• Cephalotrocity@biglemmowski.win
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    3 months ago

    Economic systems are no longer a huge part of political discourse. Back when the Titanic sunk, communism vs capitalism was big.

    Coincidentally, the crew of the Titan sub that crushed diving to check out the Titanic could very easily have had “Victim of Capitalism” inserted into their obituaries.

    • GregorGizeh@lemmy.zip
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      3 months ago

      Was it the one with the reckless billionaire and his plaything sub who ignored all safety regulations because he knew better?

      Those people are the select few beneficiaries of capitalism, and also absolutely fucking stupid so I have a hard time considering them a victim.

      • Nikls94@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        They did not exactly ignore safety regulations (which are written in blood btw) - they worked around them

        • NateNate60@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          They followed all the safety regulations. But that was a time when the safety regulations were wholly inadequate, and they knew it but chose to proceed anyway.

      • NateNate60@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        They followed the safety regulations. The regulations were inadequate at the time but since they weren’t forced to do more, they didn’t.

        The Titanic was originally designed with enough lifeboats for everyone. They removed lifeboats down to the minimum required by law to save money. Back then, the number of lifeboats required was determined by a ship’s tonnage rather than the number of passengers on board.

      • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        They were victims of capitalism because they benefited so greatly by capitalism.

  • Fugtig Fisk@feddit.dk
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    3 months ago

    Sends wife, 5 kids (!) and a freaking nanny to the US on Titanic (!), but does not identify as a capitalist…

    • DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social
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      3 months ago

      ? The old school definition of middle class was being able to employ a servant. Nannies also simply werent as costly at the time.

      There are/were trades you could make enough of living without exploiting the value of other’s labor through the ownership of means of production. Think a plumber or lawyer running a one man business, or equal partnerships.

      And, of course, one can be both a capitalist and a victim of capitalism. Kind of a major socialist point in and of itself, that capitalism eats its own. In this case, one must assume he’s blaming corporate greed for the sinking, the lack of lifeboats, the preferred treatment of 1st class passengers, etc.

    • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Fandom needs to die. Ad-ridden toxic BS. Blatantly falsely inflating their streaming counts by having their Twitch stream auto-play in a tiny corner on every page load.

  • Godric@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Cant beleive they agreed to go on a Capitalist ship when Communist transport never fails, that was foolish of them

  • Psychodelic@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Why was this one capitalism’s fault?

    Are they referring to the owners cutting costs on like the lack of lifeboats or something else?

    • Cleggory@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Making vehicles progressively larger with less functionality is the basis of the US auto industry.

    • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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      3 months ago

      Probably that plus packing the poorer families below the waterline where they had no chance to even get to the lifeboats even if there had been enough. And the extra bonus$$ the captain was seeking by trying to break a speed record rather than proceeding cautiously in winter at night.

      • EvacuateSoul@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        It was a crash due to not steering away. I personally think those riding in steerage should bear responsibility.

  • C126@sh.itjust.works
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    3 months ago

    A victim of using a unit of exchange rather than barter? Or maybe you mean corporatism, where big business and governments work together to make sure they take a majority of what you create with your labor?

    • Micromot@lemmy.zip
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      3 months ago

      That isn’t correct Capitalism doesn’t mean just the existence of currency. It means that you fight for capital in the markets so you can get more luxury things. The best way to get this capital is to exploit other people working for you and that is how we get to the products of your labor being taken by rich people so they can amass even more capital.

      • C126@sh.itjust.works
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        3 months ago

        The best way to get capital is to have connections with government officials and use their absolute power to give you advantages or just straight up give you money taken from taxpayers. Exploiting people for profit is actually not easy without government aid. Don’t believe me? Go and try to hire someone to do something for you and see if you can exploit them and how much capital you can make off them. Let us know how it goes. Problem is, most people want fair compensation to do anything, so you just can’t exploit them too well. They won’t accept one penny less than they want. No, much easier to just have the government forcefully take their money through taxation and use your connections to get a piece of it.

        • Micromot@lemmy.zip
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          3 months ago

          The first part might be true for people in the same area as you are in, but if you give someone who is in a bad region a job with absolutely shitty working conditions, they would probably take it because it’s the only way to actually earn money, even though it’s just a few cents in your currency.

          The Part about government connections are also true, governments tax everyone to save banks and fund people who are exploiting others and who already have enough capital. They also do very little to stop the exploitation of people in poor countries by rich people.