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warren_stupidity t1_jeb4hlp wrote

Reply to comment by raider_1001 in Could Life extension help with demographic collapse? by samwell_4548

The solution is to redirect a portion of ruling class wealth back to workers by increasing their wages and not increasing prices, eliminating (in the us) tax caps on wages, adding a wealth tax, increasing immigration, moving Medicare into a comprehensive universal healthcare system with its own funding, etc, not stealing more years from working people.

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Chaiyns t1_jebb3et wrote

Redistribution of wealth is looooong overdue, the banks and wealthy have chosen class war over civil reconstruction and shit's going to get a lot uglier before it gets better because of it.

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Mudgeon t1_jebniv8 wrote

Redistribution of wealth and governmental restructuring have almost always come as a result of violent revolution. I worry a lot about what a true revolution would mean for the US with the destructive capabilities of modern weapons.

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Chaiyns t1_jebqhi4 wrote

Historically yes, but that doesn't make it a requirement for the future, there's really no need for the greed and violence but here we are.

Aren't most of the big time destructive weapons down south (I'm Canadian) kept pretty much under federal lock and key to prevent that sort of thing?

I understand a great many people own small arms but do you think revolution down there would actually get to being much bigger than that destructive?

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Mudgeon t1_jebt9i8 wrote

Even our small arms are much more destructive than the last time there was a true revolution in a first world country. Fairly common assault rifles have been used to kill hundreds of people in the US.

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loose_translation t1_jebs079 wrote

I don't see a world where this happens in the US. The divide between right and left is so extreme that they will never unite to fight the rich.

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YakComplete3569 t1_jeftulq wrote

Gun control. Paramilitary police forces. Drones. Thermal. Organizations that watch and track everybody and flag certain individuals. Chances of a revolution in the United States is pretty slim to none. All those AR-15s and shit are just popguns when armored police come through your walls. Or a national guard tank. Yea there are a lot of capable modern weapons but who has them? People are joking about T-55's but it is still a tank and if your squad doesn't have an anti-tank weapon then you still are at a disadvantage. There is a country recently that had about 2 million students protest. Just a protest. Almost all of them have disappeared. So those who think they are going to start a revolution in today's information age, you will be squashed before you are big enough to make an impact. In almost any country.

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rdoolan3 t1_jeb7s1k wrote

Isn't increasing immigration parasitic on the donor countries though that experience a brain drain? Like the argument I hear is oh we can get doctors from India and other places, but those countries need their medical staff too. I'm pro immigrant like if people need to move that's their choice I just don't think of it as a solution to some of the world's problems

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thenamelessone7 t1_jebdxsj wrote

When have you ever seen the US trying to solve world problems? The country always does things purely in its self interest

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FishDecent5753 t1_jee7uc0 wrote

Like every nation does, like every nation should - obviously US interests have the most power backing behind them, so we're are more likley to see those interests come to fruition.

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warren_stupidity t1_jec2o3n wrote

Yes, and I hesitated about including immigration for those reasons. On the other hand I’m also an open border advocate. In a global economic system people have to be free to migrate as they choose.

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InsuranceMan45 t1_jebb42l wrote

The ruling class won’t give up wealth. They don’t pay taxes now, trying to take more will just make them leave or offshore. Increasing wages also means spending more, which increases prices by default. Tax cap elimination will just make people mad. Wealth taxes will make people move money offshore now (look at current millionaires and billionaires). Enforcing it would make them leave. Increasing immigration just kicks the problem down the road to when other countries stop having extra people to give. Immigration also comes with a slew of economic problems, such as keeping wages low and pressure on services. Given that most developed countries are in a demographic crunch now anyway, immigration would be an unacceptable net loss for most countries now anyway, especially if AI develops to take on lower/tier and even higher-tier jobs. A better healthcare system would only make more retirees, stressing the already Ponzi-like nature of social security and other pension systems. Taking more years from the working people isn’t optimal, but it’s one of the few options some countries have unless they want to destroy their pension systems.

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warren_stupidity t1_jec248h wrote

Oh I get that they won’t do that without a fight, but I am really tired of people just claiming that it is effectively a fact of nature that the only solution is to steal more time from working people.

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InsuranceMan45 t1_jecxvgw wrote

Yeah I’m sick of working people getting screwed. Middle class get screwed over too if you aren’t including them. The poor get enslaved in prisons and the military, the middle class pays for it all. The ivory castle pricks get away with it. They built a land of laws that screws us and benefits them. The system is cornered and falling apart after 80 years of exploitation and recklessness.

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