Michael Stuart Kelly Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 It often helps to understand our capitalist economy by contrasting it with the subsistence economies of the feudal era.You mean where the government kept its boot (or whatever footwear was used back then) on the necks of everybody and bashed their heads in if they complained too much? And sometimes just bashed their heads for the hell of it?That kind of supply and demand capitalism? Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Another idea came to mind.Why not compare our capitalist economy with a modern feudal subsistence economy? Say North Korea?Would that help to "understand our capitalist economy" better?You bet.I can understand this one easily.It really sucks to be them and doesn't suck to be us.Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jts Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 I said that:If the economy is in a situation where everybody needs to be employed, then as things get done, less and less people need to be employed. The people whose jobs are necessary for the whole year get to keep their jobs, and the people whose jobs need doing only once, don't.Expanding on this, if we did have a free market without a minimum wage, we would still have unemployment, and a lot of it. In any economy, unemployment will increase so long as jobs are being completed or destroyed faster than new ones are created. An economy which creates new jobs as quickly as it gets rid of old ones, will necessarily have a fixed rate of unemployment, and it will not be able to eliminate it entirely.Another cause of unemployment besides a minimum wage law is government interference with creation of jobs. John Stossel did a whole show on that.Another cause of unemployment is government controlled education which does not teach skills for employment or job creation. Stossel did a show on that too.Homework assignment:Listen to some John Stossel shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I want to address minimum wage, too.Just a simple question will do.What should be the minimum wage for people who work hard at contributing their intellectual capital to Wikipedia?And what should be done about all those scabs who work for free?Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brant Gaede Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Uh, Michael: and OL? --Brant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Uh, Michael: and OL?--BrantBrant,Heh.Don't ask me. I'm old-school.Exploiter.Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brant Gaede Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Uh, Michael: and OL? --Brant Brant, Heh. Don't ask me. I'm old-school. Exploiter. Michael My donation to OL has been delayed. --Brant (but for an existential reason) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules Troy Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 All I have to say is "FREDIANO where are you!!??" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dldelancey Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I'm reading the Game of Thrones series of books right now. That's a feudal society, yes? Kings and queens, lords and ladies, peasants and beggars, and all that. Those poor folks are working really hard to die of starvation while the ruling class puts on weddings with 77 course dinners. But yeah, supply and demand is perfectly balanced!And yes my interjection of a fictional fantastical world where dragons exist is just as bad as bringing up feudalism in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Fisher Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Those poor folks are working really hard to die of starvation while the ruling class puts on weddings with 77 course dinners. But yeah, supply and demand is perfectly balanced! The balance of supply and demand is just fine (and I never said that feudalism was capitalism, just that supply and demand are balanced in both), but the distribution of wealth and income in feudalism is really messed up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caroljane Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I don't know about feudalism , but it is fairly messed up in North America too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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