onoira

Given that the environmental depredation of this planet is driven by […] can people explain why they believe that without capitalism

capitalist industry and commerce have been the driving force of the mass extinction of the last 500 years[0][1][2]. climate change didn't begin until the late 1800s with the rise of tycoons, and accelerated with mass production in the mid-1900s.

can people explain why they believe that without capitalism everyone would be […]

could be, not necessarily would. because a humanistic, socialised means of production would: allow for truly 'democratic' control over what is produced; remove nested interests and subsidies to overgrown polluting industries[3]; and make alternatives viable without the need to bend or break to top-down market pressures and monetary policy dictated by dragons.

I also assume they’re wearing hemp and have no interest in fashion.

capitalism has existed for less than 300 years. consumerism has existed for less than 100 years. when you have an economic system which emphasises the independent individual — simultaneously a motivator and a mere cog in the machine — and posits that the mere potential to own things is the source of value: buying wasteful, exotic, unnecessary shit is a way to define yourself and your status. it's called conspicuous consumption, and it happens from the micro to the macro in the lower and the upper classes, and there's top-down pressure to do so to keep currency current.

i recommend the documentary The Century of the Self for an overview of the commodification of identity and culture.

Keep in mind there are 8 billion people on this planet, so presumably they wouldn’t be having children either.

we are already producing enough food to sufficiently feed 1.5x the world population[4], and could continue to do so even within planetary boundaries[5].

i didn't cover everything here, because i recommend:

1. the book Less Is More.
2. familiarising yourself with the concept of the superstructure; it's a very helpful analytical tool.
3. going back to the last time you were on your malthusian debatebro bullshit and really trying to engage your imagination with much of the same arguments made there.

support a “right to work” instead of UBI. Work is great and it’s more than making money, you achieve self-determination through work etc etc.

this is common in most of western/northern europe, to the point that most social services for citizens or 'integration' support for immigrants ends at employment. the assumption being that any employment is all anyone really needs.

you've been fired from your last three jobs because of your worsening depressive spirals? but it didn't stop you from getting that temp job last week! do some yoga or something smh.

you're a migrant who doesn't know the local language? well, it didn't stop you from getting a job! take a night class or something smh.

you want to switch careers or further your education? but you're already in a career; clearly your education is fine! attend a conference or something smh.

you have no friends or family and no freetime to develop your hobbies and interests? but you have a job! get drunk with your coworkers on Fridays or something smh.

workwork. okiedokie. zugzug.

i believe they're @ing you because they're posting from Mastadon.

La majestueuse égalité des lois, qui interdit au riche comme au pauvre de coucher sous les ponts, de mendier dans les rues et de voler du pain.

— Anatole France, Le Lys rouge

as Cowbee wrote: the 'free market' narrative assumes the market is participatory, and that you can simply opt out ('go live in the woods').

but capitalism doesn't work without a labour market, and the labour market isn't stable without a buffer of un[der]employment. so living outside the market — and general 'propertylessness' — is criminalised or made so inconvenient/unsustainable that you're left with 'the choice' between peonage or starvation. the people who fall into homelessness and houselessness serve as a warning to anyone who might consider 'opting out'.

i don't think anyone genuinely believes this is a real choice, but i've experienced this narrative being used to dismiss critiques of capitalism and wage slavery.

what does this have to do with houseless people?

All the time spent thinking how to solve a problem is also work.

try telling that to every manager i've ever had.

my experience is also primarily with tired parents with mortages… who blame minorities for their unhappiness (so they vote right-wing) and get all of their social and emotional fulfilment from work (so they willingly buy into the C-suite cult).

they are also usually so tech illiterate that they have the vibe of someone who never learned a trade and fell for the 'learn to code' advice at some point in their life.

i think it would be more symbolic to extend the rainbow peace flag over it.

growing up, the most common 'counterargument' (read: dismission) to 'global warming' i heard was 'great, i love summer!'

i had to become a singer before i had the lung capacity to sigh hard enough.

Did you look for a nest or another bird in the original shrub?

i didn't see anything in the bush at first glance. i tried to see if it was leading me somewhere, but it didn't seem like it. i didn't want to stress them out by approaching them too quickly or digging thru the bush.

they did seem very small, so it's possible they don't know how to feed themself. it's not too far, so i can try checking on them sometime soon. i don't want to invade their home, tho.

my guess is it was trying to get you to help one of its friends or something.

that was my first guess, but it didn't seem like it was leading me anywhere.

i'm a little worried now.

I’d have had a good search around the area befriending crows can actually bring you some benifit like shiny gifts

when i was homeless, i shared my food with a crow. i got them to bring me coins by feeding them double portions when they brought monies.

or in some cases crow bodyguards as they actually recognise individuals as friends etc.

that's my current relationship to the corvids in town. a long time ago i rescued a magpie from two seagulls, and since then all the corvids no longer fly away when i come near them. the magpies even defended me from a seagull one day!

but they otherwise don't approach me, and we don't 'communicate'.