Zone1 Predatory Capitalism

[LeroyDumonde]

Could you elaborate on what you mean?

Probably not.

 

[MarathonMike]

You seem to be saying that, capitalism only benefits those who are at the top,

Ok I'm done. I've told you four times now the exact opposite of this, so you clearly aren't interested in considering a different point of view on Capitalism. But it was a good discussion nonetheless. Thanks that doesn't happen often here.

 

[TruthNotBS]

Ok I'm done. I've told you four times now the exact opposite of this, so you clearly aren't interested in considering a different point of view on Capitalism. But it was a good discussion nonetheless. Thanks that doesn't happen often here.

I'm asking you a simple question, that you're refusing to answer. You told me that capitalism gave you and other former working-class people or employees, the opportunity to become wealthy and what you identify as "successful". I'm simply asking you, can workers or the members of the working-class or middle-class (people who are employed), under capitalism, live above the poverty line, having all of their material needs met? Food, housing, clothing, transportation, access to healthcare, and education. Can employees, those who work for others, have all of the aforementioned needs met while being employed by a capitalist? Simple question.

 

[gipper]

I'm asking you a simple question, that you're refusing to answer. You told me that capitalism gave you and other former working-class people or employees, the opportunity to become wealthy and what you identify as "successful". I'm simply asking you, can workers or the members of the working-class or middle-class (people who are employed), under capitalism, live above the poverty line, having all of their material needs met? Food, housing, clothing, transportation, access to healthcare, and education. Can employees, those who work for others, have all of the aforementioned needs met while being employed by a capitalist? Simple question.

He’s right. This amazing accomplishment couldn’t have happened under capitalism.

 

[gipper]

It’s time for a change…..

 

[gipper]

Lots of truth here…
Ours is a neofeudal economy of financial serfs in servitude to a Financial Aristocracy. The Financial Nobility / Aristocracy own all the debt and the serfs owe the debt to the Aristocracy. The serfs own assets that don’t generate much income, the Aristocracy owns assets that generate trillions of dollars in income. The serfs pay high tax rates if they make above-poverty wages, the Financial Nobility pay low taxes thanks to tax-avoidance scams arranged by the Aristocracy’s toadies and lackeys in the Central State. The serfs create value, the Financial Nobility is parasitic.

That we are powerless is one of the key social control myths constantly promoted by the Status Quo. What better way to keep the serfs passive than to reinforce a belief in their powerlessness against Financial Feudalism?

But we are not powerless. Our complicity gives the Financial Aristocracy its power. Remove our complicity and the Aristocracy implodes.
12 Ways To Cut the Chains of Financial Serfdom - LewRockwell

 

[LibertyKid]

I'm asking you a simple question, that you're refusing to answer. You told me that capitalism gave you and other former working-class people or employees, the opportunity to become wealthy and what you identify as "successful". I'm simply asking you, can workers or the members of the working-class or middle-class (people who are employed), under capitalism, live above the poverty line, having all of their material needs met? Food, housing, clothing, transportation, access to healthcare, and education. Can employees, those who work for others, have all of the aforementioned needs met while being employed by a capitalist? Simple question.

I'll answer Yes. They can. I do, along with millions and millions of other Americans.

 

[TruthNotBS]

I'll answer Yes. They can. I do, along with millions and millions of other Americans.

I'm one of them, however. When I was diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm above my heart at the age of 42, eight years ago, my United HealthCare, which I have through one of my employers, failed me, time and time again. They refused to cover the cost of treatments that I needed and hence I eventually had to rely completely on my VA benefits.

If not for the VA, I would've been forced to do what my mother's husband had to do, a decade earlier, when he got seriously ill. I would've had to "play broke", and lose my income, and job, in order to qualify for Medicaid. Millions of Americans do that too and it's not right. Some people even have to qualify for disability because their states don't allow being poor as a qualifier for Medicaid, they also need to be disabled.

