Re:Ask HN: What is a HN unpopular opinion that you hold?
by dragonwriter on Monday March 25, 2024 @06:28PM
(#39821947)
> Many people wrongly think that if democracy is an inevitable result of capitalism, then there is nothing extra you have to do to remain democratic other than participate in capitalism.
It is not wrong to think this, it is true by definition.
OTOH, it is very wrong to think “democracy is an inevitable result of capitalism”. Democracy is in fundamental conflict with capitalism; their co-existence is fundamentally unstable.
Re:Ask HN: What is a HN unpopular opinion that you hold?
by simonblack on Monday March 25, 2024 @06:55PM
(#39822176)
A problem in the US but not in many other parts of the world is that 'Socialism' is conflated with 'Communism' and is therefore bad. Most countries in the world are mixed-economies, with both Socialism and Capitalism.
Pure Capitalism is as bad as pure Communism.
Maybe another way for Americans to consider Socialism is that Socialism is "Capitalism with Compassion".
Many people wrongly think that democracy is an inevitable result of capitalism, but if that's true then there is nothing extra you have to do to remain democratic other than participate in capitalism. If freedom is an inevitable result of being an American, then there is nothing you have to do to be free as long as you are American. If peace between two countries is an inevitable result of both countries "having a McDonalds", there is nothing extra you need to do to achieve peace except trade.
If you want freedom, peace, or governance that represents you, you can't just be something, you actually have to hold beliefs and conduct yourself in a way conducive to those outcomes.
You will love this video (12m): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eghl19elKk8
(edited to make some statements more correct)