Post: #1

amazing...totally true..

http://www.goodlookingloser.com/2012/03/...slavement/

which do you think its the way to "hack" the system ,understand how to get the most of it without being a "slave" that lives to work?

I think the best way is tobe an excellent entrepreneur,find an actual niche market that has some weak points and target it,or finding a new one and exploit it.



Without being a kind of anarchist or bohemian tramp

Post: #2

That was a pretty great article... I should read that site more often.

Post: #3

This is Moldbug's view written from a different angle. And it's not a necessary angle: life as livestock can still be pretty good. People have still had birthday parties, first kisses, raised families, played hockey, et cetera. In certain times and places,the livestock have even had a large stake in the authoring of their own lives (as the article grants). The reactionary/formalist approach holds that formal recognition of our real "owners" is the best recipe for peace, order, and freedom.

Post: #4

Well, livestock don't have a choice... but people (in the developed, western world) have a choice whether to take a job or not. They can also negotiate salaries, change roles, change careers completely, go freelance, start a business, etc.

Or jump on a plane and be teaching English next week in exotic lands, or selling their services online and roaming the world, etc.

The average 1st-world westerner has unprecedented freedom and opportunity, although it's true most don't even consider those possibilities - social conditioning is powerful.

Businesses do definitely extract surplus value from employees - rewarding them with a fraction of the dollar-equivalent of the value they produce. That's also true if you own your own business, though - you often have to provide 10x the value you actually charge for in order to be competitive. Depending on your life situation you might actually retain more of your production, and maybe have a better work-life balance, as an employee. It just depends on your situation - what's important is that you have the choice.

The real "livestock" are the people with no choice or opportunities. The chinese kids who work 15hr days in the Apple supplier's factory and sleep in cochroach-infested beds *in the factory* to make your iPhone. Or the immigrant construction workers in Dubai duped into giving up their passports and now forced to work in sweltering heat for years on end. There are people alot worse off than the westerners with massive opportunity laid at their feet.

Post: #5

(09-15-2013 05:49 PM)RichieP Wrote:  Well, livestock don't have a choice... but people (in the developed, western world) have a choice whether to take a job or not. They can also negotiate salaries, change roles, change careers completely, go freelance, start a business, etc.

........

Nah, the point of the video/article isn't really about what you raise. It's more about the fact that we live under a government and not an anarcho-capitalist society and so that means we are not free.

Most of the article is from Stefan Molyneux.

Post: #6

The problem I've always had with these types of conspiracy theories is the use of the word "THEY."

Who is "THEY"?

Is there really a group of older white gentlemen with white beards sitting in a room like the Architect from the 2nd Matrix movie plotting the next season's "harvest"?

Because none of us have access to the capitalist nobility (the top 1 percent of the top 1 percent) we'll never know; we'll be left guessing. My guess is that as money is passed from generation to generation a set of practices and attitudes are transferred from generation. Much like a carpenter doesn't recognize the individuality of his nails, the capitalist nobility views workers in much the same way. Interchangeable, not unique, and ultimately a tool to get the job done. The job is to make money.

As far as Kristian's point,

(09-15-2013 08:07 AM)Kristian Wrote:  I think the best way is to be an excellent entrepreneur,find an actual niche market that has some weak points and target it,or finding a new one and exploit it.

If you believe the video to be true, this argument doesn't address the system's need to have it's "livestock" consume (spend $$$) and be taxed on their earnings. If you're an entrepreneur you're still engaging in the system; you're being taxed on your earnings and people are purchasing your goods/services with money earned from selling their labor.

Quite frankly I think there is no way out of this system. Capitalism makes us all whores that sell ourselves to the highest bidder. The best option is to be the highest paid whore you can be.

Post: #7

Fascinating video/article. Very demoralizing though.