I was lucky because I served a short 2 1/2-year active duty tour in the army when I was younger, with six years of reserves, qualifying me for full VA benefits. I had my aortic aneurysm and leaky aortic heart valve repaired through open heart surgery at the VA. I didn't need Medicaid. My "AMAZING PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE", which I was paying an arm and a leg for, to get the "GOLD" coverage, amounted to a pile of poop, when I needed it.

My stepfather had to get on Medicaid, in Florida. He's a non-union CNC machinist (I'm a union machinist in NY), and he supposedly had "good health insurance coverage", with his employer. His body just stopped producing cortisol. I forgot the name of the glan that stopped producing it. For about a year, they couldn't figure out what was wrong with him, and he was dying. He blew up like a balloon, gained 100 pounds, his heart was failing, his cortisol levels were through the roof..etc. His private health insurance failed him. Refused to cover his treatments, and even refused to fully pay a day that he spent in the hospital, making him pay out-of-pocket, $15,000. They eventually figured it out and they performed surgery on him, extracting the sick glan. He now takes cortisol pills daily, to keep him alive. He's been doing that now for over a decade.

One of my stays in the hospital was $28,000, which United mostly covered because they refused to pay for the echocardiograms which they considered "unnecessary", even when the doctors needed them. Crazy. There are a lot of things that need to change in this country. We're the only industrialized nation on Earth, where its citizens have to beg for charity on "GoFundMe.Com" to cover the cost of their medical bills.

 

[LibertyKid]

I'm one of them, however. When I was diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm above my heart at the age of 42, eight years ago, my United HealthCare, which I have through one of my employers, failed me, time and time again. They refused to cover the cost of treatments that I needed and hence I eventually had to rely completely on my VA benefits.

If not for the VA, I would've been forced to do what my mother's husband had to do, a decade earlier, when he got seriously ill. I would've had to "play broke", and lose my income, and job, in order to qualify for Medicaid. Millions of Americans do that too and it's not right. Some people even have to qualify for disability because their states don't allow being poor as a qualifier for Medicaid, they also need to be disabled.

I was lucky because I served a short 2 1/2-year active duty tour in the army when I was younger, with six years of reserves, qualifying me for full VA benefits. I had my aortic aneurysm and leaky aortic heart valve repaired through open heart surgery at the VA. I didn't need Medicaid. My "AMAZING PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE", which I was paying an arm and a leg for, to get the "GOLD" coverage, amounted to a pile of poop, when I needed it.

My stepfather had to get on Medicaid, in Florida. He's a non-union CNC machinist (I'm a union machinist in NY), and he supposedly had "good health insurance coverage", with his employer. His body just stopped producing cortisol. I forgot the name of the glan that stopped producing it. For about a year, they couldn't figure out what was wrong with him, and he was dying. He blew up like a balloon, gained 100 pounds, his heart was failing, his cortisol levels were through the roof..etc. His private health insurance failed him. Refused to cover his treatments, and even refused to fully pay a day that he spent in the hospital, making him pay out-of-pocket, $15,000. They eventually figured it out and they performed surgery on him, extracting the sick glan. He now takes cortisol pills daily, to keep him alive. He's been doing that now for over a decade.

One of my stays in the hospital was $28,000, which United mostly covered because they then refused to pay for the echocardiograms which they considered "unnecessary", even when the doctors needed them. Crazy. There are a lot of things that need to change in this country. We're the only industrialized nation on Earth, where its citizens have to beg for charity on "GoFundMe.Com" to cover the cost of their medical bills.

And I don't think that any logical person will argue that we can do education and healthcare better in our country.

However, I do not accept the idea, that a gov't will always have the best interest for me and my family. The gov't exists to protect the public in various ways; militarily, socially, and economically ( like Crony capitalism). However, giving the gov't reign to take from one to give to another, even if this approach is through a theocracy, leads to a crony government, who controls the production, surplus and feeds itself.

The idea that man himself if responsible for himself lends to ingenuity, research, entrepreneurialism, and various means by which a single person can find success in this country.
The problem however is the narrative. Does Jeff Bezzos "Need" the money he's made? No. Does Jeff Bezzo deserve the money he's made is the question? Some would so no? I would ask, Why not?

 

[TruthNotBS]

And I don't think that any logical person will argue that we can do education and healthcare better in our country.

However, I do not accept the idea, that a gov't will always have the best interest for me and my family. The gov't exists to protect the public in various ways; militarily, socially, and economically ( like Crony capitalism). However, giving the gov't reign to take from one to give to another, even if this approach is through a theocracy, leads to a crony government, who controls the production, surplus and feeds itself.

The idea that man himself if responsible for himself lends to ingenuity, research, entrepreneurialism, and various means by which a single person can find success in this country.
The problem however is the narrative. Does Jeff Bezzos "Need" the money he's made? No. Does Jeff Bezzo deserve the money he's made is the question? Some would so no? I would ask, Why not?

And I don't think that any logical person will argue that we can do education and healthcare better in our country.

However, I do not accept the idea, that a gov't will always have the best interest for me and my family. The gov't exists to protect the public in various ways; militarily, socially, and economically ( like Crony capitalism). However, giving the gov't reign to take from one to give to another, even if this approach is through a theocracy, leads to a crony government, who controls the production, surplus and feeds itself.

We already have cronyism, so I don't understand your complaint. You're telling me that the government isn't "absolutely perfect", of course not. But at least we can cast a vote and elect our leadership. Can we do that under our present form of capitalism, in the workplace? Nope. How much control do private corporations and their wealthy owners have over our lives? MUCH. We spend most of our waking hours in the workplace, a place that is run like a totalitarian state. No vote, no elections, we obey or get kicked out to the street. Especially if we're not unionized.

Adam Smith, the father of capitalism, identified capitalists as "masters", in his book "The Wealth Of Nations". Why does he call capitalists, "masters" and often calls workers "servants"? Because that's the relationship between a capitalist employer and his or her employees.

Cronyism will always exist in capitalism, but it can be skewed to serve the public if production is mostly done by worker-owned, democratically run cooperatives. Eventually, due to advanced 21st-century automation and artificial intelligence, we're going to have to discard capitalism by necessity and adopt a non-profit, publicly owned, centrally planned, and cooperative system of production. Producing all of the goods and services that we use to meet all of our needs, including what we define as "wants" (entertainment, recreation, etc). An easier way of describing this system is simply saying "socialism". Democratic, marketless, centrally planned, high-tech socialism:

​

Thanks to technology, we're now entering the socialist age.


The idea that man himself if responsible for himself lends to ingenuity, research, entrepreneurialism, and various means by which a single person can find success in this country.


We need to begin thinking of ourselves as a community, rather than just individuals. We progress more and quicker, when we work as a team, a body, rather than a single, isolated cell selfishly pursuing its own individual interests (a.k.a. cancer). Most of the innovation and technology in this country comes from the community working together, with plenty of assistance and interventionism from the government. Our government is nothing more than a social apparatus, organized by the American people to manage their large projects and socioeconomic, civil affairs. Our government isn't inherently good, nor is it evil, it's simply whatever we want it to be.

​

The problem however is the narrative. Does Jeff Bezzos "Need" the money he's made? No. Does Jeff Bezzo deserve the money he's made is the question? Some would so no? I would ask, Why not?

Because one person with hundreds of billions of dollars is too much power concentrated in one individual's hands. You acknowledged earlier that we have a problem in this country with cronyism. The best way to ensure we have cronyism is to concentrate power in the hands of a small, privileged capitalist (profit-pursuing) elite, who naturally will have financial interests that don't necessarily serve the public good. They undermine our democracy.

​

More, everything in this world is produced by human labor, not capitalists, who amass capital by exploiting the work of others. Capitalism is designed to enrich those who have capital, not workers who sell their lives daily to capitalists (renting out their labor power = renting your time, life, and effort to someone else, who by default must pay you less than what you're producing and are worth, in order to "profit").

MASS PRODUCTION IS A SOCIAL ENDEAVOUR, NOT A PRIVATE ONE.
Mass production should be democratized and owned collectively, not privatized in the hands of an elitist class of capitalist masters. ​

In a better world, workers would own all of the products that they produce and collectively own and operate the facilities and machinery that produces those products, rather than having one privileged capitalist parasite, owning everything, including their lives. Under capitalism, workers are commodified and reduced to a product in a "labor market" for the primary benefit of an elitist class of capitalist owners.

In our modern, high-tech age, there's a better way of organizing production, to meet all of our needs. It's not capitalism.

 

[gipper]

I'm one of them, however. When I was diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm above my heart at the age of 42, eight years ago, my United HealthCare, which I have through one of my employers, failed me, time and time again. They refused to cover the cost of treatments that I needed and hence I eventually had to rely completely on my VA benefits.

If not for the VA, I would've been forced to do what my mother's husband had to do, a decade earlier, when he got seriously ill. I would've had to "play broke", and lose my income, and job, in order to qualify for Medicaid. Millions of Americans do that too and it's not right. Some people even have to qualify for disability because their states don't allow being poor as a qualifier for Medicaid, they also need to be disabled.

I was lucky because I served a short 2 1/2-year active duty tour in the army when I was younger, with six years of reserves, qualifying me for full VA benefits. I had my aortic aneurysm and leaky aortic heart valve repaired through open heart surgery at the VA. I didn't need Medicaid. My "AMAZING PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE", which I was paying an arm and a leg for, to get the "GOLD" coverage, amounted to a pile of poop, when I needed it.

My stepfather had to get on Medicaid, in Florida. He's a non-union CNC machinist (I'm a union machinist in NY), and he supposedly had "good health insurance coverage", with his employer. His body just stopped producing cortisol. I forgot the name of the glan that stopped producing it. For about a year, they couldn't figure out what was wrong with him, and he was dying. He blew up like a balloon, gained 100 pounds, his heart was failing, his cortisol levels were through the roof..etc. His private health insurance failed him. Refused to cover his treatments, and even refused to fully pay a day that he spent in the hospital, making him pay out-of-pocket, $15,000. They eventually figured it out and they performed surgery on him, extracting the sick glan. He now takes cortisol pills daily, to keep him alive. He's been doing that now for over a decade.

One of my stays in the hospital was $28,000, which United mostly covered because they refused to pay for the echocardiograms which they considered "unnecessary", even when the doctors needed them. Crazy. There are a lot of things that need to change in this country. We're the only industrialized nation on Earth, where its citizens have to beg for charity on "GoFundMe.Com" to cover the cost of their medical bills.

For profit healthcare has run it’s course. It’s now a corrupt criminal cartel. If Americans can’t see this after what big pharma did with covid vaccines, they never will.

Big Pharma uses its enormous profits to control government, media, and science. It’s stated the third leading cause of death in the US is Big Pharma drugs. Yet these same drug companies have paid huge fines and penalties for wrongdoing, including killing thousands.

 

[TruthNotBS]

For profit healthcare has run it’s course. It’s now a corrupt criminal cartel. If Americans can’t see this after what big pharma did with covid vaccines, they never will.

Big Pharma uses its enormous profits to control government, media, and science. It’s stated the third leading cause of death in the US is Big Pharma drugs. Yet these same drug companies have paid huge fines and penalties for wrongdoing, including killing thousands.

Big pharma, like big oil and other large industries that are vital to our national infrastructure, should be made public/nationalized.

 

[dblack]

Big pharma, like big oil and other large industries that are vital to our national infrastructure, should be made public/nationalized.

Nope. Replacing a handful of corrupt corporations who are in bed with government, with one corrupt corporation run by government solves nothing.

 

[gipper]

Nope. Replacing a handful of corrupt corporations who are in bed with government, with one corrupt corporation run by government solves nothing.

