capitalism = natural selection

[TheShadyMan]

I think you're assuming that everyone wants to 'win'. And in that case, I have a story for you;

A farmer had a decent racing horse that one day had twins. He called the twins Edward and Tobias. The colts were incredibly healthy and competitive, from a young age they would run together. Whenever the farmer would lay out some new hay or corn feed, the two colts would race, pushing each other as hard as they could to see who would win. Tobias always won, but it was always a close race. The farmer, noticing how competitive they were, decided to enter them in a racing competition.

Their first race both horses were very excited. Ed said to Tobias “Good luck, may the best horse win.” Tobias responded “Same to you, let’s beat these other guys!”

Well the race started and Tobias and Edward took off, taking an early lead. It went back and forth, Tobias passing Edward, Edward passing Tobias. The first lap finished with Tobias having a slight lead. The second lap finished with him still having a small lead. On the third and final lap, close to finish, though Edward was leading, Tobias managed to pull ahead and take the win. The other horses were completely destroyed in comparison.

“Good race!” Edward told Tobias, and Tobias agreed.

The farmer realized that he had made bank, that somehow he found two golden tickets. He entered the horses into many other local competitions and every time his horses would destroy the other horses. It always ended with Tobias barely beating Edward.

Eventually the two horses found themselves in a larger arena. They were at the state fair. Edward turned to Tobias and said “I’ll get you this time!” Tobias responded “Meh, I don’t actually care if you or I win, so long as we beat these other idiots!” Another horse snorts Edward said, “Good luck!” Tobias responded “You have good luck too!”

The race started and Tobias and Edward took out of the gates. It was a tough race; the other horses were able to keep up with Edward and Tobias for the first lap. But the two horses kept pushing each other. It went back and forth, Tobias passing Edward, Edward passing Tobias. The first lap finished with Tobias having a slight lead. The second lap finished with him still having a small lead. By now they had a lead over the other horses. On the third and final lap, close to finish, though Edward was leading, Tobias managed to pull ahead and take the win.

Panting, Edward congratulated Tobias.

A few years went by and now Edward and Tobias were professional race horses. Their competition put them in the spot light of many the newspaper. Ever was Tobias the main headline though. Even as they got older, Tobias would always beat Edward.

One day they found themselves in the Kentucky Derby. In the starting gates, Edward turned to Tobias and said “I will get you this time, I know it! This is the race, here, in front of all these people.” Tobias responded “We’ll see brother, first we have to beat these other horses. None of them are poor runners either.” “Agreed,” Edward responded, “But it would be nice to beat you just once.” “You’ve always been the one who pushed me so hard.” Tobias responded. Edward said back, “And you’re the reason I’ve always worked so hard too.” Another horse vomited in its starting gate.

The gun went off, the gates opened up. Tobias and Edward took off. They were trailing the leaders, but didn’t seem to mind, they were in their own world. The two horses kept pushing each other. It went back and forth, Tobias passing Edward, Edward passing Tobias. The first lap finished with Tobias having a slight lead. The second lap finished with him still having a small lead. By now they had caught up with the other horses. On the third and final lap, close to finish, though Edward was leading, Tobias managed to pull ahead and take the win. It finished with Tobias in first and Edward a very, very close second with another horse right behind him. It was such a close race it came down to verifying with a photograph. Edward turned to Tobias, “I can’t believe you beat me, I tried so hard. Still, we just won the Kentucky Derby!!”

Years later, after living luxurious lives where they were pampered by the farmer who found them and long after they were retired, Tobias turned to Edward and said. “Do you want to have one final race, for old time’s sake?” Edward responded, “I never could beat you, I always wanted to have a chance to do so, just to know what it feels like to win.” Tobias said “Tell you what, why don’t we have a race? Just like back when we were colts; let’s run to that feed mill over there and back to this fence three times.” Edward said “I don’t think I could take loosing again, after all this time, coming in second. I don’t know if I would want to live after another loss. I don’t have that much life in me any more.” Tobias said, “Tell you what, if it comes down to it, if it is really close, I’ll let you win. Just so you can know what it feels like. Yeah, it won’t be ‘real’ but you’ll get to know.” Edward agreed.

“Ready, set, GO!” And both horses were off. The two horses kept pushing each other. It went back and forth, Tobias passing Edward, Edward passing Tobias. It was almost as though the two old horses had the vitality of their youth again. The first lap finished with Tobias having a slight lead. The second lap finished with him still having a small lead again. On the third and final lap, close to finish, Edward was leading. It looked like he had the race in the bag. But suddenly Tobias seemed to get another final wind and he pushed ahead. He beat Edward. Tobias started prancing, victoriously, Edward, his soul crushed, lay down on the ground.

The old farmer’s dog, who had known both horses since their infancy, came up to Tobias and said, “Tobias, why would you do that? Why would you crush your brother’s hopes and dreams like that? There was nothing riding on this race, no point. Why? Why? Why would you do that?”

Upon hearing the dog, Edward stood up, he looked at his brother and said “Holy Shit, Toby, a talking dog!”

[TheShadyMan]

I was really hoping for a more confrontational rebuttal because I had this whole duck eating an alligator argument planned.

