My Relationship with Socialism

00:00

Hey, what's up, weirdos. Hey, yo, me. Shit. I got me a little song rode the lights alone. We're about to chop it up with Abigail on the Manic Pixie weirdo podcast, a safe space for weirdos of all shapes, sizes, colors and creeds to relax and speak their piece. So grab a glass of wine and grass, the

00:16

chief as I get off the mic, so the main word Oh can speak. Peace, peace. What is up weirdos, you're listening to the Manic Pixie weirdo. I'm Abigail, your host. And

00:27

this is the podcast where we talk about all the different kinds of relationships that we can have in our lives. And this week, we're talking about my relationship with socialism. It is the second topic in our systems of government series. I'm still super anxious about it. But we're gonna we're gonna do it, we're gonna, we're gonna keep going. So, first off, I am not an expert. Okay, I barely got pants on this morning. So I am not an expert. I don't really have any sort of, like extensive knowledge. I guess I meaning like, I haven't, I don't have a PhD in this. Okay, I don't, I don't even have I don't have a master's degree in this. I don't. Like I don't. I am very under qualified, if you will, to kind of, like speak on this. So just keep that in mind when we're kind of going through all of this, because it's mainly just like, what research I have found through various and sundry means of doing research for, for this episode. So just keep that in mind. Take it with a grain of salt, you know, all the things? I? Yeah, I don't know. I'm just like, super nervous, and I still don't feel super great. So it's okay, it's gonna be fine. We're gonna make it through it. So it, let's just let's just get started. And as usual, we're gonna start with some definitions that I found of what socialism is. So yeah, and I will put all of the links to all of the sources and everything that I found in the show notes. So if you want to, like look it up for yourself, I would highly recommend you do so. And sort of like, you know, take what I have to say and sort of build on it. And, you know, you're smart, use your own critical thinking skills and that sort of thing. But yeah, so let's just get started with some definitions. So like the first definition of socialism, so like, when you just type in socialism into Google, you get, it gives you kind of like, it's like the dictionary.com version of like the definition of socialism. And there are like three different ones. See, yeah, so we're gonna go through them. So the first one is, it's unknown. And it's a political and economic theory of social organization, which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. Okay, so the next one, policy or practice based on the political and economic theory of socialism that's unhelpful, that is so unhelpful. This one isn't terrible. And it is based upon like in Marxist theory, so what, like Marxist theorists? And like what the theory of Marxism, we'll go into that when we do the next set, but it is a transitional social state between the overthrow of capitalism and the realization of communism. So it's a bridge, it's a bridge between the two of capitalism and communism, it's that that's that system of government that bridges it, it sort of leads into the next like, the next step, like after capitalism, like the next step would be socialism, and then after that, it would be like communism, according to Marx's theory. So that's, that's interesting to me for a number of reasons, because it's like a transition. It's like what exactly what it says it's a transitional period. It's that it's that like, in between sort of that, I wouldn't call it a limbo period. I read but it's that it is that transitional period between capitalism and communism. Now, you know, I'm not a huge proponent of like Wikipedia, but I don't necessarily have like a giant issue with with what they're like saying, so I'm working I'm gonna go ahead and like like and by issue I just mean like I don't have a complete like I don't hate it I don't hate the definition that they have of socialism on Wikipedia

05:42

so yeah, so we're gonna go over it. I'm sorry if it would load living in the boonies is like, you know, it's great for like some things. But then like when you know, your internet and stuff like that

06:01

site quest. Sorry. medications and stuff make me woohoo. But yeah, anyway, living in the boonies is like, you know, one of those things, where it, it has its pros and cons, like everything, but

06:22

one of the cons is definitely that you have issues with your internet connecting. And then loading things so that I can like do stuff. Okay. Well, while we're waiting for that, there's this other definition.

06:41

That, I think is it's not terrible. And it is from CFI, corporate, the corporate finance institute.com. Now, I don't know who owns Corporate Finance Institute, but just like, kind of keep that in mind.