Status quo is untenable and unacceptable. Something has to be done.

 

[Mac-7]

Capitalists profit from the surplus value of their workers, paying less than what they produce.

Capitalists also profit from hard work, ideas, and risk

 

[dblack]

Status quo is untenable and unacceptable. Something has to be done.

But not something stupid. That won't help.

 

[Mac-7]

Status quo is untenable and unacceptable. Something has to be done.

China has a top down socialist economy and we are in better shape than they are

By and large the people shilling for socialism are losers

 

[TruthNotBS]

They also profit from hard work, ideas, and risk

A mom-and-pop store, where the owners are essentially working-class people who launched a small business. Yes indeed, they might very well be there with their employees, working hard too. Nonetheless, the productive enterprise is a team effort, a social endeavor, not a private one. Workers risk their time, money, health, and even their lives when they work for their employers.

"Come on man, he's just some guy working in a pencil factory for $14.00 an hour. He's lucky to make that much, he really shouldn't even make $10.00 hourly. Where's the risk in working in a pencil factory?"

"The wealthy capitalist owners of the factory risked some of their money to purchase the facility and machinery, and all of the materials. That worker should just shut up and do his job. Don't ask for anything other than a salary, and that's it. You're not risking anything...."

It's not just "a guy making pencils". When we say it like that, it sounds easy, harmless, safe, and clean. We don't think of the risk taken by employees, like maybe losing a finger or arm from one of those heavy machines. Breathing toxic dust and chemicals into their lungs, for ten years straight and developing a lung disease.

Workers move their families to a certain neighborhood to be close to their jobs, or even relocate to another city or state. It's all a risk. Life is a risk. The fact that the private owners of the business took financial risks doesn't justify the totalitarianism and exploitative nature of the capitalist workplace.

In the 1800s, there were some very good slave masters, who were decent, Godfearing people. They treated their slaves well, and some of their slaves actually loved their slave masters and refused their freedom. There were female house slaves ("Aunt Jemimas"), who even breastfed their master's infants. That's how integrated into the family some of the black slaves were in the South. Does that fact, justify the institution of slavery? Should human beings own other human beings?

Are there good, decent business owners who treat their employees well and even roll up their sleeves and work with their staff? They also break a sweat and they're laboring, right next to their workers. Yes indeed, there are some small business owners who are like that. Does that justify the capitalist totalitarian, exploitative system of production? No. Production is a collective, team effort, it's a social enterprise consisting of the labor of many, not just one. The productive enterprise should be owned and run collectively, and its leadership should be elected by the workers, who together labor in that business.

We're now in late-stage capitalism. That's like saying "Stage 4 Cancer". Really really bad. We've lost our government. It's completely in the hands of capitalists. We live in a plutocracy (rule of the rich and powerful/rule of a small group of elitists), not a democracy (rule of the people/rule of the majority). Plutocracy is always at the expense of the public.

