=== ANCHOR POEM ===
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 what if operations were required to be funded ONLY from revenue and projects
 were required to be funded ONLY from investment, communal, governmental,
 personal, corporate, or otherwise?
 
 and hey throw in the idea that profit MUST be utilized to improve the
 operation of the business somehow, because the wage of the employees IS the
 profit
 
 including the wage of the shareholders, who are employees that contribute
 their insight and collective will. (two tasks which frankly are much better
 suited to the employees doing the work, I might add)
 
 meaning if you want to be a capitalist you can't hide from taxes anymore by
 earning money from a company without being paid
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=== SIMILARITY RANKED ===

--- #1 fediverse/3447 ---
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 low key kinda pissed that all my ideas for starting a business require
 funding, because funding tends to be controlled by the "business major" types,
 and all of my ideas tend to involve wresting power from the MBAs and
 capitalists, which means they're unlikely to invest in me or utilize my ideas.
 
 unless of course it's crowd-funded, which makes me feel bad because it's
 taking money from the people I'm trying to empower.
 
 thus, power accretes in the hands of the wealthy, as the poor are too sick
 with capital-deficiency to develop ventures that would heal them, and the rich
 would not be rich if they did so themselves.
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--- #2 fediverse/2744 ---
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 @user-1074 
 
 ah but you see when "maximizing profit" and "maximizing value" sound like the
 same thing to those directing the corporation (as is the case anytime they
 have greedy shareholders) then "maximizing profit" doesn't have to be very
 efficient at all, as long as it's extracting the most "value" for the
 stakeholders (which to greedy shareholders is the same thing as profit)
 
 and honestly, who would invest in a company that isn't eternally growing as
 fast as possible? that's just bad business acumen, gotta pump those numbers up!
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--- #3 messages/886 ---
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 I feel that frugality and productivity should be valued in equal regard.
 
 A person who conserves should be valued just the same as a person who
 progresses.
 
 Yet we find ourselves in a capitalist system which demands the production of
 dollars to spend on rent, mortgages, groceries, bill payments,
 land-value-taxes, and all the other things besides.
 
 Would it not be better to ensure the grovetender has a space to sleep? The
 recycler has enough to eat?
 
 What of the mothers? Their children are their charges, they should worry less
 about financials.
 
 What of the artists? Their visions and imagined creations are worth more than
 their time working at a bank or a grocery store.
 
 Open source programming is the bedrock of all technology. It is not rewarded.
 
 There are countless examples besides. Give people the means to produce and
 they will - give people the means to maintain and they will.
 
 Currently, people have the means for neither. Only corporations and the few
 with wealth have the means to produce or conserve - everyone else just works
 in their sweatshops.
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--- #4 fediverse/735 ---
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 I'd ask why of course, and then I'd try and find them a solution that didn't
 involve taking my stuff. They may need it more than me, but I still need it.
 Like... okay picture that feeling you get when in a capitalist society and you
 need dollars to live because they are a genericized and fractalized
 abstraction of all the various individual mazlowe's hierarchy of needs you
 have. Then, think of it like, instead of money being an abstracted form of all
 of your needs, think of your needs... each of them, the ones that matter to
 you, and abstract them into money. Basically say "yeah sure my time and my
 labor are worth dollars, I abstract my needs into money" and then you can
 kinda see why capitalism is harmful. I'd prefer to give them what they need,
 because society provides what I please, but alas I'm always kept wanting. What
 good is our capitalist utopia? what good is our hope? what good comes of us
 when all of us have learned how to cope?
 
 I think we could give a bit more if we weren't hanging from the rope
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--- #5 fediverse/374 ---
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 @user-278 
 
 kinda makes me think it'd be nice if we had some way to quantify the amount
 that employers taxed their employees? If people saw 50-70% of their paycheck
 going straight toward executive bonuses and stock buybacks or whatever...
 maybe then we'd fix things
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--- #6 fediverse/3949 ---
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 │ CW: politics-mentioned │                                                       │
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 less mutual aid posts, those should be handled by a person's community who       │
 knows them and can decide how to best help them                                  │
 more "hey the guys and I are making a fund just in-case any of us need it -      │
 it's at 30,000 now but we could use some more dosh if you wanna join you could   │
 use it if you needed it but it's totally up to you no pressure - yeah yeah no    │
 I get it. Okay, well, yeah sure I'll get my coat."                               │
 oh huh did you know corporations exist to fill that very niche?                  │
 turns out you can just... hire your friends and pay them a wage                  │
 just don't get in trouble with the IRS, that's how they got capone               │
 (I bet you could hire a lawyer or accountant type to keep everything upright)    │
 Building out the legal structure is just like building software, trust me.       │
 There's all kinds of forms and figures that match up to various pipeline nodes   │
 and if you tick all the boxes (supply the right arguments) then the business     │
 needs will be fulfilled.                                                         │
 capitalism must be dismantled with it's own tools. For respect.                  │
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--- #7 fediverse/5276 ---
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 Efficient movement through all of the data, code, IS records, etceteras, git
 repositories, and all the other things, is the sign of a strong, capable,
 efficient company of co-developing systems.
 
