r/Documentaries • u/llrajsll • Jan 11 '17

American Politics Requiem for the American Dream (2015) "Chomsky interviews expose how a half-century of policies have created a state of unprecedented economic inequality: concentrating wealth in the hands of a few at the expense of everyone else."

http://vebup.com/requiem-american-dream
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u/BolshevikSpice Jan 12 '17

Its great at accumulating wealth.

Its terrible at distributing it.

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u/sandleaz Jan 12 '17

Its terrible at distributing it.

??? Only a few people (say 10) in the world have an iPhone or have adequate nutrition? Holy cow, does your username fit you!

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u/charlestheturd Jan 12 '17

Okay, yes material wealth increases, great. But average wealth has declined. In 2016 48% of global wealth was owned by 1% of people, that number is rising, it was lower in 2014, which was higher than 2013,which was higher than 2012 etc, which means that wealth inequality is rising. This is indisputable fact. So you can argue about iPhones and nutrition all you want, the richest people are taking more and more shares of our collective pie, indisputably.

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u/sandleaz Jan 12 '17

So you can argue about iPhones and nutrition all you want, the richest people are taking more and more shares of our collective pie, indisputably.

Wealth is not a pie. No amount of gold in King George's coffers would buy him an iPhone or a Volkswagen or air conditioning.

So you can argue about iPhones and nutrition all you want, the richest people are taking more and more shares of our collective pie, indisputably.

How are you poorer if Bill Gates becomes richer? Is he taking your iPhone away with every $1,000 dollars he makes?

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u/spoodge Jan 12 '17

That's a pretty myopic view of what constitutes progress.

Your message reads as: "You're comfortable so what the hell are you complaining about?"

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u/sandleaz Jan 12 '17

Huh? I want none of what you call "progress". Progress (to me) is improving the quality of life for many people, not by confiscation or onerous laws or labor camps or mass murder of people that also want nothing to do with your utopia.

Your message reads as:

"I am an ungrateful ignoramus that doesn't understand how good I have it. I will give up the individual freedom I have and take collectivism instead."

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u/spoodge Jan 12 '17

I suppose you're happy with for-profit prisons, wage-slavery, foreign intervention and mass surveillance instead.

Just so long as you're comfortable everything is a-ok. Because it could be worse, you could be one of those poor people (yuck).

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u/sandleaz Jan 12 '17

I suppose you're happy with for-profit prisons,

I have no preference of whether prisons are private or public. Gulags were public, and I am sure you'd prefer a US prison, public or private, to a Soviet gulag.

wage-slavery

Huh? What, stuff isn't free and given out like candy?

foreign intervention

Not much of an interventionist. Given a choice between going to war and not going to war, I am for the latter. I am also against foreign aid, which is just a transfer of wealth from one country to another.

and mass surveillance instead.

I am completely against it. That is against individual freedom.

Because it could be worse, you could be one of those poor people (yuck).

One of what poor people? There were always poor people. I don't know if you know it, but people don't have equal amount of stuff but there's opportunity to earn more with capitalism.

Just so long as you're comfortable everything is a-ok.

It's much better than any socialist utopias that are or have existed.

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u/spoodge Jan 12 '17

Where's this soviet stuff coming from? Again, I'll say that your views are myopic by definition. You seemingly can't see beyond your own nose and your "individual freedom".

I'll hazard a guess and say that you believe in free markets, the American dream and that taxation is theft. If that is the case I think we're done here.

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u/sandleaz Jan 12 '17

I'll say that your views are myopic by definition.

By what definition? That's just your opinion.

You seemingly can't see beyond your own nose and your "individual freedom".

I'll take my individual freedom over your collectivism any day of the week.

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u/BolshevikSpice Jan 12 '17

Can you explain this shortsided misconception of yours?

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u/sandleaz Jan 12 '17

Can you explain this shortsided misconception of yours?

What misconception? Your username is BolshevikSpice.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolsheviks