peikoff said:
1. Please note that Capitalism is a political philosophy, not an economic state of affairs. Capitalism is the political philosophy of private property no less nor more. Capitalism of itself makes no reference to how someone should live. It does not tell them to go into business, to get a job or anything of the sort. It is a system of private property nothing else.
Intrinsically that is the case. However, that system brings certain connotations. These connotations
do tell us how we should live. There is an entire industry telling us how we should live. Consume, consume, consume! Work hard and one day you too can be a millionaire! Hey! Put down that Howard Zinn book and watch this mindless bullshit on television! My point is, the system entails a set of ideals that it essentially forces on those who live under its boot.
peikoff said:
2. How do you decide when someone is earning 'too much money'? I dont mean a lot of money I mean too much. Why should someone who earns alot be forced to surrender his income? Do you know how people make money, by providing a good or service. Dont complain about sol trihijo's salary by bitching on your computer connected to internet through bigpond, dont bitch on your telstra phone about how much money he makes. People make as much money as consumers let them make.
Ideally, people make money by providing a good or service, this is the case for the vast majority of us, but not for those on the top. Those on the top simply manipulate wealth on the stock market etc. What good or service does Sol Trujillo provide? He directs the company that charges ludicrous prices for basic services provided by relatively underpaid workers. Does he
work? Yes. Does he
contribute to society? No. The role he holds (and others in his situation) is an unnecessary byproduct of the capitalist system. He simply helps maintain the oppressive system that keeps him wealthy.
You shouldn't need someone to provide you with an opportunity to labour, but this is the case under capitalism. The vast, vast majority of us can only sell our labour to the rich.
peikoff said:
How dare you tell people how their lives should be run.
By that logic, if you're so offended by me (some douchebag 20yo on the internet) commenting about the evils of our society, you'd be tremendously offended by the media and advertising (which is essentially visual pollution, and another pressure to submit ourselves to capitalism), which has far more power than I do, and actually has an effect on how people live their lives. However, unlike the media and advertising industries, I do give a fuck about people, instead of trying to make an undeserved buck out of keeping them fat, ignorant and complacent.