RANK	PARENT	SUBSIDY VALUE.	NUMBER OF AWARDS
1	Boeing	$15,136,286,466	946
2	Intel	$8,371,896,017	133
3	Ford Motor	$7,761,916,195	815
4	General Motors	$7,594,509,872	990
5	Micron Technology	$6,785,681,915	18
6	Alcoa	$5,798,600,778	160
7	X-Energy LLC	$5,661,511,202	17
8	General Atomics	$5,465,529,295	438
9	Cheniere Energy	$5,431,565,870	41
10	Amazon.com	$5,051,773,349	332
11	Foxconn Technology Group (Hon Hai Precision Industry Company)	$4,827,036,483	76
12	Sempra Energy	$3,835,098,001	53
13	Southern Company	$3,783,360,569	130
14	NRG Energy	$3,586,516,301	268
15	Venture Global LNG	$3,285,883,566	6
16	NextEra Energy	$3,003,823,754	117
17	Tesla Inc.	$2,836,366,619	116
18	Sasol	$2,836,049,845	72
19	Stellantis	$2,800,442,867	230
20	Volkswagen	$2,740,983,143	222
21	General Electric	$2,529,193,561	1,668
22	Nucor	$2,514,358,340	158
23	Walt Disney	$2,421,304,588	248
24	Brookfield Asset Management	$2,339,430,278	304
25	Iberdrola	$2,285,768,043	112
26	Summit Power	$2,240,568,236	8
27	Shell PLC	$2,184,517,527	141
28	Oracle	$2,167,890,528	88
29	Mubadala Investment Company	$2,124,035,097	62
30	Nike	$2,104,917,829	138
31	Hyundai Motor	$2,072,957,848	27
32	SCS Energy	$1,927,236,683	10
33	Archer Daniels Midland	$1,920,305,787	1,099
34	Exxon Mobil	$1,891,153,489	207
35	NuScale Power	$1,880,780,589	34
36	Toyota	$1,864,826,689	198
37	Berkshire Hathaway	$1,859,775,471	1,158
38	Nissan	$1,842,314,165	86
39	Alphabet Inc.	$1,832,565,977	116
40	Paramount Global	$1,751,801,882	317
41	Apple Inc.	$1,750,043,420	36
42	Comcast	$1,722,467,426	376
43	JPMorgan Chase	$1,663,890,873	1,129
44	Cleveland-Cliffs	$1,654,401,303	137
45	Energy Transfer	$1,634,074,422	106
46	Samsung	$1,586,310,806	70
47	PG&E Corp.	$1,568,027,901	27
48	IBM Corp.	$1,562,738,626	387
49	SkyWest	$1,550,492,958	683
50	Rivian Automotive Inc.	$1,532,854,012	3
51	OGE Energy	$1,427,570,182	15
52	Panasonic	$1,385,969,341	61
53	Raytheon Technologies	$1,322,899,721	952
54	Duke Energy	$1,318,084,164	69
55	Lockheed Martin	$1,302,847,415	337
56	Corning Inc.	$1,272,628,059	395
57	Northrop Grumman	$1,266,804,354	266
58	Vingroup	$1,254,000,000	1
59	Continental AG	$1,244,875,478	111
60	Vornado Realty Trust	$1,243,857,336	32
61	Microsoft	$1,153,690,869	103
62	Jefferies Financial Group	$1,120,662,497	18
63	Meta Platforms Inc.	$1,105,098,844	53
64	Dow Inc.	$1,091,152,544	686
65	Abengoa	$1,082,660,583	63
66	LG	$1,055,690,737	103
67	Valero Energy	$1,054,520,860	199
68	Exelon	$1,040,601,369	98
69	AES Corp.	$1,010,194,632	132
70	CF Industries	$982,271,715	129
71	Pyramid Companies	$966,050,097	91
72	EDF-Electricite de France	$940,247,983	65
73	Texas Instruments	$940,071,436	60
74	Mazda Toyota Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc.	$900,000,000	1
75	Air Products & Chemicals	$897,651,105	248
76	Delta Air Lines	$876,412,623	14
77	Centene	$875,064,432	54
78	Bayer	$849,175,809	202
79	Honda	$846,026,154	91
80	Enterprise Products Partners	$826,988,371	83
81	Shin-Etsu Chemical	$826,062,285	104
82	SunEdison	$812,753,318	119
83	Apollo Global Management	$804,565,970	471
84	Goldman Sachs	$801,573,386	255
85	E.ON	$782,609,880	38
86	Wolfspeed Inc.	$773,681,732	88
87	Triple Five Worldwide	$748,000,000	4
88	EDP-Energias de Portugal	$733,674,868	14
89	Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.	$725,632,525	206
90	Gotion	$715,000,000	1
91	American Electric Power	$699,673,821	92
92	Bank of America	$698,760,073	919
93	Johnson Controls	$691,180,720	144
94	Related Companies	$687,200,000	1
95	Caithness Energy	$670,379,738	28
96	Hyannis Air Service Inc.	$667,928,778	296
97	Koch Industries	$662,557,530	486
98	Sagamore Development	$660,000,000	1
99	Dominion Energy

 

[Mac-7]

The leadership of the productive enterprise should be owned and run collectively, and its leadership should be elected by the workers, who together labor in that enterprise.

