Karl Marx wrote the communist manifesto 7 years before the creation of Limited Liability Companies.
Before then, if you wanted to set up a business you have to be seriously rich because anything the business did could impact your entire net worth. If your business got sued, you could lose your entire estate. Only the very rich had businesses and they ran their businesses like every decision could be financially catastrophic.
Then in 1855, the Limited Liabilities Companies Act was passed into British Law and the game changed.
Suddenly anyone could set up a business, raise investment and trade. There was separation between ownership and control.
This wasn’t lost on Karl Marx either. He wrote good things about this change. He was even a company director at one point.
Essentially, it means that under capitalism you can be a socialist if you want to.
A socialist can set up a company, give shares to all the workers, put workers on the board, pay executives the same as everyone else and if there’s any profit remaining they can freely donate it to the government.
There is absolutely nothing stopping any socialist from living according to these values under a capitalist system.
Nvidia is the most valuable company in the world and most of the employees own shares. Many are millionaires. In the UK, John Lewis and Waitrose are owned by their workers and are much loved successful businesses. Capitalism has no problem with workers owning the means of production.
Under capitalism, anyone with an idea can set up a company, pitch to investors and launch it. Starting with nothing, they can be a millionaire (on paper) within a month.
Socialists can lead by example; the fact that they almost never do this tells you a lot about socialists and human nature.
The same is not true under socialism. It is not possible for a capitalist to live according to their values. Under socialism, if I believe in small government, self-sufficiency, low regulations I must leave the country - if it’s even possible to do so. It’s not enough for a socialist to live their values, they need everyone to do it too.
If you're going to have an argument about Ukraine on here or on TV please read this ISW factsheet first.
- Zelensky does not imminently risk losing all of Ukraine. At the current rate of advance, it would take Russian forces over 83 years to capture the whole of Ukraine.
- Ukraine has not suffered millions of losses. US officials have placed the number of Ukrainian military losses between 60,000 and 70,000, but no reputable source places casualty estimates in the millions. The UN confirmed that Russia had killed over 12,000 Ukrainian civilians.
- Europe provides about as much direct aid to Ukraine as the United States. Europe has provided and pledged approximately $204.1 billion in all, which is actually slightly more than the US.
- Ukraine did not misuse or lose half of the aid the United States has provided. The majority of the funds the United States has allocated for Ukraine stays in the United States to fund domestic defense industrial base and replenish US stockpiles.
https://t.co/g66tjfbAnA
Hello, I don't have many words left. Today is Christmas Eve, and I would deeply appreciate it if you could watch the video, repost, and make a small donation as a Christmas present to help a logistics and engineering unit from the 92nd Brigade.
They are responsible for delivering ammunition, provisions, and construction materials to the assault battalions, artillery, and tanks. It's grueling, back-breaking work that they currently do manually because they lack a forklift. Someone donated an old, standard-issue forklift, but it keeps breaking down due to the rough terrain, leaving them back to loading and unloading everything by hand.
We can make a difference. In fact, we've already purchased a rough-terrain forklift, but the funds were diverted from another project to meet this urgent need. Now, I must ask for your support to replenish the funds so we can wrap up this effort without cutting into other essential projects.
Consider this donation a small gift to the hardworking men and women of the 92nd Brigade.
Please watch the video and listen to the officer explain why this is so important.
We are 50% away from reaching our goal.
Donation link: https://t.co/DtgOh7Euqu
Why are people surprised that the Russian economy can't take the strain of the war?
In 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War, the US spent about 25% of the federal budget and 2.5% GDP on the war. Russia is now spending about 40% of its budget and 8% of GDP on the war.
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Two years into WWII Nazi Germany occupied 33% of Europe. The situation was bleak but we mobilized to defeat that evil.
Today Russia holds <20% of Ukraine & has an economy the size of Texas. Not defeating this evil would be a glaring failure of leadership.
https://t.co/6GkYGy9vYm
This is the size of Ukraine compared to the US. Imagine an air raid siren going off from New Jersey to Missouri, from Michigan to North Carolina. A Ukrainian territory of the same size is currently under a missile attack from Russia. And the same goes on every week.
Europe had a security architecture with Russia which was supposed to guarantee inviolability of borders, sovereignty and territorial integrity. The UN Charter, Helsinki Accords, Budapest Memorandum, Istanbul commitments, to name but a few of the agreements. 🧵
‼️Very telling interview with a Russian collaborator and a faux governor of Zaporizhzhia Oblast Yevgeny Balitsky about what was happening to Ukrainians who opposed Russian occupation at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Not only does Balitsky openly admit to forced deportations (which are war crimes) but he also hints at executions of the pro-Ukrainian residents of Melitopol.
It’d be interesting to know how his new masters feel about Balitsky allowing people he knew to ‘escape’.
FYI: When Balitsky talks about not being a Tolstoy follower he's referring to the Tolstoyan movement that is comprised of Christian pacifists.
#RussiaUkraineWar #Russia #Ukraine #WarCrimes
If you want to genuinely disrupt higher education for the better, impose severe limits on the number of mandatory GenEd classes that students must take. These courses are the lifeblood of hyper-politicized woke departments that otherwise wouldn't attract many students. 1/
The worst part of this is that all these people actually know very well that most of the U.S.-allocated funds to help Ukraine repel the biggest European war of invasion since WWII actually stay in the U.S. as government contacts for American enterprises that provide American jobs, American salaries, and American taxes.
This, of course, includes J.D. Vance's state of Ohio, particularly the city of Lima, where American workers prepare armored vehicles for Ukraine as part of a government contract.
Moreover, these people know very well that throughout almost two years of the full-scale war in Ukraine, neither U.S. and European officials, or NATO, nor the media have not established any hard facts of Ukraine misusing or smuggling foreign military aid.
But hey, why not cynically hold your own voters for fools and spit at the lives of millions of people for your own petty politics?
"The most powerful and personal chronicle of the war to date, I Will Show You How It Was is an exceptional literary achievement, chronicling a stunning feat of resistance and a courageous people set on a miraculous victory."
Coming on May 7, 2024.
https://t.co/qJz4lAKyQG
We need $2 million to run Kyiv School of Economics next year. A donor will match up to $1 million, and we've already got $477K. Please help us raise what's left
But is education even a priority during a war? Here are student stories for you to decide
https://t.co/n810HBc4V6 1/
‼️Former senior Russian GRU officer, & ex Officer in Russian mercenary groups has fled to the Netherlands with the intention of testifying about Russian war crimes in Ukraine before the ICC. Salikov is not seeking immunity & is prepared to accept responsibility for his role.
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The UIC Finance Department is holding our First Finance Conference: May 17-18, 2024!
@ProfStefanNagel will deliver the keynote address, and we look forward to great papers & discussants!
Submit your paper here https://t.co/AsVGDWL3eo by December 15 -- all Finance areas welcome!
Since @nytimes made my eyes bleed again, I want to remind the western allies and 🇺🇦 supporters:
russian liberals are not the solution. They are not Ukraine’s allies. They will ever lead russians against Putin, nor they will ever address 🇷🇺 imperialism. Let me explain 1/
"The shift in population is happening so fast that, if the city is not liberated, 80% of its population will be Russian within five years, he added." @elina_beketova#BehindTheLines https://t.co/cycenKTftn
The problem is is not reforms which Ukraine should make...it's about reforms that some of our Leaders should make. Where is the bold, clear strategic thinking that created the post WWII international order? Don't ask Ukraine for strategic patience...we need strategic bravery.