EVE General Discussion

Then if it bothers you that much, move. I fail to see the problem here. Life is full of choices, some more difficult than others.

For some people, especially those with limited employment options, simply moving is not always financially viable.

A problem not worth solving, is a problem not worth complaining about. Once upon a time, I went for a bit over a week without food to get myself out of a place I didn't want to be in anymore. I don't do well with excuses.

Oh, I know. I didn't mean to make it sound like a vs thing, that's why I said pure, unrestricted capitalism. I should have added that the two need each other and that's why the society works like it does. Every now and then the balance shifts too far one way and it needs to be fixed.

It doesn't take empathy, just a little decency. If you want to ostracize yourself, go ahead, that's your own problem and nobody else's. But as soon as you start making it someone else's problem, don't complain when they find a solution.

I don't care what you consider to be pitiful anymore than I care what you consider to be valid reasoning. What matters is what is, not your opinion of it. Your opinion might matter to you, but if you can't value anyone else's then what makes you think they should value yours?

As a matter of general day to day practice, I actually go out of my way to avoid imposing myself on others in any way. It's a shame that most people don't share this trait.

Coming from my own point of view (I also have an almost pathological lack of human empathy), it's less of a "blame", and more of a "I refuse to take responsibility for someone else's failure".

They're not my victims. I did not convince them to fall for a Ponzi scheme, nor did I swoop in and take away all the jobs from their geographical area, or whatever else the root cause of their destitution may be. And I utterly refuse to feel guilty for my own success.

I've seen them go into towns that had established k-mart's and U-saves and push them out. But more to the point, I know for a fact they strong-arm local farmers and other goods suppliers once they are the only game in town. You sell us your products for 10 cent profit or we don't sell it. They have no choice, but the end result is everyone on that big farmland suffers, people other than mom and pop stores lose their jobs. I know you make the mom and pop store sound evil by labeling them as gougers but they aren't some mega-conglomerate that can dictate what prices they will pay for goods to resell, they certainly wouldn't strongarm their suppliers into selling their goods at minimal profit. Just like agro-business killed the farmer, I'm sure that guy wasn't just trying ot make a living, he was gouging the crap out of the local population.

Given a choice between the PLEX and OP. I choose PLEX.

OP: You have been voted off the island. GOODBYE!

It exists because humans are essentially herd animals. They need to be controlled, and even seek to be controlled. And why? Because it offers safety, order and efficiency. This is how Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot and whatever turd in world history managed to have power, stay in power and murder their own to abandon...all under the eyes of the very people they terrorized.

Take a look at EvE even. Why is Caldari the #1 faction? You would think a sandbox game would promote the Gallente Federation above all. It didn't. People gravitated to Caldari by default as it mimics RL the most. It's something humans understand well, and it's a comfort zone.

Socialism as a concept is wonderful on paper (even capitalists will admit it). But in practice it doesn't work beyond state borders. The USSR was a combination of Communism and Socialism, but it showed that beyond the individual states the system doesn't perform well. The USSR disintegrated from inside out. The US didn't destroy it directly, it went bankrupt.

Just like the other socialist dominating countries in Europe on the Euro are facing.

As the USSR downfall shown you can't spend what doesn't exist. That's the hardest thing socialists have understanding...governments don't make money, they just print it. Tax folks to over half their income, where's the disposable income? And if people don't have disposable incomes how can they play games? How can they also be non-dependent on the State for the very services they payout for (rat chasing his tail...)?

Capitalism is not a fair system in contrast. It doesn't operate on being fair or even just. But it plays to what humans also know, greed. And with that carrot, things happen. It's a personal incentive system to work harder (socialism robs you of self-worth, and also reflects the quality of goods -- that Yugo would not compare to even a Volkswagon in quality). Reward a person with trinkets for working harder is the grease that keeps capitalism going.

And that's why Capitalism wins out, for again people are valued and rewarded for what they do. On the ground level (those 3 meals before a Revolution) capitalism offers more for the person and doesn't rob him of his self-esteem. It's why Americans appear so cocky and confident, it's because we're feel appreciated (and this is before even the US became a world leader). Can't say the same of that factory worker in Moscow, or that French street sweeper with his 30hr work weeks. They're fed; they have a roof over their heads; they have "free" healthcare; they can even goto school for "free", but they're cogs in the wheel and feel it (and as grumpy for it too). The American isn't. Even if he works for IBM, Microsoft or Google, he's an individual first despite the corporate culture. An individual that's appreciated.

Because of the individualism, we won't join an universal currency. That even has Socialist overtones (like the UN).