Without saying so I think you mean workers taking over an established company

But I cant think of situations were a group of blue collar workers started a company from scratch and making a go of it

 

[dblack]

A mom-and-pop store, where the owners are essentially working-class people who launched a small business. Yes indeed, they might very well be there with their employees, working hard too. Nonetheless, the productive enterprise is a team effort, a social endeavor, not a private one. Workers risk their time, money, health, and even their lives when they work for their employers.

View attachment 794521​

"Come on man, he's just some guy working in a pencil factory for $14.00 an hour. He's lucky to make that much, he really shouldn't even make $10.00 hourly. Where's the risk in working in a pencil factory?"

View attachment 794528​

"The wealthy capitalist owners of the factory risked some of their money to purchase the facility and machinery, and all of the materials. That worker should just shut up and do his job. Don't ask for anything other than a salary, and that's it. You're not risking anything...."

It's not just "a guy making pencils". When we say it like that, it sounds easy, harmless, safe, and clean. We don't think of the risk taken by employees, like maybe losing a finger or arm from one of those heavy machines. Breathing toxic dust and chemicals into their lungs, for ten years straight and developing a lung disease.

Workers move their families to a certain neighborhood to be close to their jobs, or even relocate to another city or state. It's all a risk. Life is a risk. The fact that the private owners of the business took financial risks doesn't justify the totalitarianism and exploitative nature of the capitalist workplace.

In the 1800s, there were some very good slave masters, who were decent, Godfearing people. They treated their slaves well, and some of their slaves actually loved their slave masters and refused their freedom. There were female house slaves ("Aunt Jemimas"), who even breastfed their master's infants. That's how integrated into the family some of the black slaves were in the South. Does that fact, justify the institution of slavery? Should human beings own other human beings?

Are there good, decent business owners who treat their employees well and even roll up their sleeves and work with their staff? They also break a sweat and they're laboring, right next to their workers. Yes indeed, there are some small business owners who are like that. Does that justify the capitalist totalitarian, exploitative system of production? No. Production is a collective, team effort, it's a social enterprise consisting of the labor of many, not just one. The productive enterprise should be owned and run collectively, and its leadership should be elected by the workers, who together labor in that business.

We're now in late-stage capitalism. That's like saying "Stage 4 Cancer". Really really bad. We've lost our government. It's completely in the hands of capitalists. We live in a plutocracy (rule of the rich and powerful/rule of a small group of elitists), not a democracy (rule of the people/rule of the majority). Plutocracy is always at the expense of the public.

