(03-06-2023, 07:41 PM)Lucky2Last Wrote: It's funny... I hate it when progressives use "racism" as the tool to demagogue those who "uphold the system of oppression," because that's a lie. However, there does need to be a name for it, because something like that exists, and it's prevalent in these comments.

The "capitalists" won. They have leveraged their vast wealth and use it against us to further entrench their power and wealth. They buy our politicians, universities, our science, our healthcare, and our journalists. I don't think our system of government is bad. I just think that even if we were to completely reset it, we'd end up back in this same exact situation in less than a century, because it's a system that's exploitable.

It was ever thus.  There is either a king like figure whose power is limited only by the loyalty of his generals, or there is a body like a senate that represents the interests of all of the people who are wealthy enough to potentially fund an army if society really goes sideways.  Or there is both and a sort of interplay between them. You can have a revolution and kill all the oligarchs and take their stuff, but then the people you distribute that stuff to become the new senators/kings. There can be growth, but there is always some exploitation. The great compact of post industrial revolution America is that the masses are consumers, and the senatorial class maximizes their wealth by making sure the plebian class has some purchasing power, even if it's not enough to meaningfully influence government.

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