07:13

While we're, that's the other thing, I really want to like, impress upon you are your sources, make sure that you like that your sources so that, you know, you understand, you know, kind of who is writing, what about what just, you know, blanket disclosure, sort of a thing. But so like their definition what they say. So it's literally and I'll put a link to the article. But it literally is the title of it is just socialism. And it says and, and then underneath that it says an economic system that prescribes equal sharing of the different elements of production. This was updated November 27, of 2022. So it's pretty current, as far as I can tell. And yeah, so it says, socialism is a system in which every person in the community has an equal share of the various elements of production, distribution and exchange of resources, resources, such a form of ownership is granted through a democratic system of governance. Socialism has also been demonstrated through a cooperative system, in which each member of the Society owns a share of the communal of communal resources. So that I mean, they're all kind of basically saying the same thing, the Wikipedia definition is loaded. And so it says, socialism is a left wing economic philosophy, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership, like it isn't capitalism. As a term it describes economic, political and social theories and movements associated with implementation of such systems. So state so social ownership can be state or public community collective cooperative or employee. Now, I think one of the big things about socialism and like why I have like why there's so many different like definitions of it is because there's literally just so many different different definitions of socialism. This the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy not article but like entry, I suppose. It says, you know, the and this was on socialism. This is like what they have on socialism. It was first published is in July on July 15, that she doesn't 19. So it's relatively relatively current as well. But even in like this, like context, it says socialism is a rich tradition of political thought and practice, the history of which contains a vast number of views and theories, often differing in many of their conceptual empirical and normative commitments. That just means that there's like a whole bunch of different, like, nobody really has, like, there's not like one definition that everybody like a universal definition that everybody can agree on, because there are so many different like, forms, and like types and like it's, it's a little bit different for everybody. Yeah, so in his 1924 Dictionary of socialism, Angelou Rappaport canvassed no fewer than 40 definitions of socialism, telling his readers in the books preface that there are many there are many I have no idea oh, my God, I'm totally blunt. English is hard sometimes. Mansions Mansons m a n s. I O. n. S. I don't know. And the House of socialism, I guess I suppose I could have looked that up before I. It doesn't matter. It's fine. So the Yeah. But like, in general, there's like a shitload of there's just a bunch of different definitions. And I think that that also has a lot to do with that there are many different types of socialism. Just like there are many different types of like libertarianism, and there are many different like, it's not in a vacuum, it is. Like that there are just many different like schools of thought and branches of socialism. And, yeah, so but in this corporate finance institute.com article, it goes on to say the rule of engagement in a socialistic system is that each person receives and contributes according to his ability. For this reason, individuals in a socialistic society tend to work very hard. Members of the community receive a share of the National Pie. Once a percentage is taken off, they're off for the purpose of communal development, the areas into which resources are channeled include defense, education, and transportation, for the common good is a term that is interpreted to mean taking care of people who can't contribute to social development, such as children, caretakers, and the elderly. So it's very much like this idea. First of all, it's a very different value system, okay, it's a very different value system from what we have here in the United States, whereas, like, because the United States is a capitalistic, is very capitalistic. I mean, that that's all it is. But it it's, it's, it's like solely based on the individual. Whereas like, in a socialism, or in socialism, it's more about like, the common good, and like, what, what's best for everybody? Kind of a thing. So and like, what, what can we do to like, help each other and like, you know, basically, from my understanding, the basic idea is that like, you know, what can we do to make this thing called life? Less fucked? Like, what can we all do collectively together, to make life easier for everybody? So that, you know, you're not like life, basically, it's the idea that like, life is hard enough. So we don't need to make it harder by like, you know, forcing people to not be able to like, have childcare or like have be able to have homes like have a place to live all those basic needs like food, water, shelter, those kinds of things would be taken care of in a socialistic environment. Now that that, that again, that is like big socialism like that's the big socialism umbrella, right? And then there are like many different kinds just like there's many different kinds of libertarian Islam or like there's, it's, it's not in a vacuum. There are different schools of thought within a Those that are like believe in socialism. So some of those, and I really liked this corporate finance institute.com article because it does go into, like what the different, obviously, it doesn't go into all the different kinds of socialism. But it does go into several. So we're going to talk about the five that it does go into. So there's like democratic socialism rate, which is that would be like in countries like Sweden or like, like in that area. So in democratic socialism, factors of production are under the management of an elected administration. Vital goods and services such as energy, housing and transit are distributed through centralized planning, while the free market system is used to distribute consumer products. So that's well, actually, I don't really know if that would be Democrat, if Sweden would be Democrat, I, okay. Don't quote me on that. I'm so sorry. I don't actually know what I'm talking about. I probably shouldn't use that as an example, since I wasn't sure. I apologize. But, so that's kind of what that is. That to me, that actually sounds a little bit more like England like it like what they have in the UK. But yeah, so that's a that. So there is that like free market, like systems still in play that like goes on, within a democratic, socialist, like way of thought, then there's revolutionary socialism, some of the things I've never actually heard, and I've never actually heard before, which is really interesting. To me, anyway. So revolutionary socialism is the running philosophy of revolutionary.

