Life Inc. Dispatch 08: Capitalism, for Dummies

For more information about Douglas Rushkoff's book, "LIFE INC. How The World Became A Corporation And How To Take It Back" check out
http://www.lifeincorporated.net and the LIFE INC. 9min movie

The LIFE INC. Dispatch = Brief weekly videos encapsulating key concepts and ready strategies from Douglas Rushkoff's LIFE INC. for de-corporatizing our lives, abandoning the speculative economy, and rebuilding both commerce and community from the bottom up.

Douglas Rushkoff is the author of ten books on media, technology, and society, including Cyberia, Media Virus, Coercion, Nothing Sacred, Get Back in the Box, and the novel Ecstasy Club. He made the PBS Frontline documentaries Merchants of Cool, The Persuaders, and the upcoming Digital Nation. He is the host of the WFMU radio show The MediaSquat, and he will be teaching the New School University this Fall.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Rushkoff
• capitalism
• money
• debt
• media

[Bananaramafy]

@imre1000 You have done exceptionally well not to lose your cool throughout this debate with Mr. Canada.

I'm too young and naive to know any of this stuff properly, but I'll side with you because you have good grammar and the ability to 'give and take' in an argument.

Kind of refreshing to see a YouTube debate that doesn't completely degenerate into a idiotic dick measuring contest in which facts and logic are thrown down the crapper and the winner is decided by who has the best insult.

[imre1000]

@Renegen1, no one is smart enough to 'engineer a society'. That's the main point of a free market. It's up to millions of consumers and business to decide what's best, using their own everyday actions and decisions.

The US army is way too big, I'll agree with you on that one.

[Renegen1]

And I'm not smart enough to engineer a society to make a communist utopia work, but I respect Marx's analysis of power and class.

But I do see what the problems are, and it's concentrated power. Libertarianism is #1, a pipe dream, because those who are corrupt and receiving massive subsidies will never give it up, and #2 won't work because with small government you'll still have big business.

You want to make America better? Get rid of the military industrial complex, it's a safe issue.

[imre1000]

@Renegen1, I'm Australian :)

And I have so called 'free' healthcare too. Well it's not really free, I pay for it through taxes and it gets distributed to anyone that shouts loud enough that they are in need.

Our hospitals are at over 100% capacity all the time. So are Canada's from what I've been reading (?).

I'd much rather scrap it for free market reform.

I also have 'free' education. I pay for it via taxes, and it gets given out to any school that shouts loud enough that is in need...

[Renegen1]

And I'm out. If you don't want to accept a lifeline from me and see the right path, that's your prerogative. My theory is simple, if you (and others just like you) refuse what I say, then I predict the US to get worse before it gets better. Go on hate that evil European / Canadian socialism.

I'll be living a much better and happier life. But I will be available if you finally change your mind.

[imre1000]

@Renegen1, yeah ok I left out the compounding bit.

I'll respect your opinion a lot more if you explained your point rather than dismissing someone as a hack.

I don't think Marx is evil, I just disagree with his philiosophy.

[Renegen1]

And btw, I live in Canada, I have free health care, I have one third of my education paid out by the government, I have low interest government loans for education AND I have lower taxes, and we have higher wages. I'm not wasting my time talking to you because of some silly ideological bend. You americans are so pathetic to think the solutions to all your problems is to go back 100 years into libertarianism, you're so brainwashed and ignorant even your "solutions" support the status quo.

[Renegen1]

too simplistic? Actually YOUR calculation is too simplistic, because if you knew anything about growth you'd know it's compounded growth and you can't divide by 100 to get the compounded annual growth. You really are clueless. Furthermore, the last 100 years have been incredible in terms of growth, what more data do you need?

Lastly, Stossel is friends with guys like the Cato Institute, a think tank financed by Koch industry, not that you would know. You're totally clueless.

[imre1000]

@Renegen1 - taking a 100 year total and dividing it by 100, and then expecting this to be an accurate guide for future growth rates seems a bit too simplistic to me.

In general, a free society will grow and improve it's quality of living much more than a collectivist, restricted society.

Have a look at this video by John Stossel if you have some spare time:

/watch?v=DdXdQei5Bws

It's very well researched and explains where most of today's problems really come from. And it's not 'Capitalism'.

[Renegen1]

the history over the past 100 years. Growth quite simply comes from technological growth, and some of it from population growth and capital growth. There was plenty of all 3 over the last 100 years and the world GDP increased at 2.5%.