I thought memes were supposed to be funny... this just looks like a propaganda poster
this post was submitted on 18 Apr 2025
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Greed, not capitalism is the root of evil. Fight me.
capitalism is the system whereby greed is raised above all other human impulses though. in most other systems, sure, people can be greedy, but they aren't rewarded for it, and people who aren't naturally greedy don't get pushed and trained to be greedy as the highest aspiration.
Capitalism rewards greed, thus perpetuating it and entrenching it. So capitalism is the root of our greed epidemic
Every type rewards greed because humans and their predecessors have been trained to be greedy for all of time. Be it corruption or by design...it will always be.
Not our recent predecessors, they had communal social structures.
They did war with each other which included plundering, rape, and slavery. All humans are dicks
Just like Ukraine is warring with Russia, making Ukraine a dick, right?
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You have it backwards. Greed is the root of our capitalism epidemic. And you think communist leaders are immune to greed? Just look at NK. The people share what little scraps there are while government officials live very easy lives
communist leaders
Found the problem
I don't follow, Communism in the Marxian sense has administration and thus leadership. Are you suggesting a different structure?
I can't look at NK because the world capitalist economy isolated them, so I'm not going to argue about their material conditions. I don't think anyone is immune to greed, but I think having a system that rewards greed is going to turn it from an aberration to an epidemic.
To your first point, let's pretend you're right and look at it in the abstract. What is to be done? Do you want to kill greed? How would you do that?
I can’t look at NK because the world capitalist economy isolated them
It's a hereditary dictatorship that isolates itself to control all information its public can access.
Simping for alternative authoritarian regimes is NOT an effective way of fighting the tyranny of Capital.
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To your first point, let’s pretend you’re right and look at it in the abstract. What is to be done? Do you want to kill greed? How would you do that?
You're getting somewhere! First, don't point your finger at capitalism as the problem. Second, acknowledge & understand greed and how it is inherent in all human nature. Third, build systems that minimize the damage done by individual or corporate greed. Check against consolidation, monopolization, and short term Wall St like thinking of endless growth. Four, make sure socialist programs exist to support everyone, and capitalism is not the only way to live, it's optional. When you think like that, the European nations seem to be doing things quite alright, but they are still vulnerable to greed. And so they must be vigilant against greed, not capitalism.
First, don't point your finger at capitalism as the problem.
You already lost me
Second, acknowledge & understand greed and how it is inherent in all human nature.
I would rather acknowledge and encourage humans inherent nature to cooperate and grow together.
Third, build systems that minimize the damage done by individual or corporate greed.
Like building an economy that doesn't inherently reward greed? I wonder what that would look like.
Check against consolidation, monopolization, and short term Wall St like thinking of endless growth.
These things exist because of capitalism
Four, make sure socialist programs exist to support everyone
That's social welfare. Being socialist means the workers own the means of production
capitalism is not the only way to live, it's optional
It's so easy to live in the USA and just not do capitalism /s
the European nations seem to be doing things quite alright
Do you understand that their wealth was pillaged from the global south?
Can you give me a description of what makes socialism bad solely based on how it works (not referencing any country who may have attempted it)?
First, don’t point your finger at capitalism as the problem.
You already lost me
I know, many here have have an automatic trigger on 'capitalism', but I appreciate you trying. I will try to respond sincerely.
Second, acknowledge & understand greed and how it is inherent in all human nature.
I would rather acknowledge and encourage humans inherent nature to cooperate and grow together.
Me too! Cooperation is the good against the evil of greed. But greed still exists, you can't wish it away, you have to strategize against.
Third, build systems that minimize the damage done by individual or corporate greed.
Like building an economy that doesn’t inherently reward greed? I wonder what that would look like.
Greed is rewarded in every economy.
Check against consolidation, monopolization, and short term Wall St like thinking of endless growth.
These things exist because of capitalism
No, they exist because of greed & corruption and failure of systems to contain those things.
