Why Young Americans Are Giving Up on Capitalism

[Jim Casey]

Would free stuff bring young folks back into the folds of capitalism?

http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/06/16/why-young-americans-are-giving-up-on-capitalism/

When asked whether they support the idea that “Basic necessities, such as food and shelter, are a right that the government should provide to those unable to afford them,” 47 percent of all respondents said “yes.” Does this indicate support for socialism?

 

[Natural Citizen]

Most young people don't have an understanding of what capitalism actually is. And technically, what we really have is mercantilism functionong under the disguise of capitalism anyway.

I know this isn't the question, but, young people are mad at the wrong problem. So, the question, I think, is fundamentally moot.

 

[Jim Casey]

Most young people don't have an understanding of what capitalism actually is. And technically, what we really have is mercantilism functionong under the disguise of capitalism anyway.

I know this isn't the question, but, young people are mad at the wrong problem. So, the question, I think, is fundamentally moot.

Well, according to the article:

“The way in which capitalism is practiced today, in the minds of young people — that’s what they’re rejecting,” he said.

Capitalism, in other words, holds less appeal in an era when the invisible hand feels like a death grip.

I'm not sure that there is precise enough emulation of mercantilism as it was practiced in the past to sufficiently differentiate what we have today from capitalism convincingly.

Would an increase in availability of higher paying jobs do more to improve youth sentiment towards capitalism? Would any compromising of free market principles in an attempt to improve capitalist sentiment be worth the risk?

 

[acptulsa]

Once upon a time, before forty more years of the purposeful destruction of the middle class through dollar devaluation, a person could live on the wages they earned in the private sector. Now the corporatocracy has arranged it so you can work eighty hours a week and still starve without government assistance.

Gee, I wonder why attitudes toward the private sector have changed...?

 

[CaptUSA]

Confusing poll is confusing. But I'll answer anyway.

They don't know what capitalism is - they've never seen it. They've only experienced cronyism (or whatever you want to call this). They've been trained by government skools to think that governments can be benevolent if they would just be run right. So, in their minds, the answer to cronyism is to give government more power to crack down on cronyism. Which, of course, is the last thing you want to do.

They've been indoctrinated to believe that if things were just centrally-planned in the right way - without corporate influence - that their lives would be happy. They don't even consider the idea that it could be better without any kind of central planning at all.

But that's their macro view. When it comes to their personal finances, they definitely don't want someone else controlling things. These types of people have a sense of entitlement and when they aren't getting what they want, they try to find external reasons for why. Which just feeds into their indoctrination that they're being screwed and "government" should stop it. By giving them things to "make things fair".

It's a circular pattern, but it's effective if you want to control people.

 

[Ronin Truth]

The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America

http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com.../DDDoA.sml.pdf

 

[oyarde]

If 5 in 10 think everything they really NEED should be free , you have a problem a bit more severe than " a little socialism " .

 

[Ronin Truth]

"Capitalism should not be condemned, since we haven't had capitalism." -- Ron Paul

 

[CaptUSA]

If 5 in 10 think everything they really NEED should be free , you have a problem a bit more severe than " a little socialism " .

You know, it's funny that most of those people hate the idea of guns, but have no problem at all using government guns to take property from those that earned it. And they do it with "clean" hands.

(No... it's not really funny.)

 

[NewRightLibertarian]

Most young people don't have an understanding of what capitalism actually is. And technically, what we really have is mercantilism functionong under the disguise of capitalism anyway.

I know this isn't the question, but, young people are mad at the wrong problem. So, the question, I think, is fundamentally moot.

No, they know exactly what it is and reject it because they want big daddy government to wipe their asses for them.

That's part of the reason why millennials are the worst generation ever to walk the planet.

 

[Jim Casey]

No, they know exactly what it is and reject it because they want big daddy government to wipe their asses for them.

That's part of the reason why millennials are the worst generation ever to walk the planet.

I say the boomers are worse than the millennials. I'm somewhere in between the two. Also from the article:

Baby boomers tell you there is a way out: a college education has always been the key to a good job. But that doesn’t seem to happen anymore.

When the job market kept taking a downward spiral, the boomers never stopped believing education was the answer, no matter how high the tuition costs, how unlikely the graduate is to use the diploma to obtain a higher paying job, or how much the curricula is completely irrelevant to obtaining the skills necessary to perform the duties a higher paying job.

It tends to be that those who found critical thinking the least appealing when attending extremely inefficient public education to be the most enthusiastic about the transition to college. People who had opinions and ideas that they couldn't express in schools would be more loathe to continue those terms and also have to pay for it out of their own pockets.

Some one who would find arming themselves to improve their conditions might seek a military career, but they would soon find a lot of people take that route as a means to afford continuing education. Either way, they also tend to have a difficult time making it above the poverty line.

Did I mention that the boomers failed to make enough children to enter the work force in sufficient numbers to sustain the ponzi scheme known as social security? Their revered education never included the math on that program, but boy did they sure like buying more lottery tickets.

Boomers also thought they were too educated to need labor unions anymore. They'll file their income taxes and pay their tuition, but heaven forbid they have to pay union dues. Organized labor is a barbarous relic from the dawn of mass production according to the boomers.

 

[Mad Raven]

The poll is too one-dimensional. I don't think it matters.