God, how can you be so fucking right? I'm wrong goddamned it, how can you be so fucking smart? Are you really so fucking bright that you completely understood the point and realized how wrong I am? Goddamn, it must be hard being so smart, how do you do so well on standardized tests? I'm wrong and you're right, what's so easy to comprehend about that?

[TheShadyMan]

Also, my dad just texted me and asked what I was going to have for dinner. I told him ice cream and hookers, and maybe some cereal. He told me not to eat too much ice cream or cereal. Completely off topic, but I didn't think it was funny enough to give its own thread.

[TheShadyMan]

and also, numbnuts, the point of a dictionary is to list the understood definitions of a word or idea. what gasoline drinking parent of yours taught you that dictionaries are an egalitarian edited article such as wikipedia?

Dictionaries are books made to be sold. They don't have 'definitions' they have what people want to hear. So no, they're not egalitarian edited articles, they're social reflections of a language system. Saying a dictionary is right and everything else is wrong, is like saying Spanish is right and Mandarin is wrong.

[Conformity]

It has always been an opinion of mine that capitalism, in its purest form, is a mirror of natural selection where instead of species we have industries. Instead of animals, companies.

[Kuya]

Your OP says capitalism is as natural as natural selection, then in another post you go on to use the accumulation of wealth and power in other systems as capitalist. you're trying to redefine an established word and idea, not flying pal

cap·i·tal·ism [kap-i-tl-iz-uhm] Show IPA
–noun
an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, esp. as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth.


so you're saying it's natural to desire to participate in an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, esp. as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth.


lol, you're reaching man good luck with that

Capitalism is natural, regardless of its disguise, because at its center, it's about desire. Or greed if you want to be moralistic about it.

If you think i am redefining capitalism, you are quite mistaken but also correct. I am merely looking at reality for what it is. The definition you gave me is merely the definition of a means. The end goal has always been to accumulate capital. It doesn't matter whether you do this via corporation, investment or government. I am merely eliminating superfluous definition.

You did inadvertently make a decent point, however: how natural is capitalism when it can only manifest in human society, which is popularly considered not-natural. But i disagree, human society is natural, because humans are social animals. It is merely a consequence of human imagination, that humans covet objects such as paper as if they had real value. The reason is simple. The paper is a representation of all human desire made manifest: sex, food, housing, control and the security that comes with it. You cannot accumulate sex, food, housing or even but not as much as the former ones, control/security. However, fetichized objects make this accumulation possible. Thus capitalism is merely the proxy accumulation of all that satisfies human desire, and capitalism is the consequence of human desire and society.

For what reason does one need empathy, when all that it is required to satisfy one's desire is money? Empathy was a means to an end, but money is a far more efficient conduit. This is the essence of capitalism.

[MF Perm tha Fineass]

Dictionaries are books made to be sold. They don't have 'definitions' they have what people want to hear. So no, they're not egalitarian edited articles, they're social reflections of a language system. Saying a dictionary is right and everything else is wrong, is like saying Spanish is right and Mandarin is wrong.

no, dictionaries are sold now, dictionaries were initially an article in which scholars tracked language.

also

So no, they're not egalitarian edited articles, they're social reflections of a language system.

no shit sherlock thats what I just said

and

Saying a dictionary is right and everything else is wrong, is like saying Spanish is right and Mandarin is wrong.

first off, kuya is not "everything else" so you can jump off that dickride right now before I knock the bag of quarters right out of your hand. when someone takes an understood institution and says NO IT MEANS THIS BECAUSE I SAID! and I point out that the other, oh, billions of people on the planet understand the definition in a dictionary is not the same ballpark as saying Spanish is right and Mandarin is wrong. It ain't the same fuckin game, it ain't even the same fuckin sport.

[TheShadyMan]

Well, Kuya is not a dictionary, so what is he then?

[TheShadyMan]

I thought 'everything else' was a pretty good blanket term he would fall under.

[MF Perm tha Fineass]

he's the basis of your argument against my point. he's trying to force an argument by redefining the rules, ironically enough in an argument about rules and systems.

this nigga literally said everyone is a capitalist because they try to capitalize on the situation. what if I told you everyone is a socialist because they go out on saturday nights to socialize.

I mean really guys, really.

[TheShadyMan]

People capitalize every day of the week; people only socialize on weekends.

[TheShadyMan]

So I guess you could say everyone's capitalists, but socialism is their hobby?

[MF Perm tha Fineass]

lol

[MF Perm tha Fineass]

but I DJ and promote nightlife for a living, 7 days a week. so I capitalize on socialism oh dear

[TheShadyMan]

Honestly, all of my heart went out of the debate in general after that first post.

[TheShadyMan]

but I DJ and promote nightlife for a living, 7 days a week. so I capitalize on socialism oh dear

CROSSING STREAMS

[MF Perm tha Fineass]

http://gallery.me.com/stephenpenders...12787140110001

[TheShadyMan]

Is that from the documentary about the people who live in Hollywood or whatever, and make money by dressing up as superheros and getting people to take pictures with them?

[MF Perm tha Fineass]

I have no idea I just saw it on the image site I go to and thought it would make a great reaction pic

[TheShadyMan]

It ain't easy bein' a hero.