16:59

Oh, my gosh, this is not what Britain I'm sorry, the running philosophy of revolutionary socialism is that the socialistic system can emerge while capitalism is still in play. Revolutionaries believes that the road to a purely socialistic system requires a lot of struggle. In such a system, the factors of production are owned and run by workers through a well developed and centralized structure. So that kind of just seems like, it's, I don't know, if I would necessarily even characterize that as like a branch of socialism, I suppose that it is, that seems to mean more of like, like how we would get to a socialistic system that seems more about like direct action and like how one would, you know, get to that, get away from capitalism and get, you know, and be on a faster track towards that transition of socialism. So that, I don't know if that really, that doesn't really count for me as far as like a type of socialism. That's more just like a way of thinking about like, how we get to that end goal, which would be socialism, or that end goal being socialism? Not necessarily. You know it anyway. So then there's libertarian socialism, which is very interesting. To me, that kind of seems like a little bit of an oxymoron, given that we just did a whole thing on socialism. But anyway, so libertarian socialism works on the assumption that people are always rational, same issues, I have issues, self determining, and I'm not an autonomous if capitalism is taken is taken away, people naturally turn to a socialist system because it's able to meet their needs. I don't necessarily disagree with that, um, as far as like. The thing is, is that like, you cannot just take something away, and then not replace it with something like something else, potentially something, quote unquote, better or more conducive to like society as a whole. But I don't know. I just take issue with that assumption that people are always rational, self determining and autonomous because I'm 100% not always rational and self determining or autonomous, like, Not a chance. There's no way I am relatively irrational at certain points in my life, especially if I'm not on my medication, like Yep, there's it's just not that's not going to happen. Rationality is not a thing that I have. If I don't have medication. Um, I mean, and even to a certain extent, even on medication, but whenever some market socialism, or what is this interesting is under market socialism, the production process is under the control of ordinary workers. Okay, okay, I'm with you, the workers decide how resources should be distributed. Yes, that's yes. Okay. The workers sell off what is in excess? Or give it out to members of the society who then distribute resources based on the free market system?

20:33

Okay. Okay, interesting. Um, I do a favor, I guess. And I probably really shouldn't even be

20:48

doing this in this way. But I do favor the idea that, like, workers decide how resources are distributed. Because like, if I'm working, like if I if I, if I work for, let's say, like, McDonald's? Like I should, I feel like I definitely should get a say, in, like, how money is distributed? Or like, or how, yeah, resources, like how money is distributed and like, and, and I definitely think that I should get to say, like, if you know, if I work at McDonald's, and there's a shitload of like food leftover from the day that we didn't use or at a restaurant or anything like that. I, I don't personally think that that food should be thrown away. I think it should be given to people who need it, like people who are hungry. Um, so I don't, yeah, I don't really take issue with that. Or the workers decide how resources should be distributed. I don't take issue with that at all. What I do take issue is with the free market, that's like, my big thing is like with the free market, because I don't I don't think as far as I'm aware, I don't think that there has ever truly been a free market system

22:20

in play ever since. Now. I mean, I suppose one could argue, you know, maybe in like Rome, maybe. But I don't I don't know, I don't think there's ever like I don't think we have an example of what a truly free market is.

22:41

Because it it it because well, because humans. But so I guess, but that's not really an argument. That's really not an argument, because I guess you couldn't really say that we have, like, you can definitely say that there have been examples of various and sundry forms of government, like even, you know, dating all the way back to like, you know, ancient times or whatever. Like, you could say that there are they they had systems of government in play.

23:16

You know, but I don't know. Like, I think there's always going to be some debate on whether or not it was like, a truly libertarian

