Forum Post: Corporations are not the main problem they are only a effect of something more powerful....
Posted 12 years ago on Oct. 7, 2011, 12:08 a.m. EST by averagejoe123
(10)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
I wrote this in another forum so I decided to make my own, I jsut copied and pasted.
People know that corporations have done many corrupt and disgusting things but they only exist because of the government. If this were a true free market there would be no monopolies, monopolies only exist because of the state, because the state is the one with the guns and therefore can enforce things. Many protesters attack corporations but corporations are only a symptom, an effect of a bigger, more powerful problem, the state. Attacking corporations is like attacking the head of a Hydra, a new one will just grow in its place. In order to take down this beast we need to attack it at its core, which is the state. I stumbled upon a really good video that addresses these protests. please do share it and remember asking the government for more regulations and power is music to their ears. I will try to post this in other forums but I can't do it alone, and btw this isn't my video I just found it.
averagejoe123, what I think we need is a "resource based economy." Due to increased automation the demand for human labor is decreasing. There isn't going to be enough jobs to go around for everybody. Computers and robots are better than humans at the majority of jobs, and if they're not better in some fields, they will be soon. People on both sides of the aisle are trying to fight this, and that's where a lot of the conflict comes from. Check this video out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0Z8TR4ToNs
Trust me my friend, I once too believed in a "resource based economy" I watched Zeitgeist Moving Forward which introduced me to The Venus Project, Peter Joseph, Jacque Fresco. Well I guess believe is incorrect here, what I mean is that at the time the idea seemed logical to me but I watched an excellent video by Stefan Molyneux (the same guy that made the video I posted earlier) where he talks to some people who believe in a resource based economy, if you're interested I can post the video. here is the zeitgeist video (its pretty lengthy) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z9WVZddH9w although I do not agree with a resource based economy I don't think we will get anything accomplish if I just sit here and call you "stupid" for believing it. There are many things I agree with the Zeitgeist movement I just think (just like the protesters) they are slightly misguided
I watched the video of him critiquing zeitgeist. One thing that he mentions is a small ruling elite, but with the Venus Project, there isn't a small ruling elite. Also, he doesn't seem to take into account a lot of new technology such as vertical farming. He mentioned famines being a result of former centrally planned economies.
What do you think about the impact of automation on human labor demand?
his main criticism is that someone has to be in charge of the computers. Let's say that these mega-computers are made, someone still has to put input into the computer and someone still has to make an algorithm. He asked how will this be handle and the Zeitgeist supporter didn't really answer the question. As far as automation on human labor, I think that is a positive more than a negative because it will free people from doing monotonous work and allow them to do jobs that are more intellectual. You can make a machine do physical labor but you cannot train it to think. If you really think about it no one really wants to do hard, physical labor for hours, many people do because of the benefits and such.
ehh, i think you need to do some more research on automation. no one would be needed to put input into the computers or create algorithms eventually. the system would be completely self-sufficient. they will create new operating systems, keep track of resources, etc. also, a lot of the intellectual jobs are starting to become automated now, such as accounting jobs, legal work, and probably even a lot of teaching jobs in the future. i think regardless of what kind of system is in the future, more people will have hobbies than jobs. also, it is predicted that computers will surpass human intelligence within a decade and reach technological singularity no later than 2045. Here's a link to a pdf of The Lights in the Tunnel, a book on automation. http://www.thelightsinthetunnel.com/LIGHTSTUNNEL.PDF
I'm only a little over half way through it myself, but it's def a good read.
This is the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTx6t3FUSkM&feature=share