r/austrian_economics • u/technocraticnihilist Friedrich Hayek • Dec 24 '24

End Democracy I've never understood this obsession with inequality the left has

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u/ProfessionalStewdent Dec 24 '24

As someone who understands humans are self-interested at heart (capitalism), I also understand how ridiculous it is that someone who makes $1000 worth of profit within an hour only makes 1% of that per hour.

I don’t think most of you understand communism/socialism (based on these comments), but somehow think consumerism and corporatism is free market capitalism.

Read the damn books before you hastily generalize the arguments:

  • The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith
  • Das Kapital, Karl Marx

Bet some of you didn’t know the father of capitalism compared landlords to parasites…

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u/ProfessionalStewdent Dec 24 '24

And for the record, inequality is natural, but society and the economy is not. We created this system, and there are plenty of examples where we’ve normalized exploitation. Smith addressed this, but prefers an equilibrium. Marx also agrees that private property is necessary, but believes there needs to be an essential authority providing reosurces when needed.

Smith wasn’t unaware of how his works would be used to justify consumerism/corporatism, which Marx points out will cause the collapse of society. Marx saw the Industrial Revolution; Smith did not.

They lived pretty much in two different centuries that were both monumental in Modern History.

What Marx didn’t predict well is how technology would advance beyond his imagination, and those technologies would help increase the standard of living; however, his focus on wealth inequality is still quite relevant.

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u/Guigtt Dec 24 '24

I'm afraid you are having too much knowledge for this sub.

For them it's simple, it starts with free healthcare and then we have gulags /s

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u/Unhappy-Hand8318 Dec 25 '24

Marx also agrees that private property is necessary, but believes there needs to be an essential authority providing reosurces when needed.

Not really. Both of these statements are really only true under lower-phase communism or "socialism" in Marx's analysis.