23:25

society or a truly socialistic society, or a truly capitalistic society with like, a free market. Because humans like we, we fucked it up. It's, it's, it's kind of our jam, we really love to do that. Which I find really kind of, like, not only annoying, but also very, like, I don't know, it kind of, I don't, I just don't think we've like evolved to a place where like, that is gonna go away anytime soon. So and then the last one that they say is called Green socialism. So green socialism is protective of natural resources. Yes. All for that. I love everything about that. I assume that when they when they like talk about natural resources that they're also including things like what we would say is like a national park, or, like conservation of wildlife, things like that, like I'm all about that. Like, that's, yeah, like, why not save, save whatever. Large corporations in a green socialist society are owned and run by the public. Okay, you're on with you. In addition, green socialism promotes the development and use of public transit, as well as the processing and sale of locally grown food. Okay, yes. Um, yes, I like this. But I'm a big proponent of like public transportation. I really I really do I was ruined you guys. So sorry, oh my gosh, I'm completely ruined when I went when I when I lived in Chicago. Obviously it is it's not perfect, but it's very clearly it is not a perfect public transportation system. But compared to what I was used to, in the town that I grew up in Texas, like we don't really have public transportation, not good public transportation in the way that like, like I was introduced when I lived in Chicago, and I like fell in love with public transportation. I was like, this is fantastic. This is amazing. I love this, like this is why why are more places not doing public transportation, I loved it. save you a bunch of money. Like I just I'm a big proponent of public transportation. I think it's great. So and then and then as well as the processing and sell of locally grown food. Brilliant. I mean, I guess I don't I don't take issue with that. So then it goes on to say the production process is for forced Omar is focused on ensuring that every member of the community has enough access to basic goods. Perfect. Moreover, the public is guaranteed a sustainable wage. Fine. Yeah, fine, fine, fine, fine. All all all fine. I don't really take issue with any of that. I think that that would be fantastic. I think that'd be great. I mean, if we could, if we can provide basic stuff for? For everybody, I think that would be really cool like that. You know, that would, it would make me happy? It really would, I think it would make you it would make me very happy. If we could do that. And then obviously, you know, who is against guaranteeing a sustainable wage, like, come on, like, people have to be able to live. If you want them to live, if you want a society where life is truly important to you, then to me, it just makes sense that you would want to provide, you know, at least the bare minimum basic stuff for the people in that society. So that, you know, they could live so that they could you know, do what is required of them with their gifts and talents for the betterment of society, like collectively as a whole. If you want people to live if you don't want people to live, like if you are truly not somebody who like gives a shit about whether people live or die, then I mean, I guess that's not for you. But I'm probably not for you either. It's okay. I'm not for everyone. Anyway. Okay, so now we're going to. So now we're going to get kind of into, like, the differences, like we're going to go into some statistics we're going to look at, and we're going to look at some stuff. But first, we're going to take a break because I need some water. But yeah, we'll take a break. And we'll be right back. What is up you guys, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about our sponsor for this episode, news, Li it's an audio app for iOS and Android, where they basically take articles from all over the world, and all the trending topics that are on the web at any given moment. And it reads them to you. And like a natural voice like a human being would it's basically the first time of in the history of the internet where the entire web becomes listenable. It's really cool, you guys, they have all different kinds of articles from all different kinds of topics that you can like stop scrolling, and start listening, which I really love. You can follow all that you know, any topic, all the topics, whatever topic you want to talk about, or listen about from sports science, Bitcoin, you know, even the Kardashians, like everybody, they have all the latest articles, and it reads them to you. So it's super easy. They also have podcasts, which is why I'm talking to you guys about it because our podcast, along with podcasts from over 50 Other countries are on the app. So that's really, really cool. You can start listening there as well it can download and use newsleave for free right now at www dot newsleave dot N E or you can do you can use this link in the description and when you use the promo code P 1x. One E P zero d c a s t that will give you a free month of premium subscription to newsletters. So go check it out you guys and thank you so much generously for sponsoring this episode. And we're back. And this week, we're talking about my relationship with socialism. Yeah, so I wanted to kind of go ahead and give y'all some statistics a little bit about socialism. So this comes from a Gallup poll that was done in 2018. This is I'm so sorry. One of the most recent, it's it is the most recent Gallup poll that I could find that, you know, has the most recent statistics. So bear with me, it's from an article is from Gallup, but it's from an article called The meaning of socialism to Americans today. published October 4 2018. And it kind of just goes into some of the stats, about, you know, what socialism is, and are not really what socialism is, but like, understanding what socialism is, um, it even says that right, in the very beginning, the first line is, when asked to explain their understanding of the term socialism. 17% of Americans defined it as government ownership of the means of production. Half the number who defined it this way in 1949, which was when Gallup first like asked Americans about, like the term socialism. So that that is an interest. That is an interesting statistic, I think. It's like come more into the forefront now. Like, with everything with the current political climate, it's becoming more and more of a question, which is one of the reasons why I think that they chose to, like write this and do this study, or not study, it's not really a study. But it does say, you know, so like, so then it says that the Democratic socialists of America, apparently that is an organization that you can become a member of also known as the DSA, um, it has grown from 7000 members to 50,000, since 2016. So it's becoming more like, not dominant, but it's becoming more of like, a, a term socialism is becoming more of a term that is like in the ether, I would say, for Americans, specifically Americans. And I think that that's, that's really interesting, given like, you know, where we are in the world and that kind of thing.

