bluballzzz (December 31, 1969 at 4:59 pm)

@Aliothemage the comune is the most basic form of society. that is not to say it's the best

puzzey83 (December 31, 1969 at 4:59 pm)

u wanna talk about socialism , u wanna talk about communism, if capitalism is truly capitalism, why the fuck do we have taxes, there should be no taxes period... that is motherfuckin socialists in itself

Aliothemage (December 31, 1969 at 4:59 pm)

By the way Robby, do you drink milk? Funny question, I know, but please oblige.

Aliothemage (December 31, 1969 at 4:59 pm)

"they make a lot more than most hard working" Ahh, and there it is. "hard work". Hard work, is stupid. It is NOT a desirable thing. It does NOTHING for society. It is a COST not something of value. We want to MINIMIZE hard work, not maximize it, and therefore it should not be subsidized by paying hard workers more. What we actually WANT is increased productivity. We want people to work smarter, not harder. That is what CEOs do. They are the best of the best at their job.

Aliothemage (December 31, 1969 at 4:59 pm)

"tell me how the CEO's of Marlboro are contributing to society" They are running a business that produces what people want. You might not approve of cigarettes, but guess what! You are not God and you have no right to tell others what they should be doing to their bodies. If smoking or eating ice cream makes some one happy then making cigarettes and ice cream is valuable to human society. These things don't have to be valued by YOU(pretty self-centered of you to imagine otherwise).

Aliothemage (December 31, 1969 at 4:59 pm)

(cont) If no one desired their service highly, who would bother paying them? That by it self proves their contribution to society. What they do is similar to what the Grameen Bank does but on a bigger scale. That bank makes micro-loans to impoverished 3rd worlders who are able to buy sewing machines, cell phones, or other machines to increase their productivity and in doing to help raise people out of poverty and increase world production. This is an INCREDIBLY valuable service.

Aliothemage (December 31, 1969 at 4:59 pm)

"the criminals on Wall Street" Why are people on Wall-street criminals? They provide society a much needed service in re-allocating resources to where they can be most profitable for society. Without their work inefficient businesses would get more resources and efficient ones would get less and all of society would be worse off. That might be a little difficult for some one with little economic back ground to grasp, but just ask yourself why these people are getting paid so much. (cont)

Aliothemage (December 31, 1969 at 4:59 pm)

"teachers, outreach workers, nurses, paramedics, police, fire men, are not making anywhere near" And why is that? Supply and demand! People are getting paid dependent on how much society needs their service. We don't need any more fire men so we don't give them raises for no reason. If we wanted more of them we'd pay them higher until enough joined up, same with all other careers. It is basic logic. If society needed them more, they'd be paid more.

Aliothemage (December 31, 1969 at 4:59 pm)

"markets are not natural" Don't make me laugh. The Indians had markets, the Romans did, the Chinese, the Persians, the Africans, the Gauls, EVERY some-what developed society has established a market system. People used to use sea-shells as forms of money before coins were invented. Markets have existed everywhere humans have. They even existed in Soviet Russia as black markets. That proves that they exist EVEN when all the might of government tries to end them!

Aliothemage (December 31, 1969 at 4:59 pm)

"Anthropologists have published hundreds of books" And they have nothing to do with economics. Don't try to bring in experts in random other fields to try to say something about economics. Here is the definition of scarcity in reference to economics: "Scarcity is the fundamental economic problem of having seemingly unlimited human needs and wants, in a world of limited resources." You'd have to deconstruct ALL modern economics to uphold the claim that scarcity doesn't exist.