Capitalism Has Destroyed / Is Destroying American Family Values

BSTalker said:
Hello evince,

Sweden is going to a six hour work day.
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UnkaBitche said:
after 15 years of wars for oil we have many moral things to learn from sweden.
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Another moronic false claim. What is it about you leftist morons and your fabrications and make believe bullshit.

Aside from that stupidity, the notion that WE are the cause of the wars is just as stupid and laughably false.

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PoliTalker said:
American families are clearly on the decline. Divorce rates and out-of-wedlock child birth rates are up. Capitalism has played a crucial role in this evolution.

Decades ago, it took just one income to support a family. That included a 40 hour week, full health care, vacations, savings and retirement. Unions won most of those family-enhancing struggles. This represented a bit of a loss for capitalism as many of those family-beneficial victories came at the expense of additional profits for the richest.

But capitalism relentlessly seeks to maximize the profitability of any situation. A war on unions and worker rights was the response from capitalism to all those family-enhancing detriments to profitability. Good jobs with family-supporting benefits have routinely been downsized, offshored, mechanized, computerized, and broken into several part time positions with no benefits.

The traditional male/female roles where he works, brings home the bacon, and she is the home maker have now been relegated to the rich who can afford nannies, cooks, gardeners, etc.

Family values have become luxuries only affordable to the rich. Capitalism is the culprit.

Clearly, in order to make America great again, families are going to need something more than empty words of support.

Capitalism is a wonderful and powerful wealth-generating tool, but it is also dangerous to American family values. The lesson is apparent: Capitalism must be balanced with the proper amount of socialism. Capitalism is like a powerful engine. The engine of capitalism, without socialism as a governor, and left to run at wide open throttle, is bound to blow up. Our challenge is not a choice between capitalism and socialism, it is clearly one of how to blend the two.

Our young nation is at a point where we are falling behind the other older nations which have already figured this out. It is now time for us to accept this challenge and show that we can do it better.
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Actually the divorce rate is down by quite a bit
 
PoliTalker said:
Hello Katzgar,



Because people are simply choosing not to get married in the first place?

(But still having children despite remaining unmarried...)
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Yeah...the leading cause of divorce in the United States is still "marriage."

Always has been...always will be.

My lady and I have been together as husband and wife for 35 years now...and have never asked the "blessings" or certification of any church or governmental agency.
 
Hello Flash,

Flash said:
Divorce rates, crime, and abortions are dropping. Out of wedlock birth rate is up but the teen birth rate is an all-time low. Out of wedlock birth rate is 41% in the U. S. but it is hard to blame that on capitalism since it is 55% in Sweden, 53% in France, 45% in the UK and 47% in New Zealand.
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Divorce rates dropping - Marriage falling out of popularity.

Crime rates dropped - following one generation after leaded gasoline was phased out. Leaded gasoline cause lead residue (more concentrated in cities) which caused stupidity and crime.

Abortions dropping - Republican attacks on abortion clinics.

Out of wedlock birth rate is up - Republican attacks on abortion clinics.

Teen birth rate at an all-time low - Liberal efforts paying off: increased availability of contraceptives.

None of this indicates any increase in the level of core American family values. Capitalism is systematically and relentlessly destroying American families. How can parents do a good job of parenting if they are over worked and have less time to spend with children than in previous decades?

Here are some numbers for selected nations. Guess what they are:

USA 1783
Italy 1730
Japan 1713
Canada 1703
Spain 1695
UK 1676
Australia 1669
Finland 1653
Sweden 1621
Austria 1601
Luxemborg 1512
France 1472
Netherlands 1430
Norway 1424
Denmark 1410
Germany 1363

These are the average number of hours worked per year per worker. Q: How can parents work hundreds of additional hours per year and still devote as much time to children? A: They can't.

wiki

Parents can try to take those extra working hours out of their sleep, but that does not lead to good parenting and strong family values...

"Parents of young children and lower-income Americans are two other groups that struggle to get the proper amount of sleep. The difference by income is partially explained by age, as younger Americans are disproportionately in the lower-income category."

"Medical studies have related a lack of sleep to health problems and cognitive impairment. "

Gallup
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PoliTalker said:
Hello cawacko,



Well, obviously we disagree.

I don't really dream about what I envision. I simply realize that it appears inevitable. I am curious why you think a) it will never happen, and b) it goes against human nature.

