ATM Robbery Sparks Ruminations on Capitalism

[BridgeTroll]

Strawman alert!

[Dog Walker]

Let me also ask this, what is the difference between someone robbing you at the ATM for a few hundred dollars or someone investing the pension plans of millions, worth billions in instruments they know are risky, while they bet against said instruments by purchasing insurance on them? 

Nah, BT.  Not even close enough to be a featherman.

Fraud may be theft, BUT IT IS NOT VIOLENCE!  Phew!  Hate to have to shout to get a point across.

[JC]

Let me also ask this, what is the difference between someone robbing you at the ATM for a few hundred dollars or someone investing the pension plans of millions, worth billions in instruments they know are risky, while they bet against said instruments by purchasing insurance on them? 

Nah, BT.  Not even close enough to be a featherman.

Fraud may be theft, BUT IT IS NOT VIOLENCE!  Phew!  Hate to have to shout to get a point across.

And what are the consequences of that fraud?

What are the consequences of Americans buying cheap consumer goods made in sweatshops?  Sounds like violence to me? 

My point is that you are making a selfish argument when you argue that its ok to kill someone over a few hundred dollars yet the consequences of all of our actions are the reason such violence exists in the first place.  Capitalism=violence!

[BridgeTroll]

Capitalism=violence!

[Dog Walker]

Let's see; I grow fruit, you bake bread.  I offer you some fruit for a loaf of your bread and you accept.  That's capitalism, I own the trees and you own the oven, but it ain't violence.

BT, where does one begin?

[JC]

Let's see; I grow fruit, you bake bread.  I offer you some fruit for a loaf of your bread and you accept.  That's capitalism, I own the trees and you own the oven, but it ain't violence.

BT, where does one begin?

So you are blind to the concentration of wealth that has occurred in this country as a result of capitalism?

[Dog Walker]

You mean that all of those rich people got their riches by putting guns to people's heads or tearing money from their pockets?  If capitalism=violence you would have thought we would have heard about all of the robberies.

(Now watch JC redefine violence!)

Good grief!  Last had this argument as a college sophomore fifty years ago.

[Traveller]

So you are blind to the concentration of wealth that has occurred in this country as a result of capitalism?

Without capitalism, there would be no wealth to concentrate.

[Dog Walker]

Stephen, Ownership of the trees and ovens is capital.  That's why I included them.  Trade goods are capital.  Capital ain't just money.  I get paid money for the use of my intellectual capital (patents).  Love me some capitalism!

[Dog Walker]

Without capitalism, there would be no wealth to concentrate.

Truth, Traveler.

The anguished cry of all collectivists is, "But it's just not FAIR!"   They also think that trade and capitalism are zero-sum games; that someone has to lose in order for someone else to profit.

[Dog Walker]

And thievery is violence!!!  Yes, we have just squared JC's circle! 

Let's see; when the patriarchs traded some of their sheep and cattle for the daughter of a neighboring tribe, was that capitalism?  Accumulated wealth transferred for a more desirable good and an investment in the future.

Maybe we shouldn't go there.  To easy to make jokes about the greater desirability of the daughters of others compared to sheep.   

[BridgeTroll]

BT, where does one begin?

Forget it... it is best to NOT begin...

[RiversideLoki]

[JC]

I dont have to redefine violence...

Main Entry: vi·o·lence
Pronunciation: \ˈvī-lən(t)s, ˈvī-ə-\
Function: noun
Date: 14th century

1 a : exertion of physical force so as to injure or abuse (as in warfare effecting illegal entry into a house) b : an instance of violent treatment or procedure
2 : injury by or as if by distortion, infringement, or profanation : outrage
3 a : intense, turbulent, or furious and often destructive action or force <the violence of the storm> b : vehement feeling or expression : fervor; also : an instance of such action or feeling c : a clashing or jarring quality : discordance
4 : undue alteration (as of wording or sense in editing a text)

Mesothelioma


Gowanus super fund site


Exxon Valdez


Triangle Shirtwaist Fire


I can go on and on like this...  Maybe I should.

[Dog Walker]

BT, where does one begin?

Forget it... it is best to NOT begin...

You are right, BT! 

Back on thread:  If you go to an ATM at night best to have a friend with a gun to watch your back!