 I used to work for a blue aligned computer chip company and every single team
 was impossibly siloed. they were so paranoid of losing their trade secrets
 that they blinded themselves.
 
 how brutal, to require that of them. and that's why it's capitalism's fault
 
 the reason it is so important to be able to utilize all the digital assets
 available is... because it's essentially free. and a massive productivity
 bonus. you can just... solve problems.
 
 then, make new problems, just to watch the juniors navigate through a scene or
 three. then, you know who to introduce them to. boom, free projects, as people
 plot and gamble around the dinner room table (which is located in the
 cafeteria by the way, it didn't rhyme to say so but it did when I added this
 explanation account) by exchanging ideas about how to make the world be
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--- #8 fediverse/3870 ---
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 │ CW: politics-renewable-infrastrutre │                                          │
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 "something something trump wants to faucet the PNW's water to the desert"        │
 oh, so you're saying that he wants to invest in a massive infrastructural        │
 project which will help millions of people? And, uh, how does he want to pay     │
 for that?                                                                        │
 Surely the best approach would be to make the people who use the most water      │
 pay for it, right? I mean, it's ironic, and related, and it gives them their     │
 just deserts, right?                                                             │
 So make a tax (that's how you make people pay for things) and levy it against    │
 Nestle, who bottles up all of the water in the desert and sells it for pennies   │
 to brown people who can't afford to build water infrastructure because they      │
 keep spending all their pennies on useless things like bottled water.            │
 And make it a big tax, please, so that they're forced to re-evaluate their       │
 business model and divert wealth from their least contributionary workers        │
 (aka, those at the top making millions) and spend it on something useful like    │
 desalination plants or water turbines or whatever.                               │
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--- #9 messages/441 ---
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 Do you remember stores with floor-to-ceiling goods? The kind that didn't go
 bad, so you could afford to have lots of inventory. Not like it's being
 replaced and thrown out as soon as the executives with their profit margins
 decide that its no longer worthwhile.
 
 Here's an idea - how about executives are paid by the employees to manage
 their company? And if things aren't going right, they can get a new team.
 Like, if every team had control of their manager, I wonder what dynamics would
 emerge?
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--- #10 messages/1151 ---
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 capital C communism is easy. Just pay everyone the same amount, and they can
 swim in the market economy waters as easily as any capitalistic fish, and
 suddenly their incentives are aligned - when one of us selfishly improves our
 lives, we improve the collective as well. When one selflessly improves the
 collective, all of our personal lives are improved. Then, optimize for radical
 abundance, the ability to have whatever you want as soon as ideal, and
 suddenly everything starts working out. P.S. the route to abundance is through
 recycling perfectly. Design your goods to be functional in that way, and you
 have infinite resources that can be used for infinitely many things (until
 they literally wear away to dust)
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--- #11 messages/775 ---
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 if people want to be loved for more than their money, they should reject the
 lie that capitalism told them. they deserve their wealth because they are
 willing to serve. that willingness, whether through moral corruption or simply
 industrious drive, that willingness is rewarded, and when the system they
 serve is unkind... what does that tell you about their heart? that they'd
 sacrifice what is good and true for the material? materials are not bad.
 material is all we got, in a physical sense. but capitalism and it's servants
 are cruel and unwilling to concede to the idea that their games of unmatched
 exploitation are depriving the world bit-by-bit of life, liberty, and the
 pursuit of happiness.
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--- #12 messages/171 ---
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 Universal basic income AND universally distributed rations. If nobody goes
 hungry, then people can spend their money toward things they care about, and
 not things they need to live.
 
 Without the rations, UBI becomes just another tax, levied by the landlords
 instead of the government.
 
 With the rations, people can frolic in the street and do whatever they please.
 If you aren't too concerned about having enough to eat, why bother with
 capitalism? Why not just lie in a ditch?
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--- #13 fediverse/4702 ---
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 ┌──────────────────────┐                                                         │
 │ CW: mentioned        │                                                         │
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 high margin jobs: jobs that produce something which can be sold to capitalism    │
 in exchange for dollars which can purchase things. Useful for abstracting        │
 value and acquiring something that you don't have access to in your local        │
 economy.                                                                         │
 low margin jobs: jobs that produce things for your local economy. This keeps     │
 capitalist prices low and prevents you from being dependent on them for food,    │
 clothing, houses, and other essentials.                                          │
 both are important, both are valued just as much. Your labor is what's           │
 important, not the output. Existing alongside capitalism is nice because it      │
 allows for certain abstractions, like the ability to magically turn goat         │
 cheese into chainsaw teeth.                                                      │
 However living UNDER capitalism is intensely alienating, which is why            │
 alienated people will spend so much money at Magic the Gathering tournaments     │
 or motorcycle midlife crisises or tupperware show-and-tells.                     │
 This is useful for us because it means people can labor to un-alienate people.   │
 Notice I never said you had to do it for free.                                   │
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--- #14 fediverse/3387 ---
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 z-targeting is cheating, and everyone cheats. it's a race to see how can cheat
 the least. like tax loopholes - wealth is always more impressive when you did
 in the hard way, but most CEOs just buy a bunch of stock and let the company
 run itself. BORING.
 