32:56

So, one another statistics that I found was really interesting was do we have socialism in America today? This was one of the questions that Gallup asked Americans in the 1949 survey. And when 43% said, yes, now there's apparently there's little significant change. So now 38% of Americans would say that, yes, there is socialism in America today. And I think that that, that really stems from something that's like, really important to kind of discuss really quickly, is that we do have like elements of socialism in the United States like today, it's just not for everyone. We have socialism for like the super wealthy, but Doggy Dog capitalism for like everyone else. And I think that that's really interesting. Because it does address you know, and it does, you know, it does address this idea. Sorry, words, English is hard. I haven't had enough coffee. But I do think that's important to like, talk about because it it shows that, like, more and more Americans are beginning to realize that yes, in fact, we do actually, like in this country, we do have elements of socialism. It's just not for everybody. And so yeah, I think that that's important to acknowledge. And I think that that's, that, you know, that we do have elements of this, like we're already implementing sort of socialistic elements in today's society. It's just, it's not for everybody, not everybody has access to those kinds of things. In fact, it's like really, really, really difficult to get access to that stuff. Which if we lived in like a truly socialistic society, the idea would be that like it's not Is that difficult for everybody to be able to access all this stuff, it would just be like a little bit more evenly distributed. So that like everybody, you know, sort of got an equal share of like the pie, if you will, I guess, instead of where, like, you know, this very small portion of people have access to the socialism pie. And, but the vast majority of people do not. So this other article that I found, so we're just gonna kind of go through some of these, some of these articles, because I thought they were really interesting. So, in that, so this is a Psychology Today, article published in June, in June of 2021. So it's also pretty recent, like, as far as, you know, this stuff is concerned. And it also references the Gallup poll that I was just referencing to the one that was done in 2018. It just is a little bit more concise. And so I'm just going to read you this paragraph. But it talks about and the name of the article is why socialism is stigmatized in America, does socialism have have to be a bad word? And so, and one of the things that they talk about, is that, you know, there are many different forms of socialism, like it's all. You know, like, where it stems from, like, all that stuff, kind of like what we already talked about, but it does talk about how like, they refer to it as the S word will still invoke fear and distrust. It does so now because many Americans closely identify it with the failures of authoritarian Socialist Republics past and present. So and then it says, so since 1980, since the 1980s, this association has been reinforced by ikan I am so sorry, I am not good with names, neoliberal argument that economic planning, and let uncontrol lead ultimately, to oppression of fascism, which I would argue that that kind of you know, that's, that's more true for like, capitalism. Because I mean, like, something is going to happen, some, some sort of big change is gonna happen, it's just a matter of like, which direction that change is going to occur. And so, um, and I think like, especially in the current like climate with America, like we're seeing more and more leanings towards like a fascist Republic, or just fascism. I guess it's not really a republic. It's more of just fascism.

