are missing the whole point! It's not that these things aren't allowed. It's the exact opposite, and in fact, they're encouraged! Sure, make your own soap, but have you ever thought about selling it? Sure, don't eat meat pumped full of vitamins and steroids, and I have just the thing for you: free-range cows! Sure, we'd love for you to quit using toxin cleaning chemicals, and we have this new line of plant based cleaners!

You think you're free because you have all these limitless options and choices. Capitalism makes this possible. Yes, certainly true, but you're not free. You are sucked right back into the system because capitalism is dependent on your endless consumption. Your endless subjugation.

In other words, under Capitalism, only the illusion of freedom is possible, and this illusion is the things that ultimately sustains and perpetuates Capitalism.

Tell me, Matt... amidoinitrite?