Fascists love Star Wars. Even though the whole point of Star Wars is that fascists suck, and that the universe would be better without them.
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Natasha Nox πΊπ¦π΅πΈreplied to fanf42 last edited by
@fanf42 @omegaprobe @brunogirin @michael_w_busch @mekkaokereke That's a pretty good question. I personally like to think I would convert my company to a cooperative if I ever was successful (unfortunately I'm stuck in german welfare, would I move even an inch I'd be in huge trouble). Of course that's really idealistic.
I guess it's a lot of small things. Not isolating yourself from common people, using public transport, transparent wages for you and your employees everyone can see⦠such things.
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@fanf42 @Natanox @brunogirin @michael_w_busch @mekkaokereke I don't think this applies to small companies, where you actually see the face of your employees and co-workers on a day to day basis, and they can stop you and talk to you like a normal person.
There has to be certain level of disassociation for the sociopathic impulses to take over.
Check this: https://forum.mongoosepublishing.com/threads/state-of-the-mongoose-2022.123719/
That's a healthily sized company, being run in a healthy way.
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mekka okereke :verified:replied to Omega last edited by
@omegaprobe @fanf42 @Natanox @brunogirin @michael_w_busch
Nah. Small companies are worse.
Most Jan 6 participants, were small business owners.
You don't see large corporation CEOs flying to Jan 6 to act out*.
And money and power don't corrupt. That's an excuse that people use to excuse sociopathic behavior. Mackenzie Scott hasn't suddenly become a sociopath. We have evidence of "self-made" billionaire sociopaths being sociopaths before they were billionaires.
(*Other than my pillow guy).
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Natasha Nox πΊπ¦π΅πΈreplied to mekka okereke :verified: last edited by [email protected]
@mekkaokereke @omegaprobe @fanf42 @brunogirin @michael_w_busch I agree, there ain't necessarily a connection between company size and character / sociopathy.
I think it's more a systemic issue of the system itself. People without a moral compass or ethical character can and will do unfathomable acts of selfishness which are potentially rewarded with huge financially success while others look for more sane but less "successful routes".
And of course then there's systemic institutional racism.
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Omegareplied to Natasha Nox πΊπ¦π΅πΈ last edited by
@Natanox @mekkaokereke @fanf42 @brunogirin @michael_w_busch
"there ain't necessarily a connection between company size and character / sociopathy."
But there is. It's not a 1 to 1 connection, it's a very marked correlation.
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Natasha Nox πΊπ¦π΅πΈreplied to Omega last edited by [email protected]
@omegaprobe @mekkaokereke @fanf42 @brunogirin @michael_w_busch Please provide evidence for the correlation and not just that billionaires are way louder and more annoying given their reach.
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Omegareplied to Natasha Nox πΊπ¦π΅πΈ last edited by
@Natanox @mekkaokereke @fanf42 @brunogirin @michael_w_busch Please, read back, you're misrepresenting what I wrote.
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Natasha Nox πΊπ¦π΅πΈreplied to Omega last edited by
@omegaprobe @mekkaokereke @fanf42 @brunogirin @michael_w_busch My bad, fixed.
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Omegareplied to Natasha Nox πΊπ¦π΅πΈ last edited by
@Natanox @mekkaokereke @fanf42 @brunogirin @michael_w_busch I'll challenge you to find a single S&P 500 company that doesn't engage in sketchy practices like monopoly practices, and/or disregard public health and the environment.
Now, look around your neighborhood, and, if there are any left, how many of small local businesses would you say are engaging in those kinds of practices.
Size creates both power over, and distance from regular folks. The perfect ecosystem to breed sociopathy.
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mekka okereke :verified:replied to Omega last edited by
@omegaprobe @Natanox @fanf42 @brunogirin @michael_w_busch
1) Small businesses do more wage theft than big businesses. Wage theft disproportionately affects Black people.
2) Small businesses are more likely to have explicitly racist policies than big businesses. I've experienced more racism from small businesses than big businesses.