38:01

Oh, my goodness, so sorry. It's supposed to be getting better. It really is, I promise. But anyway, so it goes into and this is where it references that that Gallup Poll article. So according to a 2018 Gallup poll, only 37% of American adults had a positive view of socialism, a number that has roughly leveled since 2010. Other polls have produced similar results, a 2019 Axios survey found that only 39% of adults have a positive reaction to the word meaning socialism. And then a poll, a Pew Research Center survey at the same of in the same year, so of 2019 found that 42% have a very or somewhat positive impression of it. And a 2020 YouGov survey revealed that 31% have a favorable view of it, while also finding that 71% of Republicans and 18% of Democrats believe that Biden is a socialist, well, that's irrelevant. That's neither here nor there. I don't really care about that. But anyway, um, you know, just so so this is this is this is the most interesting part of the Psychology Today article I believe, um, where it says a separate Gallup poll in 2018. So not the one that I referenced this is a separate one um, there is a link to it in the Psychology Today article so if you want to know what that Gallup Poll like more accurately says, you can just click on that link and it will tell you but oh no I'm sorry. It just like a went away for a second. Here we go. Here we go. We're fine. We're fine. Fine. It's all fine. We're back up and running. Um, Sorry, quick side quest there. So this was a separate one is found that 23% of Americans define socialism as equality 17% as state control of the economy 10% as social welfare and public service, and 6% as, as talking to people being social social media getting along with people. So that just really tells me that like, only 6%, which is, which is not, that's not bad. 6% of people don't really understand what people mean when they say socialism. But that's, I mean, 23% of Americans define socialism as equality. That's really that's like a lot. I think, I think that's a that's a pretty good chunk of change. For like, for Americans, I'm actually kind of surprised at that, that that many people would sort of begin to understand the, you know, that those are? That that's kind of like the idea behind socialism. Yeah, so, now I kind of want to go into, like, what the differences between capitalism and socialism are, so just like some compare and contrast stuff. But first, let's go back to this corporate finance institute.com, because they have some advantages and disadvantages of socialism. And I would really like to know what y'all think about like about these advantages and disadvantages. So they say that there are two advantages to socialism, the absence of exploitation, which is, you know, I find that, you know, comforting, like, yeah, I don't want to exploit people, I don't want to exploit workers, I want everybody to be able to have what they need. And not really, you know, not have to want for, like, basic things. And I think that, that it's, you know, that it's really important that, you know, we don't exploit people, I think that we can all kind of agree that, like, exploitation is not, it's not good. Like, it's not, that's not something that like, we should all that we should strive for, as like a society, and the rejection of discrimination, which again, I'm, I'm completely for, like, let's not do that, either. That doesn't sound very, I don't know, like kind and loving, that sounds super corny, and super cheesy, but it's just the truth, like I just don't, like I'm on board with that, that makes like, that would make me really happy. So then it says servitude, disadvantages of socialism. And this is this Corporate Finance Institute article, this is just what they think the disadvantages of, or at least two of them are. So it's this dependence on cooperative pooling. So that just means that like, they're saying that, like, when you have to pull all the money, like specifically, like, I'm just going to talk about, like, you know, pull resources in the form of like, monies. You know, they're saying that as a disadvantage, because you are dependent on like, everybody, but I feel like that that's, you know, that's not in a vacuum, like in and of itself, like there is that that could also be considered an add an advantage as well, because you, you are pulling from everybody a little bit of a little bit from everybody. And then that makes the pile bigger, and then like, it sort of like relaxes and eases that burden off of people. And then it says lack of competitiveness and innovation, which I don't really think that that's necessarily true. I think that that's more of, like an argument towards capitalism, as far as like, you know, like, because capitalists believe that, like, you know, competition breeds innovation. And, to a certain extent, I'm not like, like, I'm not gonna say that that isn't true. I just think that like, you know, it doesn't have to be this heart. It just doesn't have to be this heart. And it doesn't have to be this complicated. Like we can, you know, create, you can have innovation and like advancements in technology and that sort of thing. Within a socialistic, like, country, it's just, you know, it might, it might take a little bit longer, which, to me, I'm not really opposed. Like, it doesn't really bother me, that stuff will take a little bit longer, just because I'm hoping that that would mean that it would be like more thorough, if that makes sense. Like I just I hope that that's sort of the idea and like that it would, that it would, you know, make, ease that burden a little bit and make make things more thorough, so that we can have like better research and better. You know, like a more firm ground on stuff where it's not just like, oh, this is like, amazing, this, this new thing is amazing. And then it like crashes or whatever, you know what I'm saying? Like, gosh, I hope that makes sense. I hope that makes sense. Um, so, yeah, so that's, that's that. That's, that's just what they say are some, you know, disadvantages and advantages of capitalism. Now, in this other article that I found, this actually has a chart. So it's called the difference between capitalism and socialism, it was published July 26, of 2018. It is from key differences.com. And it has a chart, which I really like because I like visuals. I like visual things. Because I am a visual learner to a certain extent. Um, and so we're just going to go over this chart and all walk you through it, don't worry, it's fine. So, um, so they say, okay, the meaning, okay, so this is the meaning. And this is like, these are not pros and cons. These are just differences between socialism and capitalism. So capitalism refers to the economic system prevalent in the country, where there is private or corporate ownership on the Trade and Industry. Okay. So, and then socialism is the economic structure in which the government has ownership and control over the economic activities of the country. Basis principle of individual rights and principle of equality. So the principle of equality is more in is is much more socialistic equality. It's just a very different value system. You know, it's a very different value system, and structured differently than like, what a capitalistic country would have. So, like, in a capitalistic country, capitalism is like, you know. Very, very, very individualistic. It's incredibly individualistic. I also, like a specifically like the American form of capitalism, super judgy. Like very, very judgmental. Eyes think. I think it's highly judgmental. I think it's very individualistic. I think that it it's all based around this idea that like, what you deserve and what you don't deserve, which kind of goes back to like the judgy thing.

