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Introduction to Socialism (external links)
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46475483
Based on my observations, the freedom a lot of 'Muricans are thinking about is the freedom to be racist/sexist/ableist/homophobic/transphobic/xenophobic/islamaphobic/antisemitic/misanthropic/all-around intolerably intolerant assholes
67 brands of shampoo from 3 different multinational corporations whose CEOs are all best friends
flips it over
palm oil
"yep..."
Spoiler …all 63 brands of shampoo are owned by the same shareholders and shadowy investment firm
Even the first kind of freedom, for millions of Americans, is limited to whatever Walmart sells.
Cause there are no other shops left where they live.
Also it's the freedom to choose between shampoo from Unilever and also shampoo from Unilever, but yellow.
That's America, not capitalism.
Europe, Canada etc, the unemployed have medical coverage.
Even setting aside America's bullshit Medical industry, yanks have really weird ideas about freedom.
As an Australian the American concept of freedom always seemed nuts, even pre-Trump. Yes American's have the freedom to carry firearms, but I much prefer the Australian freedom to live without fear of being shot.
Not to mention their ridiculous belief in their right to drive over the speed limit without consequences. Canada included.
Ah, yeah I suspect a lot of Australian's do that too.
Perhaps not over the speed limit, but loads of drivers definitely feel as though they're entitled to zoom around right on the limit and any impediment to their passage is an outrageous insult.
I hate that when the world thinks of the US, they think of these 2A freaks. I get why it happens but I still hate it.
The one thing I'll push back on is your last point. Pretty much no one is afraid of getting shot. Gun violence IS an issue but it's not affecting 99.9% of people
Don't let such a low bar lead you to complacency
These are two completely different kinds of 'freedom', that the English language coincidentally calls the same thing. All the other languages that I know of clearly distinguish the two. Interesting, isn't it?
Freedom to smoke cigarettes after being born in 2008 🦅 🇺🇲
"Ha nice try! That is not real capitalism! You think workplaces would just give workers health insurance under a free market? They would just tell sick workers to figure it out themselves and replace them with healthy ones if needed!"
"Some of the first evidence of compulsory health insurance in the United States was in 1915, through the progressive reform protecting workers against medical costs and sicknesses in industrial America. Prior to this, within the Socialist and Progressive parties, health insurance and coverage was framed as not only an economic right for workers' health, but also as an employer's responsibility and liability—healthcare was in this context centered on working-class Americans and labor unions." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_insurance_in_the_United_States#The_rise_of_employer-sponsored_coverage)
That's just America. There are plenty of capitalist countries where that's not the case.
Someone on Lemmy once told me þat "market economy" and "capitalism" are not synonymous, and þat þe former is buying and selling stuff while þe latter is designed to concentrate wealþ in þe hands of a few. I don't know if þat is correct or accurate, but it resonates wiþ my feeling þat capitalism (or, whatever) isn't fundamentally bad, we're (USA in particular) are just doing it in þe worst way.
.... ſeriously?
ßeriously.
The rest of the world may lag behind, but someday everyone will have the 63 shampoo flavors
We have the best of both worlds. 63 shampoo flavors and unemployment support.
Yes, you have concessions by the ruling class. For now...
My dream is instead of three people that own all 63 shampoo flavors, the workers own them