Four, make sure socialist programs exist to support everyone
That’s social welfare. Being socialist means the workers own the means of production
No, socialist systems like free housing, healthcare, education can exist alongside capitalism. Worker owned systems like cooperatives still operate in a market.
capitalism is not the only way to live, it’s optional
It’s so easy to live in the USA and just not do capitalism /s
It's impossible in the USA, I'm with you.
the European nations seem to be doing things quite alright
Do you understand that their wealth was pillaged from the global south?
Yes, the British East India company uprooted my own ancestors and erased all culture. I'm against imperialism as much as you, but this has nothing to do with it.
Can you give me a description of what makes socialism bad solely based on how it works (not referencing any country who may have attempted it)?
- Lack of standardization means you can't be sure of what you're getting. Is the milk from this farmer as good as the other farmer?
- Same price for same good means lack of incentive to improve / innovate. Why grass feed your cows when milk will only sell for a set fixed price?
- Markets will still exist, you can't wish them away. It's human nature. I want to make cake and feed you, but I still need to buy the ingredients, invest the capital, take the risk. Capitalism just rewards that risk.
- Greed still exists, maybe I can add a little water to the milk, huh, who will ever find out?
- Corruption still exists and without checks & balances, a centrally controlled system is very likely to being corrupted at the core.
The first half of your comment is attributing a static and supernatural quality to the concept of "greed" in a manner that obfuscates the underlying material structures, and why greed is expressed in different ways and degrees depending on the system. This is wrong.
Secondly, Social Programs are not Socialism. Socialism is an economy where Public Ownership is the principle aspect of the economy, while Capitalism is where Private Ownership is the principle. Whichever has firm control of the state, large firms, and key industries is the principle aspect. A cooperative in the US is not a single fragment of Socialism, just like a market in the PRC is not simply Capitalism.
Now, for your five points:
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This is not a problem with Socialism in any capacity. I truly don't understand what you mean by saying standardization is an issue with Socialism.
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Price fixing is not Socialism itself, but a tool. Socialist systems can and do employ price fixing on some goods, but this is a tool that works well in some situtations and not so well in others, and as such Socialist systems can apply them where needed.
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Markets are not Capitalism. Markets work well at lower stages in development, but gradually monopolize and centralize over time, making it more effective to publicly own and plan. You agree with Marx when you say you can't wish them away, but you imply they will always be useful based on a biological need to trade, which does not exist.
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Regulations and oversight exists within Socialism, directly breaking the law can be punished and audited. This point is silly.
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Checks and balances can be better implemented in Socialist systems where private individuals do not weild massive armies of influence. This is another silly point.
I recommend you read up on Marxism, I keep an introductory Marxist-Leninist reading list you can check out. If you haven't investigated a subject, why speak as though you have?
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Greed is not an intrinsic human characteristic, as I already explained, and further life under brutal sanctions and embargo is difficult for everyone. The DPRK manages to scrape by with what they can, and which is why lifting the embargo and sanctions is the best thing we can do for the Northern Korean people.
the best thing we can do for the Northern Korean people
I think the best thing for the people of North Korea is to not force them to live under a brutal dictator.
The people of the DPRK support the system they have, whether it truly has a dictator or not. To overthrow their system by force, ie what the US did in Iraq, would be greatly opposed by the people of the DPRK and yet again the US would end up slaughtering hundreds of thousands of Korean civilians, just like they did in the 50s.
Lifting the sanctions and embargo would dramatically improve their conditions, all the embargo has done is starve people to death during particularly harsh periods, like the Arduous March in the 90s when the Soviet Union, the DPRK's primary trading partner, dissolved. It isn't showing any chances of hurting the legitimacy of the DPRK's government, it's purely to torture the Korean People into opening up their economy so the US can loot and pilliage it like it did to Iraq.
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Human aspects like greed are not intrinsic to humanity, but created by the material conditions and mechanisms surrounding them, and are thus malleable and expressed in lower or greater degrees in different systems. Capitalism in particular expresses greed as its entire foundation is the relentless accumulation of profit and exansion of markets and commodification for the purposes of private wealth.
