Random thought.
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Random thought.
If public libraries didn't already exist, capitalism wouldn't let you invent it. Can you imagine how many billions Jeff Bezos would plough into fighting the idea, destroying any politician who dared to back it?
Support your local library.
What does capitalism have to do with the fact most people are stupid enough to get locked into a walled garden where they don't really buy anything but pay for a subscription?
What does capitalism have to do with the fact that we are being pushed into a future where we essentially own nothing and we're supposed to be happy about it?
Neither of these things are a fundamental part of capitalism.
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@davidnjoku@mastodon.world Many libraries were originally sponsored by the industrialist Andrew Carnegie.
True, he did.
And yet, we’re all better off sponsoring those libraries with our shared tax dollars rather than depending on a robber baron like Carnegie to decide that he is going to do something good for once.
And I think that’s where I share the sentiment David is expressing:
I don’t want to have bet something important on maybe a powerful, exploitative person so grow a little bit of a conscience or discovery mercy of some sort.
That’s really the big thing, isn’t it? Maybe the king is good, maybe bad, maybe both, but rather not have something as powerful as a king or an oligarch.
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What does capitalism have to do with the fact most people are stupid enough to get locked into a walled garden where they don't really buy anything but pay for a subscription?
What does capitalism have to do with the fact that we are being pushed into a future where we essentially own nothing and we're supposed to be happy about it?
Neither of these things are a fundamental part of capitalism.
@Kalki_Rider They seem directly connected, to me. Capitalism causes both of them.
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@Kalki_Rider They seem directly connected, to me. Capitalism causes both of them.
@woozle @davidnjoku Then you don't know the definition of capitalism. In capitalism, owning things is generally seen as a good thing.
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@davidnjoku@mastodon.world Many libraries were originally sponsored by the industrialist Andrew Carnegie.
‘Andrew Carnegie supported libraries because he believed access to knowledge was essential for self-improvement, merit-based success, and community advancement. As a formerly poor immigrant, he credited his own success to having free access to books, calling libraries "ladders upon which the aspiring may climb"’ Wikipedia
These ideas really didn’t used to be controversial or identifiable with a particular side of the political spectrum.
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Random thought.
If public libraries didn't already exist, capitalism wouldn't let you invent it. Can you imagine how many billions Jeff Bezos would plough into fighting the idea, destroying any politician who dared to back it?
Support your local library.
And create new ones.
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Random thought.
If public libraries didn't already exist, capitalism wouldn't let you invent it. Can you imagine how many billions Jeff Bezos would plough into fighting the idea, destroying any politician who dared to back it?
Support your local library.
@davidnjoku “Imagine there was no such thing as a library, and that members of the current neoliberal policy consensus were to sit down today and invent it.”
https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/citizen-coupon
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@woozle @davidnjoku Then you don't know the definition of capitalism. In capitalism, owning things is generally seen as a good thing.
Yes, that is correct. Capitalism says nothing, however, about ensuring that ownership is equitable, fair, or even common.
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Yes, that is correct. Capitalism says nothing, however, about ensuring that ownership is equitable, fair, or even common.
@woozle @davidnjoku Well then, on the same token, Communism and Socialism must both fundamentally lead to totalitarianism.
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@woozle @davidnjoku Well then, on the same token, Communism and Socialism must both fundamentally lead to totalitarianism.
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Random thought.
If public libraries didn't already exist, capitalism wouldn't let you invent it. Can you imagine how many billions Jeff Bezos would plough into fighting the idea, destroying any politician who dared to back it?
Support your local library.
Oddly many towns main public library was built with funding from one of the original slave driving capitalists like JJHill. More or less as monuments to themselves.
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Random thought.
If public libraries didn't already exist, capitalism wouldn't let you invent it. Can you imagine how many billions Jeff Bezos would plough into fighting the idea, destroying any politician who dared to back it?
Support your local library.
Free books? That’s some super socialist shit, there!
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@woozle @davidnjoku Show me where it hasn't.
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@woozle @davidnjoku Show me where it hasn't.
@Kalki_Rider All of Scandinavia?
You're viewing our current situation in a short-sighted way. Paying for subs means we're basically renting... from the rich person who owns the material or rights.
The landlord is a part of capitalism.
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@Kalki_Rider All of Scandinavia?
You're viewing our current situation in a short-sighted way. Paying for subs means we're basically renting... from the rich person who owns the material or rights.
The landlord is a part of capitalism.
@solitha @woozle @davidnjoku Scandinavia doesn't exactly have the best speech laws. Let alone privacy.
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@solitha @woozle @davidnjoku Scandinavia doesn't exactly have the best speech laws. Let alone privacy.
@Kalki_Rider They're better off than where we are, and worlds better than where we're going.
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@Kalki_Rider They're better off than where we are, and worlds better than where we're going.
@solitha @woozle @davidnjoku No, they are not. Say the wrong thing there and the police will come to your door. Fail to comply with their complaints and you will suffer. This is not freedom.
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@solitha @woozle @davidnjoku No, they are not. Say the wrong thing there and the police will come to your door. Fail to comply with their complaints and you will suffer. This is not freedom.
@Kalki_Rider They are the strongest democracies in the world, with the highest dedication to human rights.
I don't know where you are, but my US is failing in both metrics, rapidly.
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Random thought.
If public libraries didn't already exist, capitalism wouldn't let you invent it. Can you imagine how many billions Jeff Bezos would plough into fighting the idea, destroying any politician who dared to back it?
Support your local library.
@davidnjoku I had an acquaintance in Oregon, whose county decided to vote to cut taxes, gutting the library's budget.
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@Kalki_Rider They are the strongest democracies in the world, with the highest dedication to human rights.
I don't know where you are, but my US is failing in both metrics, rapidly.
@solitha @woozle @davidnjoku Human rights which don't include freedom of speech or expression. Also, they are a nation of no account or importance.
