Well you did ask.
Why not just rename the thread āabolishing capitalismā?
Because itās about Rent Strike 2020. Itās about whatās happening today in the news.
To expound: the vast majority of those taking part in Rent Strike 2020 are not anti-capitalists. I canāt imagine that a majority of those helping organize Rent Strike 2020 are anti-capitalists. Simply put: Rent Strike 2020 is not an anti-capitalist movement.
It is, however, an anti-capitalist friendly movement. And thatās why youāll see Wobblies like @ Pocket_Chads & myself helping organize, and being a fan-boy of respectively, Rent Strike 2020.
Except when you dig into it the only solution that can really work based on your viewpoints is to abolish capitalism. So why not just cut to the chase?
If all the builders just start building seems to me we should see some improvements.
AKA abolish capitalism.
Well, who āownsā the land that they would build on? And how did they get that? If the builders could just start building the way they did when they got to Plymouth Rock, they might just do that. At this point if they try theyāll get shot by the police.
They could try seizing it, kind of like the pilgrims did. Or they could buy it like we do in our current system. Or we could rename the thread āabolish capitalismā and just cut to the chase like I mentioned above.
I beleive youāre missing the message that the author of that workers rebuilding the ruins quote was attempting to impart. At least in part because most likely he was a traditional anarchist. So, the subtext isnāt readily apparent, especially when read by eyes(mine included) that have been educated in a hyper-capitalist society.
Hereās what I beleive you are missing. Letās make a list of the workers needed to rebuild a city. This list will include one entry which the author most likely considered nonessential to the rebuild. See if you can pick it out.
City Rebuild Workers:
Lumberjack
Carpenter
Miner
Smelter
Iron worker
Framer
Architect
Engineer
Electrician
Plumber
Mason
Truck driver
Cook
King/Preist/Landlord/Nobility/Capitalists
Now, Iām confident you were able to identify the nonessential worker.
Next, bear in mind that the author was engaged in a war against those same nonessential people. These non essential people orchestrated a military coup against a democratically elected government, and then literally had the Nazis bomb their fellow country men and raze their villages. The first massive aerial bombing of civilian targets that humanity had ever seen, the bombing of Guernica.
His statement is a reminder to all of the actual workers on the list. It is a message of hope and solidarity.
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Yeah, but I donāt think capitalism should be abolished. Owning land is ridiculous though. No one had it originally. Thereās no legitimate way to have ever owned it to have sold it.
Across the street from me is a 200 unit condo development where on the average day there is about 50 workers working there. All earning union wages at about $80/hour. The building I live in cost at least $100 million in labour and materials. How was wealth sucked away from the workers that built it?
How is wealth being taken away from them when money is actually being deposited in their bank accounts?
I really donāt think you actually understand what you are talking about when you talk about ānatural and artificialā conditions
What youāre missing is the fact that itās pretty damn rare to find instances of all those people working together for the benefit of others and not the enrichment of themselves. But hey if we want to sit around jerking each other off with fantasies Iām ok with that.
I mean Iām just going to say again that I believe capitalism with controls is the best of a bunch of shitty systems. And our current system is pretty much below whale shit so Iām not trying to defend it. But Iām also not going to abide this pie in the sky fantasy nonsense either.
Slavery, indentured servitude, share cropping, job sales, and other forms of capitalism have come to be largely archaic in the US today. But the capitalists keep on keeping on destroying lives and the very world we all share. Even if the landlord system was added to that list of largely archaic capitalismā¦ the capitalists would still keep on keeping on destroying lives and the very world we all share.
Cliffs: If freeing ourselves from the capitalists is a war (it is), then freeing ourselves from the landlords is a battle in that war (it is). It would be just as stupid to name every single thread about any particular civil war battle on a history website all simply āthe civil warā.
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I gotta stop here and see a cite. I guess maybe some positions with overtime on holidays or something, but like a union carpenter used to work on jobs with me (not really allowed for him) and he made something like $15/hr on union work. (he made $21 with me)
Well there we go. Itās easy now we can just agree to disagree since Iām a certified capitalist and we wonāt see eye-to-eye on this particular issue. But it is possible we could share a beer and root for the sox.
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Hereās a list of people needed to build housing. One of the list is nonessential, and potentially sucking out wealth:
City Rebuild Workers:
Lumberjack
Carpenter
Miner
Smelter
Iron worker
Framer
Architect
Engineer
Electrician
Plumber
Mason
Truck driver
Cook
King/Preist/Landlord/Nobility/Capitalists
Read your entire list and pretty much all are essential.
The capitalist paid millions for the land I am sitting on top of.
The capitalist paid hundreds of thousands more to create plans (since architects donāt work for free)
The capitalist paid at least $100K to get the permits to build the property (someone has to pay for it, workers donāt)
The capitalist spent hundreds of thousands to create a sales office.
The capitalist had to sell 70% of the condos before the banks would lend money to start construction.
Pretty essential to me.
I sit inside a condo tower of 200 condos. How on earth a building like this ever gets built without the capitalist / landlordā¦ Actually impossible unless the government writes the check.
And oh by the way. I actually rent one of these condos. I donāt own it. I am very happy with the what I am getting in terms of housing and the rent I pay. My landlord bought this condo a few years ago at quite a high price. Between taxes, mortgage and condo fees heās close to breaking even expense wise. I feel so exploited.
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Part of what happens when we grow up and are raised in USA#1(Iām assuming youāre American), is that we are inculcated into pro capitalist thought, similar to being raised religious or ultra nationalist. It can become part of our id.
So, we are prone to take criticism of Capitalism personally, because we identify with it. Resulting in a fight or flight response.
Back when I was a capitalist stan, my fight response was far worse than yours.
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Similar to what PocketChads said.
The Capitalist and the Landlord have convinced you that they are necessary participants housing people. When in fact they are unnecessary middleman.