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mk  ·  4180 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Who Won the Recession? Capitalism

This article is dead on about China.

As I see it, Capitialism is not the problem. The problem is the precipitous transfer of representation of the public interests to the representation of narrow corporate interests. Laws are written by industries, to protect industries. That's what gets our politicians reelected. That is the problem.

I have no interest in a communist system. I have no interest in a socialist system. But that doesn't mean that I don't see that I am losing to interests that are not my own, and thinking as much is not a critique of Capitalism. Capitalism is fine. It's handing over the reigns of our democracy to corporate interests is where we've gone very wrong. Yes, the GM bailout. Yes, the AIG bailout, the industrial military complex, and the prison industry, and the telecoms.

Fuck, I spent two hours today in an AT&T store trying to get rid a $140 debt that I incurred when they charged me for DSL at an apartment 4 months after I cancelled and moved. I only learned about this fraudulent $140 debt through a collection agency two years after. After spending 3 hours on the phone, I was told that it was taken care of. More than a year later, we tried to get a new line, and we couldn't, the charge was still there. For two hours, I stood as an AT&T phone employee bounced from department to department on the phone. The final result: they can't do anything about it. Sorry. It happened too long ago. I have an outstanding debt of $140 to AT&T. I can pay them if I want to resolve it.

Yeah, I can call the BBB, I can go to Verizon, but those motherfuckers robbed me, and it's my problem. They are a mafia. The system is rigged in their favor. Those fuckers illegally spied on us too for Bush, and they got a law written to retroactively protect them against it. That is not Capitalism. But it is a problem.

EDIT: Yeah, bad day.