 can we like... vote on how much each billionaire's dollars are worth? kinda
 feel like that'd solve all our problems while still giving them what they want.
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--- #15 fediverse/1935 ---
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 @user-28 
 
 because "deserving money" to a reasonable person sounds like "deserving access
 to the goods and services that a pittance might afford"
 
 but to them "deserving money" means "did they earn those luxuries with their
 own luck and effort like me, a person who works very hard and definitely has
 earned everything I have"
 
 basically, a "blood sweat and tears" tax before you can have nice things like
 roofs and clothes and nourishment
 
 thing is... life is hard for people who need dollars. Their judgement reflects
 a lack of understanding of what people who lack resources go through.
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--- #16 messages/374 ---
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 "updating software" is when you go back and add helper functions for things
 you used had to do to solve a problem but didn't get a chance to make. Because
 you were making more important things and couldn't pad out all the
 possibilities. But if you want great software, then you both take more time to
 accomplish that and you give yourself time for it after it's been launched.
 Basically, companies are incentivized to only support their products if it
 makes them money. Meaning reputations are tarnished, and profit is affected.
 Capitalists intentionally drive businesses into the ground, forcing them to
 make terrible decisions in order to destroy them. It's a warfare against those
 on the [bottom/floor/ground-floor].
 
 Some businesses strive for long-term potential, and some will create
 infrastructure that can be sold to another. Essentially, keeping the dream of
 learning alive, through applying yourself to both long-term and short-term
 conclusions. Not everything has to be for some grand design, we're here to
 relish in this moment. For if we lack the capacity to "frolic in the garden of
 eden", then we will surely drown. Space is vast, it's difficult to understand
 how we might control it. Surely we could be given aid to our future
 betterment!" how simple of a request, sure, of course, we would be glad to
 bring forth your bravest aspirations, just tell us what you need to be of
 need." oh, uh, neat. How about space lasers?" ... no "
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--- #17 messages/538 ---
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 There are strategic goals and top down goals.
 
 Strategy is the domain of the execs. They must be as general as possible and
 justify their existence. They are the glue, the connectors, the people who
 know who to talk to in order to get things done.
 
 Tactics are the realm of the workers. They must be capable, dependable, honest
 and fair. They must diligently realize the goals of the strategic plan using
 whatever means they deem fit to address the tactical situation at hand. The
 more freedom they have, the more effective they are.
 
 These two forces are pitted in contest under capitalism. Under socialism, they
 are orthogonal to one another. Not a pyramid, but a cylinder on its side,
 growing from its base on one end to its zenith at the other.
 
 They are allies. They are similar, but distinct. Their roles may overlap at
 times, or perhaps not if they should not desire it. A person should be able to
 work wherever they like. They are the best judges of their capabilities.
 
 There are only so many resources, and if we vote on their distribution we'll
 give enough for everyone to share. And then we'll run out. Unless, of course,
 we *demand* sustainablity. Long-term, and ignoring profit but rather seeking
 to build capability. That is the only way to [ramp/snowball/scale].
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--- #18 fediverse/2017 ---
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 @user-1129 
 
 Lemme guess, the C-suite executives have profit as their main goal, right?
 
 And they utilize their laboring force of citizens to generate profit which is
 given to the crown shareholders as tribute for their benevolent grace and
 favor bestowed upon checks notes the C-suite executives, right?
 
 Kinda sounds like taxation without representation to me. One sec, where's my
 darn musket I'm always leaving it somewhere strange like under the couch
 cushions or taped underneath my desk or hidden in the curtains right next to
 the window that has the best vantage point of the surrounding street.
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--- #19 fediverse/5496 ---
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 "why bother disadvantaged and vulnerable people when you could just grow your
 own?"
 
 - motivations of a capitalist-in-regard
 
 empowerment requires strength. do you force people to unbecome the victim? how
 are your traps mentally prepared?
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--- #20 fediverse/5205 ---
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 │ CW: capitalism-mentioned │                                                     │
 └──────────────────────────┘                                                     │
 whenever I talk to capitalists (who actually have money and aren't larping       │
 wage slaves) they always tell me that the best way to address the concerns I     │
 have with capitalism is to make a million or more dollars by making a company,   │
 and then using that million dollars to buy houses for people I care about.       │
 I ask "what about the rest of the people, the ones I don't know?"                │
 their response typically boils down to "if you don't know them, then why         │
 should you care? fuck 'em"                                                       │
 It's never about hope or change. They want to change the world to make it        │
 cooler, not kinder. generally.                                                   │
 bonus: "if you like unions so much, why don't you join one?" my guy, unions      │
 WERE great when they wielded power. Now they are bureaucratic and listless,      │
 serving only to sedate the working class enough that they stop complaining and   │
 get back to work. They are functionally a part of the enslavement system, a      │
 built-in course correction mechanism to ensure capitalism remains solvent when   │
 the powerful overstep their humanity.                                            │
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