RANK	PARENT	SUBSIDY VALUE.	NUMBER OF AWARDS
1	Boeing	$15,136,286,466	946
2	Intel	$8,371,896,017	133
3	Ford Motor	$7,761,916,195	815
4	General Motors	$7,594,509,872	990
5	Micron Technology	$6,785,681,915	18
6	Alcoa	$5,798,600,778	160
7	X-Energy LLC	$5,661,511,202	17
8	General Atomics	$5,465,529,295	438
9	Cheniere Energy	$5,431,565,870	41
10	Amazon.com	$5,051,773,349	332
11	Foxconn Technology Group (Hon Hai Precision Industry Company)	$4,827,036,483	76
12	Sempra Energy	$3,835,098,001	53
13	Southern Company	$3,783,360,569	130
14	NRG Energy	$3,586,516,301	268
15	Venture Global LNG	$3,285,883,566	6
16	NextEra Energy	$3,003,823,754	117
17	Tesla Inc.	$2,836,366,619	116
18	Sasol	$2,836,049,845	72
19	Stellantis	$2,800,442,867	230
20	Volkswagen	$2,740,983,143	222
21	General Electric	$2,529,193,561	1,668
22	Nucor	$2,514,358,340	158
23	Walt Disney	$2,421,304,588	248
24	Brookfield Asset Management	$2,339,430,278	304
25	Iberdrola	$2,285,768,043	112
26	Summit Power	$2,240,568,236	8
27	Shell PLC	$2,184,517,527	141
28	Oracle	$2,167,890,528	88
29	Mubadala Investment Company	$2,124,035,097	62
30	Nike	$2,104,917,829	138
31	Hyundai Motor	$2,072,957,848	27
32	SCS Energy	$1,927,236,683	10
33	Archer Daniels Midland	$1,920,305,787	1,099
34	Exxon Mobil	$1,891,153,489	207
35	NuScale Power	$1,880,780,589	34
36	Toyota	$1,864,826,689	198
37	Berkshire Hathaway	$1,859,775,471	1,158
38	Nissan	$1,842,314,165	86
39	Alphabet Inc.	$1,832,565,977	116
40	Paramount Global	$1,751,801,882	317
41	Apple Inc.	$1,750,043,420	36
42	Comcast	$1,722,467,426	376
43	JPMorgan Chase	$1,663,890,873	1,129
44	Cleveland-Cliffs	$1,654,401,303	137
45	Energy Transfer	$1,634,074,422	106
46	Samsung	$1,586,310,806	70
47	PG&E Corp.	$1,568,027,901	27
48	IBM Corp.	$1,562,738,626	387
49	SkyWest	$1,550,492,958	683
50	Rivian Automotive Inc.	$1,532,854,012	3
51	OGE Energy	$1,427,570,182	15
52	Panasonic	$1,385,969,341	61
53	Raytheon Technologies	$1,322,899,721	952
54	Duke Energy	$1,318,084,164	69
55	Lockheed Martin	$1,302,847,415	337
56	Corning Inc.	$1,272,628,059	395
57	Northrop Grumman	$1,266,804,354	266
58	Vingroup	$1,254,000,000	1
59	Continental AG	$1,244,875,478	111
60	Vornado Realty Trust	$1,243,857,336	32
61	Microsoft	$1,153,690,869	103
62	Jefferies Financial Group	$1,120,662,497	18
63	Meta Platforms Inc.	$1,105,098,844	53
64	Dow Inc.	$1,091,152,544	686
65	Abengoa	$1,082,660,583	63
66	LG	$1,055,690,737	103
67	Valero Energy	$1,054,520,860	199
68	Exelon	$1,040,601,369	98
69	AES Corp.	$1,010,194,632	132
70	CF Industries	$982,271,715	129
71	Pyramid Companies	$966,050,097	91
72	EDF-Electricite de France	$940,247,983	65
73	Texas Instruments	$940,071,436	60
74	Mazda Toyota Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc.	$900,000,000	1
75	Air Products & Chemicals	$897,651,105	248
76	Delta Air Lines	$876,412,623	14
77	Centene	$875,064,432	54
78	Bayer	$849,175,809	202
79	Honda	$846,026,154	91
80	Enterprise Products Partners	$826,988,371	83
81	Shin-Etsu Chemical	$826,062,285	104
82	SunEdison	$812,753,318	119
83	Apollo Global Management	$804,565,970	471
84	Goldman Sachs	$801,573,386	255
85	E.ON	$782,609,880	38
86	Wolfspeed Inc.	$773,681,732	88
87	Triple Five Worldwide	$748,000,000	4
88	EDP-Energias de Portugal	$733,674,868	14
89	Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.	$725,632,525	206
90	Gotion	$715,000,000	1
91	American Electric Power	$699,673,821	92
92	Bank of America	$698,760,073	919
93	Johnson Controls	$691,180,720	144
94	Related Companies	$687,200,000	1
95	Caithness Energy	$670,379,738	28
96	Hyannis Air Service Inc.	$667,928,778	296
97	Koch Industries	$662,557,530	486
98	Sagamore Development	$660,000,000	1
99	Dominion Energy

Nope. Not buyin.