The #1 factor I believe is the way people go through the puppy mill with cookie-cutter education. They are protected, and yet their individuality is also suppressed. They are taught that their life only matters as a small part of the group. Their sense of personal power is attacked to the point where they feel helpless. They are taught that they are only a cog in the system, and all the other cogs must get in line or the system falls apart. There's no value put on willpower. Look at all the people who can't even manage to lose weight, or learn something new to get into better work.

The reason the US jumped way ahead of the rest of the world in a very short time wasn't because of capitalism. Capitalism was just an attribute of the larger philosophy. It was because of the American dream and the spirit and sense of freedom that it entailed. There was always a sense that you could do anything and you were capable of anything, and there was a big wide country to do it in. No limits. People failed and weren't coddled but told to try again. Capitalism is just the actions of people who act on their sense of freedom and self power.

 

[acptulsa]

No, they know exactly what it is and reject it because they want big daddy government to wipe their asses for them.

That's part of the reason why millennials are the worst generation ever to walk the planet.

How would they know what it is? They've never seen it in action. They couldn't even operate a lemonade stand. They didn't get taught about it in school, or rather they got taught lies about it. They never saw anyone get a living wage from it--only the government jobs pay average low-skill workers enough to eat and pay rent without assistance.

Capitalism has become like big band swing music. The stories sound neat, but there's scarcely a shred of proof left that it really existed.

 

[NewRightLibertarian]

How would they know what it is? They've never seen it in action. They couldn't even operate a lemonade stand. They didn't get taught about it in school, or rather they got taught lies about it. They never saw anyone get a living wage from it--only the government jobs pay average low-skill workers enough to eat and pay rent without assistance.

Capitalism has become like big band swing music. The stories sound neat, but there's scarcely a shred of proof left that it really existed.

Those are excuses. Millennials hate capitalism because they are entitled. Living standards are better than they ever have been. They don't have it rough by any means. They just don't want to work. They want a bailout. Dealing with these people on college campuses (and I graduated right before all this safe space garbage came into play) was insufferable beyond belief.

 

[LibForestPaul]

Most young people don't have an understanding of what capitalism actually is. And technically, what we really have is mercantilism functionong under the disguise of capitalism anyway.

I know this isn't the question, but, young people are mad at the wrong problem. So, the question, I think, is fundamentally moot.

Young chattle grow up to be old chattle, and both are tasty over an open pit.
15 hrs a week of controlled media
30 hrs a week of school indoctrination
Why would you expect them to think any different? What percent has read Thomas Paine, Bastiat, Aristotle, let alone Mises. The damage has been done, we are way deep in the rabbit hole. Prepare, it will be at least three if not four generations at best before the damage is undone, and that is after the coming suffering.

 

[erowe1]

A little socialism is what we've had for a long time.

I don't think the craving for capitalism will come until we have a lot more socialism.

 

[oyarde]

A little socialism is what we've had for a long time.

I don't think the craving for capitalism will come until we have a lot more socialism.

I think it will be full blown commie.All signs are there .

 

[Jim Casey]

Those are excuses. Millennials hate capitalism because they are entitled. Living standards are better than they ever have been. They don't have it rough by any means. They just don't want to work. They want a bailout. Dealing with these people on college campuses (and I graduated right before all this safe space garbage came into play) was insufferable beyond belief.

Millennials who can afford college are already less likely to be among those who struggle to make it above the poverty line. In addition to struggling to make ends meet, there's also prison to avoid, prison population increase hasn't slowed down. With or without a bailout or perks, few millennials are getting married, despite the income tax deduction incentive. Perhaps they're not convinced that there's much benefit for them to go the route of the traditional family, or that it's something outside their income bracket.

The safe space phenomenon was a mere extension of how much folks in general online like to censor what other people say. Ageism is a far more socially acceptable form of bigotry than others of course. Your date of manufacture is what you are separated by all throughout your term in public education.

The poll is too one-dimensional. I don't think it matters.

The #1 factor I believe is the way people go through the puppy mill with cookie-cutter education. They are protected, and yet their individuality is also suppressed. They are taught that their life only matters as a small part of the group. Their sense of personal power is attacked to the point where they feel helpless. They are taught that they are only a cog in the system, and all the other cogs must get in line or the system falls apart. There's no value put on willpower. Look at all the people who can't even manage to lose weight, or learn something new to get into better work.

The reason the US jumped way ahead of the rest of the world in a very short time wasn't because of capitalism. Capitalism was just an attribute of the larger philosophy. It was because of the American dream and the spirit and sense of freedom that it entailed. There was always a sense that you could do anything and you were capable of anything, and there was a big wide country to do it in. No limits. People failed and weren't coddled but told to try again. Capitalism is just the actions of people who act on their sense of freedom and self power.

It was probably more the Bretton Woods agreement that allowed Americans to get away with consuming so much while producing so little. There is still some incentive to learn more ways to service others for money, but with the decline of labor unions, the terms of employment aren't so easy to negotiate in the worker's favor.

 

[VIDEODROME]

They make it sound like you have to choose one or the other.

 

[Jim Casey]

They make it sound like you have to choose one or the other.

I think some day people won't choose either, because they'll be living in a post-scarcity society.

http://peterjoseph.info/economics-speak-at-metal-in-los-angeles/

This new type of socioeconomic system, one that transcends the need for money and trade as we know it, has the potential to vastly improve the world, create profound social stability, and true balance with our habitat. Some features of this model include applying advanced networking systems to gain improved economic feedback, synergetic AI programming tied to resource applications, applied automation in the interest to remove direct human labor and maximize efficiency, along with open-source product design/development to maximize engineering efficacy.