this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2023
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Showerthoughts

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Capitalism is nothing but a giant pyramid scheme. (infosec.pub)
submitted 1 year ago by its_a_mit@infosec.pub to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
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[–] nomadjoanne@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

A hexagon!

They're zero sum because money is being exchanged, but the person losing money isn't getting anything in return for the exchange. Someone is just stealing from someone else (one person loses, anotber gains). No matter how many people are added to the scheme the mechanics remain the same.

An economy, be it a capitalist or communist one, involves the exchange of money but in exchange for goods and services. Both parties of the transaction gain from it.

Now, it could be argued that the wrong people gain the most from capitalism. That's another argument. But the system isn't zero sum, the way a ponzi scheme or a pyramid scheme is.

[–] nomadjoanne@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

To all your guys huffing and puffing, I'm not passing moral judgment (here) about communism or capitalism. I'm just saying that any economic system involving trade is not zero sum the way a Ponzi-scheme is.

[–] hark@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Except people are getting fewer goods and services while paying more money. For some, they're already at starvation wages even when working full-time and they have to dip deeply into credit just to survive.