48:05

And I, I didn't think we were supposed to be like judging people. I wasn't. I didn't think we were supposed to be doing that. Now. Don't get me wrong. It's like one of my favorite pastimes is to like, you know, Pedley very petty of me to like judge people, it's kind of a human, it's kind of like, built into human nature is like, judging, you know, but I don't think that like, on on, I think that like on this kind of scale, that's where you get like big problems. That's where it's like, we've taken it too far. Like it's, this is this is too much. This is too much judgment, like you know, what I'm saying Does that make sense? Whereas like, in a capitalistic, it's all about like, equality and fairness and like, you know, everybody gets a shot everybody like everybody's the same in the sense that like, we all deserve like basic things. And it doesn't matter like what your gifts and talents are, like you You still deserve to have you know basic things like internet or you know, a house like to live in like shelter and food and water and access to like an access to all of these things to where you know, you're not you know, basically trying to kill yourself just so that you can pay rent. We kind of went over that in the poverty episode. Because you know, it's it's bad out there guys. So means production, private, privately owned, in a capitalistic society socially owned in a in a socialistic in socialism. And so that just means that like Your utilities and social, like your energy and things like that would be like privately owned. Whereas like, in a socialist country, all that stuff is like, available to the public. And it's an because they, they believe that, like everybody, everybody needs this stuff. So that that means that we should all like have a piece. So that, you know, we have, so that everybody has what they need kind of a thing without having to like, you know, worry a bunch about it. So, and then prices are determined by market forces, which just get out of here with that, because that's where you get like the free market. And it's like, we don't truly live in a free market. So because again, we have what would be, you know, socialism for the rich, and Doggy Dog capitalism for everybody else. And so unless you put that, that goes back to that, like you deserve it, like if you if you have a set, because it's a different value system, because in like a capitalistic society, especially the one here in America, it's very much you know, your dollar amount, your value is directly correlated to how many dollars you have in your bank account. And if you have, you know, whatever this arbitrary number is, if you're, or if you're in like, a certain tax bracket, then yeah, you automatically get, like, all this extra stuff. And like, when because you deserve it, because you just because you have all this money. And my argument to that is, it's just like, but you didn't do that in a vacuum, like you didn't do it all by yourself, you had help you had people around you to, like, help you and like, give you that leg up and like, make sure that you, you know, how Don't you need it, and like were able to get where you needed to go. And like all this, like, it wasn't done in a vacuum, you had help. And in socialism, they say that like, okay, so they kind of, it's that value system of like, everybody's pitching in everybody in order for this thing to work, like everybody has to kind of pitch in and do their part. And it's more. So like, if I was gonna compare it to like sports, it would be like, socialism is like the team sport. Whereas like, capitalism is the like, individual sport, where like, so like swimming or something where it's like you, you know, you do it all by yourself. It's that it's just that thinking of like, you did it all by yourself where it's like, but that's not even true. Like, you definitely had help you had a coach you had in socialism, they would say, like, no, no, you had help. You had a coach, you had a parent, you had a guardian, you had somebody to, like, help you, like, get where you needed to go and do the things that you needed to get done. And those people count just as much as you do. Yes, you did the feet, you did the thing you swam, whatever. But like, it's just more about like, the team in socialism, it's all about, like, you know, we're a team, we're all in this together, we, you know, we win together, we lose together kind of a thing. Yeah. So and then, you know, and then it just goes, the rest of this chart is just kind of a little bit of like, whatever. It's just so just like, you know, efficiency, much less. It's like, kind of, I don't I don't know if that's necessarily true, that seems that seems just like now we're just talking about opposites. And I don't really see socialism as like the opposite of Capitalism, I see it as like the next step, like I was saying, so and then like profits, profits, and in a capitalistic society profits and wages are given as per one's ability and willingness to work, whereas profits in a socialistic society, profits are based based wages fairly as per the effort. So like, whatever your gifts, like your gifts and talents are just as important and like as meaningful as you know, somebody else's so and so like, everybody deserves to have kind of that equal, you know, like, you know, my gifts and talents are not any more important than like your gifts and talents, say. So. So, yeah, so those are just sort of like some key differences, some comparing and contrasting a little bit. I just kind of wanted to go over that a little bit with y'all. I thought it was kind of interesting. But I don't know, maybe, maybe I'll don't find it quite as interesting. But I find it kind of interesting. And I think what it really boils down to is it's just a totally different, like value system is that's really what the deal is with socialism is that it's just a totally different value system aid. And to be perfectly honest, I'm kind of a radical different value system, compared to like, what we have in a capitalistic society, which is probably one of the reasons why it's so scary to people, because it is so like, radically different, it's not that it's bad, or that it's wrong, it's just that it's so radically different, like the VA, because everything would have to change, like, it would just mean that like, everything would have to change, you know, like we would have to completely like gut, our value system and rework it and say, Okay, we're not, we're no longer going to value just, you know, these, this small group of people we're going to try and value everybody. Like it's, it's it is kind of a radical, like school of thought when you when you start comparing it to other forms, in the sense that like, especially when it's when you're comparing it to capitalism, because it is a very, very, very different way of thinking and way of like approaching life. And like I said, I don't think that necessarily means it's bad. I think that that just means that it's different. And that if we decide collectively that this is the, I don't want to say like, there's a better way, because it's not necessarily about having a better way, it's more about like, what do we want to value? What do we do we want to continue down this path of like, only valuing each individual person, it's dog eat dog, like everything is dog eat dog, cat, eat cat fish, eat and fish, like everything? Or? Or do we want us to take a step back and say, Whoa, wait a minute, you know, we could, we could make this work for everybody, like, in a, in a way that like, kind of works for everybody. Like, that's the idea, you know, is that, like, it's that group thing versus that individual. It's that, you know, we the people, as in, like, we as the whole body of people, versus like, I as an individual person, kind of a thing, I think, um, but yeah, I mean, to each their own, I just wanted to kind of go over that a little bit. I thought, like I said, I thought it was interesting. Um, so yeah.