As to a)

I don't see any way around it, actually. Artificial Intelligence is growing by leaps and bounds. Computing power continues to grow. Computer memory has gotten cheaper and cheaper. These trends will continue. Amazing things have been developed in just the last few decades we now take for granted. None of that progress is about to stop. What's around the corner? Artificial Intelligence, that's what. The power of AI is hard to imagine, but it is coming whether we want to believe it now or not. AI will be able to drive machines that will have the ability to learn and adapt. Machines will be able to identify and unusual problem and the need to take action, determine what action to take, and implement it. They will be able to do mental and physical problem solving. AI could envision a new machine for a purpose, design it, and build it. AI machines can fix and service other AI machines. AI machines could eventually replace doctors, engineers, nurses, technicians, service people, drivers, handlers, stock and sales, logistics, farmers, stock brokers, mechanics, pilots, executives, authors, architects, constructions workers, landscapers, even artists. Not all of these at first, but eventually, yes - all of them.

Since most of the functions done by humans will one day be done by machines, that can free up humans to do other things. The scary thing is where does it stop? Once machines realize they don't even need humans, what is to stop them from deciding we are not worth the hassle? No, I don't dream of this scenario. I recognize that it is a valid concern and we will have to figure out how to deal with it.

How will we transition from where we are now to this possible and likely future?

Capitalism rewards those who hold the most capital. The way we operate right now, the most complex machines are very expensive. They are primarily used to displace workers. A big rich corporation can own machines that replace workers, but most individuals cannot afford one so complex. The biggest employers will use their capital to invest in these smart machines, displacing huge swaths of workers. Warehouse pickers at Amazon and such will be among the first to lose their jobs. Truck drivers, taxi drivers and delivery drivers, also. Fast food workers. There will be some new jobs developing and servicing the initial machines, but those jobs will be far fewer than the ones eliminated. And most of the eliminated workers will find no suitable work for which they are capable. What is to become of them? They are not all going to school to learn how to perform more complex jobs. That impact on our economy will be devastating. And it will be only the beginning. Before all those workers can adjust, even more will lose their jobs.

The economic impact cannot be understated.

Something will have to be done. There are going to have to be changes in the way people acquire their sustenance. At first, unemployment and welfare programs will try to accommodate these changes, but quickly it will be too much. Those institutions will be overwhelmed. We are going to have to think about making some pretty major changes to the way our economy works in order to deal with all of this.

Why should government pay a bunch of workers to distribute funds when it might be a lot more cost effective to release most government social workers from their obligation and simply issue all of them, and the other displaced workers a monthly check instead?

Meanwhile, the holders of capital are going to have a big problem once too many workers are eliminated. Those workers are also their customers. If the ex-workers are no longer getting any income, they cannot buy products. The big corporations will be removing the wealth stream from those who provide the wealth stream for the big corporations. That is a recipe for a huge recession the likes of which has never been seen. It's not hard to see where all of that would be headed.

The Universal Basic Income. It's not a dream. It is an inevitability. There is no way for the economy to avoid catastrophe without it.

Let's look at b)

Does it really go against human nature for us to eliminate menial tasks and free our time up for other activities? I don't think so. Most people would love to be freed up from chasing the dollar all day to do more interesting things of their own choosing. How many rank and file workers do you think would jump at the chance to take any given day off the job if they were told they still get their paycheck anyway? Fishermen would go fishing. Jocks would play sports. Artists would create art. Writers would write. Cooks would cook. Gardeners would grow. Tinkerers would tinker. Talkers and socialites would talk and socialize. Party people would have parties. Bars would do a great business. Entrepreneurs would venture. Community groups would have more activities. And families would experience a new deeper bond with more time together.

Every day could and would be like that day.

I believe human nature is that most humans are tired and bored with doing the same job every day whether they feel like it or not. Some people really do enjoy their work, I know. And most people enjoy their work on some days. But not everybody enjoys their job every day. Huge numbers of people would jump at the chance to be freed from the bonds of labor to pursue whatever they felt like doing. That's how I see human nature.

You know, most people do not get enough sleep. This makes them irritable and poorly adjusted into society. This could represent a quantum shift in humanity. Imagine how well people would interact if everybody had the chance to get all the sleep they need? Better family values, more closeness, deeper bonds, more well-adjusted people who are not so stressed out and get proper sleep? That has got to produce a higher level of society.

This could be really great.
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Just wondering? Could this lead to a rebirth of the luddites?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite
 
cawacko said:
The beauty of a discussion board like this is we can dream about anything. In the real world there will never be a world like you desire in your second paragraph because it goes against human nature.
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why not ?

because you don't want it to be so?
 
