The problem is, though, that money allows politicians in a democracy to run a better, more effective campaign. So whoever gets the support of rich people is more likely to win. In that sense, modern democracies aren’t equitable systems anymore. One person does not mean one vote anymore because one person with a billion dollars has an outsized influence. You correctly identified the problem that a handful of corporations control own and control the essential services we need to live our lives but that’s because capitalism allows that. Capitalism is the problem.
serendepity
joined 2 years ago
I’m more surprised by the bunions on her feet. Unfortunately, deformed feet like that are all too common, thanks to our collective obsession with pointed shoes.
You and I seem to have a different opinion on what Tipping culture means. To me, it means the practice of giving gratuities to service workers, which has turned into an expectation at most establishments, with the most recent development being the use of dark design to trick people into tipping more. Card readers now default the tipping prompts to 18%, 20% and 25% for "okay", "good", and "great" service. The option to skip a tip, even in places where you're just picking up the food, is hidden two menus deep. It also means the use of social desirability tactics to get people to tip more. To me, it means the culture around tipping as a whole, not just "having jobs where a significant or vast majority of their income is tips".
Those who oppose tipping culture should not use tipping based services.
That's a very US centric opinion. What about places like Canada, where waitstaff, just like every other profession, are entitled to the minimum wage? In Ontario, that's $17.50 an hour. I would argue that in such places, tipping should be entirely optional and seen as an added reward for good service, and forgoing a tip shouldn't be seen as "abusing the employees".
Good point, meme-that’s-trying-to-control-me!
A system where you take money out of the equation. You’re right that we have to take human behaviour into account. That’s one of the more prominent critiques for Marx by neo-marxists. I’m not saying that we replace capitalism overnight. The technological progress brought about by capitalism has lifted billions out of poverty (albeit at the cost of irreparable damage to the biosphere) but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive for a better system. In the meantime, being aware of the pitfalls of capitalism and trying to build class consciousness and a more equitable society is still a worthwhile goal to have. It took hundreds of years for capitalism to evolve and entrench, going from feudalism to Industrialization and now Technological Oligarchy. It pervades so much of our thought, culture and way of life that any proposed alternative is seen as wildly radical. We have to learn to gradually disengage from it if we hope to bring lasting change.