57:59

I hope you guys enjoyed this. If so, thank you so much for listening. I really do appreciate it, you guys. I know that you have a lot of different choices when listening to podcasts. And I really, really, really do appreciate you guys listening. This is kind of I know, it's not like a super Christmasy episode. But like, or like holiday episode, excuse me, I don't mean to single anybody out or anything like that, or leave anyone out either. A holidays holiday episode. But I mean, I kind of wanted to just, you know, like, there is hope kind of a thing, like we could do this, we could, like this could this is totally doable, we could do this, we could, we could change our value system, it would take time, and it would be really scary. And it would be really, really, really uncomfortable. That doesn't mean that it's impossible, it just means that we haven't done it before. Which makes it which makes it change is scary. Humans don't like change. I've said it before. And I'll say it again. We don't like change, or bad change. We don't like anything. We like our little comfort zones. We're good with this. Because it's familiar, and it's quote unquote, normal, and you know, all of the things but we could we could change our value system to one that's like, you know, more conducive for everybody involved. And, you know, to include everybody, I mean, it's, it sounds very, like elementary, when I say it like that. Because that's kind of that's what you learn as a kid. You know, that's what you learn as, as a as a child, you know, and I don't know, I just think I just think that it. It would be interesting, so we'll find out. I do have very special announcement. that I wanted to share with you guys. It's sort of like my holiday announcement. And that is that our merch store is live, we have three designs that I designed. They're very simple, very, just very simple. I also tried really hard to make everything as cheap as possible so that like everybody could be able to afford it. So that I could, so that I could still like, make a little bit of money for the show. Because there are some things that like I would like to do for the show. So I would like to make a little bit of money, but I did try to make them as cheap as possible so that everybody would be able to like afford it. Hopefully, hopefully, but because of the lunch in honor of the launch, I also have a coupon code. It's it's be kind. Just be eki nd be kind for the for the merch store. It is called the pedaling Pixie, and the B kind code will give you free shipping. So yeah, that's that was the big announcement. I hope everybody likes it. I I'm I'm super anxious and excited about it. The designs, like I said, are very simple. But they're fun. I tried to make them a little bit funny and a little bit like, you know, for everyone, so yeah, let me know what you think I'm really excited about it. I'm very anxious about it too. Am I gonna say anxious, but it's fine. So be kind. Here's the coupon code, you get free shipping. And yeah, so I hope everybody has a good holiday. And I will see you all later. And as always be kind and Stay weird. Have a good one guys.