PoliTalker said:
American families are clearly on the decline. Divorce rates and out-of-wedlock child birth rates are up. Capitalism has played a crucial role in this evolution.

Decades ago, it took just one income to support a family. That included a 40 hour week, full health care, vacations, savings and retirement. Unions won most of those family-enhancing struggles. This represented a bit of a loss for capitalism as many of those family-beneficial victories came at the expense of additional profits for the richest.

But capitalism relentlessly seeks to maximize the profitability of any situation. A war on unions and worker rights was the response from capitalism to all those family-enhancing detriments to profitability. Good jobs with family-supporting benefits have routinely been downsized, offshored, mechanized, computerized, and broken into several part time positions with no benefits.

The traditional male/female roles where he works, brings home the bacon, and she is the home maker have now been relegated to the rich who can afford nannies, cooks, gardeners, etc.

Family values have become luxuries only affordable to the rich. Capitalism is the culprit.

Clearly, in order to make America great again, families are going to need something more than empty words of support.

Capitalism is a wonderful and powerful wealth-generating tool, but it is also dangerous to American family values. The lesson is apparent: Capitalism must be balanced with the proper amount of socialism. Capitalism is like a powerful engine. The engine of capitalism, without socialism as a governor, and left to run at wide open throttle, is bound to blow up. Our challenge is not a choice between capitalism and socialism, it is clearly one of how to blend the two.

Our young nation is at a point where we are falling behind the other older nations which have already figured this out. It is now time for us to accept this challenge and show that we can do it better.
Click to expand...

Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy. It's inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. - Winston Churchill.
 
Capitalism is what built this great country, and helped win two world wars. So, something else must be responsible for the problems you blame it for. I could offer some suggestions, but I'm thinking you're not really interested.
 
The Ugly Truth said:
Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy. It's inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. - Winston Churchill.
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Winston Churchill was a racist and misogynist...who thought his words and shit both didn't stink.

He was wrong.
 
PoliTalker said:
Divorce rates dropping - Marriage falling out of popularity.
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The refined divorce rate has also declined. It is the number of divorces per 1,000 married women which only includes those at risk for divorce. Also, the decline in divorces is primarily among the college educated who are also the most likely to get married.

PoliTalker said:
Crime rates dropped - following one generation after leaded gasoline was phased out. Leaded gasoline cause lead residue (more concentrated in cities) which caused stupidity and crime.
Click to expand...

That doesn't account for the large fluctuations in the crime rate between in the early 1900s before leaded gas was used and between 1920's and 1970's when leaded gas was used. For example, the murder rate steadily climbed in the early 1900s (1907) and peaked about 1933 and began steadily declining until 1960 and then increasing sharply during the 1970s-1980s.

PoliTalker said:
Abortions dropping - Republican attacks on abortion clinics.
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The rate has been falling steadily since 1980. I would think the declining fertility rate (now at an historic law) has more to do with it than Republican attacks. A falling birth rate makes less abortions necessary. I'm sure the Republicans would be very happy if they really thought their attacks had such an effect.

PoliTalker said:
Out of wedlock birth rate is up - Republican attacks on abortion clinics.
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The fertility rate is not up, just fewer women who are giving birth are married. Republican attacks do not keep women from getting married.

PoliTalker said:
Teen birth rate at an all-time low - Liberal efforts paying off: increased availability of contraceptives.
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Contraceptives have been readily available for many years. Few of the teens giving birth now or in the past use birth control because they choose not to, not because it is not available. Anybody has access to a fifty cent condom.
 
Frank Apisa said:
Winston Churchill was a racist and misogynist...who thought his words and shit both didn't stink.

He was wrong.
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There is a story about him where he allowed an english city to be bombed without air protection because he didn't want to tip off the nazis off that the allies had broken the nazi code. Enigma, I think it was called. This was just before the normandy invasion.
 
Truth Detector said:
Another moronic false claim. What is it about you leftist morons and your fabrications and make believe bullshit.

Aside from that stupidity, the notion that WE are the cause of the wars is just as stupid and laughably false.

giphy.gif
Click to expand...

Weapons of mass destruction. Does that ring a bell? It was the beginning of the endless oil wars. This is well documented which I will show if you are to stupid to know. Of course your education came from learning from rote and reading the comics on bazooka bubble gum wrappers. See, I didn,t ever need to call you a nasty name to insult you, lol.
 
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