Re: Disabled In Socialist Countries
OK, then the question becomes: how do we get the necessary tech advancements in a world that is still too Capitalist to ignore?
Open source projects that are funded through donations or government investment even actually offers an opportunity. Part of the problem that capitalism faces is that it conflicts directly with automation; we are reaching a point where automation is starting to take more jobs than it actually creates. IMHO this is a much bigger problem with capitalism interfering with the development of such technology rather than a problem in communism itself.
I don't want to keep coming back to the USSR, since we agree they failed so hard it might literally be visible from space, but I think one of the big problems that 20th century Communists had is that they were trying to go from pre-industrial to Communist without the intervening industrial-Capitalist phase, and trying to brute-force it with a planned economy destroyed things on scales for which Biblical would undersell the body count.
I sort of agree; I think fundamentally communism conflicts heavily with what a "state" is which is why I'm anti-state. Ideal end stage communism would have no state. The issue then becomes how that is achieved. Insofar as I know there are two main approaches, centralized (socialists) and decentralized (anarchists); the socialists believe that the state would represent a secure, safe model to ensure safe transition while anarchists believe that a transition should occur more democratically. For me, a state isn't the people, the state will always protect itself before the people, and over time it will be more inclined to protect more and more of itself; this is why you can see the emergence of things like gulags ect.
I do want to challenge some of the "do the work for free" type stuff. Mostly because the problems I mentioned with healthcare are not solved via volunteer medical professionals. Doctors still need expensive certifications, and research is still expensive.
The reason why those things are expensive is because essentially of capitalsim. Healthcare is weird because I think it's one of the much more socializable aspects of production. Let's assume that we valued doctors for their work so much that we gave them free room and board while they studied and perform their tasks - do you think that they would suddenly stop doing their jobs? Sure, some would, but it would also make being a doctor more accessible to people who actually want to be doctors. The problem with transitioning between capitalism to communism is that this doesn't occur in a vacuum and could have profound effects on the rest of the economy as well as being poorly managed while being restructured; but I think these problems should be addressed gradually instead of assuming that capitalism "works".
Personally, I believe in the idea that socialist alternatives should compete and be funded by small communities of dedicated individuals. This allows the product to compete in the capitalist space and encourage communities to eventually transition away from capitalistly sourced resources. The main problem is that this requires an extremely vulnerable initial startup phase. Obviously this wouldn't start with medicine but something much more practical - most likely in computers.
UBI kinda scares me, tbh. It's hard to explain, but it almost feels more like a prison sentence than an offer of additional freedom. I'm not sure why. I'd probably change my mind if I actually had it.
Don't take this the wrong way but I really don't understand the problem with UBI. It's not like you can't have a job with UBI (unlike how with many assistance programs you have to prove you don't need assistance). I actually like the idea because it greatly reduces the amount of beuocracy surrounding public assistance and we can focus our money on things that we actually want instead of having to worry if we'll be on the street or can eat.
I think it's because personal freedom is hard, and UBI by itself reminds me too much of the abyss of awful that was college. ... and 2014. Although I did go back for a semester in 2014, so I guess that counts. Ugh. ugh Ugh ugh uGh ugH UGH.
IDK man I just don't know why you'd want to make it harder on yourself. Sure you were dumb in college but you were also younger back then and I really don't believe that's just because you were receiving assistance from somewhere. Yeah, if I was 22 and I had UBI I would be dumb with it, but now I really wish I had UBI because then I could quit my job, dedicate myself full time to game production and push my accessible gaming shit. The fact that I have to be fully self reliant because of capitalism prevents me from finding my own personal freedom.
IMHO capitalism only offers "freedom" if your definition of freedom is freedom of consuming material experiences and things...
Regarding cutting healthcare costs. A lot of the cost is beuocratic and the fact that we have a completely privatized health system. Keep in mind that the CEO's of these health insurance companies get often 15-20 million dollar salaries for example, which in of itself is a massive waste (again, is a CEO really worth that much?). I'm just saying as someone who's been on the inside of that block that it is extremely complicated, fucked up, wrapped around all sorts of confusing regulations and is a complete fucking mess.
Weirdly enough, I'm less excited about the agricultural tech advancements, because we don't need them urgently enough compared to what we already have.
Aren't a ton of people starving and aren't we facing a topsoil crisis because of annual crops? Not to mention that current technology harms the environment and contributes towards global warming. 1 in 5 children in America are not getting enough food.
I think a lot of the problem with food supply is less agricultural and more distribution - a ton of food ends up stockpiled somewhere and not in the mouths of people who actually need it. It's weird its almost as if capitalism and 20th century style state communism doesn't work lel
Space would DEFINITELY not be cheaper than literally anything today... just... no. Stop with the space stuff it was a huge waste of money in the 60s its a huge waste of money now. I don't mind the research but trying to implement it into production is completely ridiculous, as well is offering commercial space flights
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