3) Almost all organized crime, is small business owners. Seriously, all of it. Like, every mafia. Extortion. Kidnapping. Arson. Murder.
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mekka okereke :verified:replied to mekka okereke :verified: last edited by
@omegaprobe @Natanox @fanf42 @brunogirin @michael_w_busch
This isn't some big business bootlicking. I'm not defending megacorps. I'm just popping the fantasy balloon of "small business means good."
Good means good. Bad means bad. There are terrible people everywhere.
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Omegareplied to mekka okereke :verified: last edited by
@mekkaokereke @Natanox @fanf42 @brunogirin @michael_w_busch I haven't said that being a small business owner makes you immediately good. I've said, and I maintain, that the kind of power that comes with owning a small business is not the kind of power that will corrupt you to your core.
And while small businesses can definitely cause a lot of localized damage, the kind of planetary scale destruction big businesses engage and protect on a regular basis is simply beyond their reach.
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mekka okereke :verified:replied to Omega last edited by
@omegaprobe @Natanox @fanf42 @brunogirin @michael_w_busch
1) Yes, the kind of power of owning a small business gives you, can corrupt you to the core. Do you know anyone that has ever owned a strip club? Owned a restaurant? Do you know anyone that's ever worked as a dancer, or in food service? Do you know anyone that's ever had their wages stolen?
2) 100 restaurants serving 1000 diners a day, is 100,000 diners a day. 1 mega chain serving 100,000 a day, often does *less* environmental impact
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mekka okereke :verified:replied to mekka okereke :verified: last edited by
@omegaprobe @Natanox @fanf42 @brunogirin @michael_w_busch
And in terms of environmental destruction, I don't think you're hearing me that most organized crime is owned by small business owners. One of the most profitable rackets, is environmental destruction. Eg:
1) Take contract to safely dispose of something. Then just dump it.
2) Forge documents saying that something that was not produced sustainably, totally was produced sustainably.
3) Recycle. Leave heavy metal everywhere.
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Omegareplied to mekka okereke :verified: last edited by
@mekkaokereke @Natanox @fanf42 @brunogirin @michael_w_busch Again, organized crime. When big recycling corporations send the 80% of all the crap that's not recycled to Indonesia, they're not committing any crimes, are they?
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Natasha Nox πΊπ¦π΅πΈreplied to Omega last edited by
@omegaprobe @mekkaokereke @fanf42 @brunogirin @michael_w_busch Small interjection: Can we agree that it's a systemic issue (i.e. capitalism)? As smallest common denominator?
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Omegareplied to Natasha Nox πΊπ¦π΅πΈ last edited by
@Natanox @mekkaokereke @fanf42 @brunogirin @michael_w_busch I do agree, these are systemic issues, but systems are made of people. So if you ask the question (and I do) "how do we create systems of governance and economies that don't unavoidably lead to corruption", it's fundamental to understand how people get corrupted.
For that, you need to look beyond the situation in the US, and find commonalities with other countries with different idiosyncrasies. Because none of this is unique to the US.
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Natasha Nox πΊπ¦π΅πΈreplied to Omega last edited by
@omegaprobe @mekkaokereke @fanf42 @brunogirin @michael_w_busch Not just "how", but also "why". I'm convinced most corruption, especially with "common people" who ain't super rich, takes place due to a mix of existential fear and necessity (next to things like lack of education, opportunities or just bad luck in life). Our performative culture and focus on money (more money = more success) reinforces this.
The reasons for unethical behaviour are quite different for the two groups we talk about.
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Natasha Nox πΊπ¦π΅πΈreplied to Natasha Nox πΊπ¦π΅πΈ last edited by
@omegaprobe @mekkaokereke @fanf42 @brunogirin @michael_w_busch tl;dr
Universal Basic Income would be a good thing. there's zero evidence to believe we'd become complacent (on the contrary, people became more productive in every study). Also obviously universal healthcare.Eliminating existential fear and providing any basic service (incl. education) while upholding liberal values is the best cure for society-wide unethical / illegal behaviour. That's my point of view on this whole thing.