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[–] 16719348? ago 

Hello AOC I think you are lost. Time to go home.

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[–] 16717808? ago 

Our economy is based on production, not consumption. Investment of time and capital is what creates the goods and services that others consume - this is the basis of a market. If people want those things you mention, the market will respond. There should be no central planning, rulemaking, or other body that forces anyone to produce or buy anything. Period.

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[–] 16718975? ago  (edited ago)

That's not logically consistent.

If production is dependent on consumption to exist, it logically can't be the foundation - or you're just playing kind of silly semantic games.

People shouldn't be forced to buy or produce, but that's an issue of personal freedom we definitely need guide rails - i.e. people being told they can't buy or produce certain things at certain times.

A perfectly free market can only work if:

1) consumers act in a rational self interest

2) producers act in a rational self interest

3) there is a perfect information exchange working along side it, so consumers and producers are able to decide things rationally

One only needs to look at the last couple elections to see that none of those are currently true. I'm not sure if they ever will be.

Don't ignore the history of our country, we moved away from a totally free market for a reason. What we do need to do is make sure we work to improve to make a free market as viable as possible and meddle as little as possible.

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[–] 16794846? ago 

production is not dependent on consumption. I can go out and work the field and produce food. My labor provides me with abundance I can use to accomplish other things. A perfectly free market always works if you accept there will be correction. Certainly people can't always act in a rational way.

I'm just not sure where you are going with this. Describing how markets work isn't ignoring history - market meddling is what gets us the mess we have today.

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[–] 16720523? ago  (edited ago)

That whole problem is that damned “invisible hand”.

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[–] 16721130? ago 

This is just my opinion on a few matters, take it how you will.... I realize some are pipe dreams and making them realities would not be easy. We should have more sensible choices the benefit us all without regressing into an authoritarian communist nightmare.

Planned obsolescence should be illegal. If you don't know what this is, you should look into it for yourself. Think designed to break or fall apart to ensure you buy more. Ex light bulbs, car parts and break after warranty designs.

Cartel type monopolized industries should be flooded with competition. Think eye glasses, telecommunications, diamonds or any other artificially inflated price industry. See well known media conglomeration of power (6 companies own everything). Then each of these media companies are involved in oil, pharmaceutical, finance etc. Pick an industry and follow the money backwards.

We should not be charged a exuberant profit for utilities that do not require the price we are charged to continue to function. Our previous ancestors were charged taxes to create power, water and other infrastructure. Upkeep costs are minimal compared to profit based scam. Ex. 200 billion dollar broad band scam, smart meters, water meters.

We can all protect our environment for ourselves and the future generations without setting up this 'global warming - charge you for the carbon you breathe out, type permanent payment system the elites are trying to enforce. Ex. Agenda 21, carbon tax, 'new' green deal.

All things should be debated and discussed without reverting to shill type tactics, name calling and diversion. Through meaningful discourse can we advance things for all.

My simple rant on planned obsolescence went a little longer than planned.

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[–] 16717129? 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

Our system is a ponzi scheme.

Everything is based on endless upward growth from GDP on down. Endless consumption is at the core. Endless consumption and growth are lies nothing expands forever. All our metrics are based on the assumption that expansion is good. Resources are finite, and the earth's potential for exploitation is finite.

I was told by a young Russian I worked with that "America is a throw away society". He went to explain in concrete terms what he was talking about. He said in America you buy a refrigerator and it will last five to ten years. A Russian buys a refrigerator and it will last him his lifetime.

The west is infected with corporate greed, and the politicians are their servants. They pass regulations that will increase corporate profits. For example the cost of a light bulb is now double what it was just a few years ago, and they last even less time than they did. All the result of the push for less energy usage per household.

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[–] 16718828? ago 

The physics are not there to rid the world of fossil fuels.

You still need lubricants for all machinery whether it is a Wind or Solar machine to keep the metals going round and round lubricated.

The machinery in factories and robots still require lubricants to operate.

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[–] 16718191? ago 

When everything changes, expect everything to change. You are not wrong anon.

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[–] 16732368? ago 

Majority of the United States existence it wasn't a consumption based economy. This really all began once the Fed was enacted, thereby destroying the value of our money. In reality everything that's being produced now should cost even less than before, but inflation has outpaced innovation by orders of magnitude. Just to give you a rough idea, the average worker in 1947 with no highschool diploma earned $50 a week. An ounce of gold back then was $35. Even with the price fixing of gold currently that works out to almost $1900/week adjusted for inflation, and thats the low end, who knows what the real value of gold is currently. In this environment, saving money is penalized because inflation will just eat away at your purchasing power over time.

Once real money is reinstated, people will once again save their money / invest, because there will be incentive to do so. The phrase "save a penny, earn a penny" will once again hold meaning.

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[–] 16720524? ago 

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