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Yeah, there's nothing worse than a bunch of billionaire shitheads, using the media they control to keep the lower classes fighting with each other while they . . . the rich . . . run off with all the farking money. Oh wait, that's what's going on Russia, too.
There are no "good guys" here. Just billionaire assholes exploiting everybody.
The Russian Federation ceased being Socialist in the early 90s, the Hammer and Sickle is a symbol of Marxism. Not sure what your point is.
The point is that it's a class war. It always has been. It's not about "socialism vs capitalism" or "liberals vs conservatives" or The Romulans vs The Federation. It's about billionaires vs everybody else. It's about the cluefull vs the clueless.
Class War is a fundamental part of the Socialist canon, though, while Capitalism affirms that it is unnecessary.
Further, a bit nitpicky, but I don't like framing it as "cluefull vs clueless." People's ideas are a product of their material conditions, we shouldn't downtalk those who don't know more.
The people who told you what socialism or capitalism is, LIED to you. "The good of the people" is a noble-sounding goal. But the reality is that the people who deliberately seek power are . . . for the most part . . . vain, greedy, brutal assholes.
I don't think Marx, Engels, Lenin, etc were lying to me when discussing what they wanted to implement and how Socialism and Capitalism function. I don't think reading speeches and writings of Deng Xiapoing, Xi Jinping, Ho Chi Minh, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Joseph Stalin, Kim Il Sung, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, or other leaders of AES states were lying about their intended goals or economic policies either.
I genuinely don't understand what you are trying to say here. Are you rejecting analysis of Political Economy, in favor of vibes-based social movements? Genuinely.
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Capitalism breeds fascism. As long as we have capitalism we will fight fascism. Communism is not the answer though nor is any extreme ideology. Social direct democracy or even sociocracy would be better systems.
nor is any extreme ideology. Social direct democracy
Whoah hold it right there, that's democratic extremism! You're taking away all the representatives of bribery and extortion. Best to leave a few weak points, for balance.
Social Democracy retains Private Ownership as the principle aspect of its economy, ergo its still Capitalist. Fascism isn't distinct from Capitalism, but Capitalism in certain circumstances, ie when it needs to put on a mask and brutally protect itself from its own decay, before taking off the mask and pretending it's something else, ie it keeps Capitalism's record "clean."
Further, being radical does not equal being wrong. Distance from the status quo does not mean it is not correct, we need to judge legitimately the merits of Socialism/Communism and not just say they are too radical.
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"X is good, Y is bad." It rarely is that simple.
Cool agitprop posters like what OP posted rarely give you a particularly nuanced perspective due to their limited space. The intended effect is to spark conversation, not to beam Marxism into the heads of anyone who sees it.
It reminds me of how people hated on “defund the police” messaging. I got into an argument with someone that focused on the phrase alone and was completely uninterested in a genuine discussion about what it means. Like what do they expect? An entire novel written on a poster or a tweet to appease them? The point is to kick the conversation off, not spoon-feed you.
Yep, you hit the nail on the head! Effective agitprop sparks conversations and forces engagement, not just people immediately dismissing it or accepting it before going on with their days.
rip marxists, the one type they make a meme with fewer than 100 words and people still complain :0
For real... 🫠
If I write an essay, people don't genuinely read it, if I write short responses I either over-simplify or manage to raise more questions than I answer... at least, it feels that way sometimes, lol
Your comments are consistently high quality and there's plenty of people reading without engaging who will be influenced in small but meaningful ways. You're planting good seeds.
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I read them. I have learned a lot on Lemmy.
Thanks, I appreciate it! I know there are people who do, some of them send me DMs or reply directly to me so it all justifies the efforts I do, I just wish the human brain worked better with direct argumentation than it does when viewing a debate from the outside. Ie, I wish those I carefully spend time writing for took it to heart more than onlookers tend to, but the net result is still positive so I keep with it.
Thanks again!