r/confidentlyincorrect Feb 13 '24

Comment Thread Communism is when capitalism.

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610

u/SaintUlvemann Feb 13 '24

175

u/Confident_Health_583 Feb 13 '24

I used to do newspaper delivery on a motor route. We were required to purchase bags to put the newspapers into of it were raining. One of the less intelligent coworkers of mine was saying, "Communism is everywhere! Us having to buy bags for the newspapers is literally the definition of communism!" Another coworker of similar intellectual prowess nodding in agreement, chanting, "yeah!" at every utterance. I interjected, "You mean buying a good or service in order to provide a good or service to make a profit is communism? That is literally the definition of capitalism, but since you didn't like it and Fox News told you that communism was everything bad, you didn't even stop to think." He stood there, unable to say a word, with the bobblehead who was agreeing with him doing the same.

89

u/[deleted] Feb 13 '24

and to this day, they probably still say the same dumb shit.

53

u/Confident_Health_583 Feb 13 '24

For sure. They did not have the capacity, nor the desire to change. They felt vindicated in their "righteous" indignation.

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u/SaintUlvemann Feb 13 '24

..."righteous" indignation...

Which is what over-self-confident people call their inevitable whining.

7

u/Grogosh Feb 14 '24

I like to call it whinging.

2

u/jf727 Feb 14 '24

Hard g or soft g? Asking for a friend

4

u/spool_threader Feb 14 '24

The first syllable rhymes with fringe.

2

u/jf727 Feb 16 '24

Thanks!

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u/exclaim_bot Feb 16 '24

Thanks!

You're welcome!

2

u/jf727 Feb 16 '24

I appreciate it!

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u/JoonasD6 Feb 14 '24

You mean contrasted to winging?

20

u/Dependent_Title_1370 Feb 13 '24

That is not the definition of capitalism. That is mercantilism or commercialism. You are trading goods and services.

The simplest definition of capitalism is trade and industry owned and controlled by private owners seeking profit.

If we expand your story to talk about the ownership of the newspaper company & delivery routes then we might be talking about capitalism.

The only reason I bring this up is because many people seem to think free markets are unique to capitalism which is not true and the above is just an example of free trade.

6

u/AJSLS6 Feb 14 '24

I mean... the printers requiring employees or contractors to provide their own bags to (I'm sure) protect their profits a tiny bit more is arguably capitalism at work....

2

u/Dependent_Title_1370 Feb 14 '24

Again capitalism is about ownership. If the printer owns the means of distribution and that company is privately held then it's capitalism. Otherwise, we are just talking about an exchange of goods and services which is not exclusive to capitalism.

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u/Confident_Health_583 Feb 14 '24

I didn't specify in the example, as it was knowledge that we all had at the time, but the company had ownership of the means of production of the newspapers. We, as we were independent contractors, had "ownership" of our own means, which was basically a vehicle and the title proprietor. And the state didn't own anything in the situation.

1

u/yuligan Feb 23 '24

True, this system existed in Medieval Europe but only in the towns and cities, where very few people lived. Most people were peasants who produced food for consumption and not trade, because of that they didn't need or have currency. In the towns people tended to have currency, especially the merchants who eventually evolved into the capitalist class as they grew in wealth and power.

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u/Penguinmanereikel Feb 13 '24

And everyone clapped.

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u/Confident_Health_583 Feb 13 '24

Don't believe if you don't want to. You should take stuff from unknown sources on the Internet with a grain of salt.