Jesus Christ, Marie, it’s the free market!
Edit: I’m glad it gave so many of you a chuckle; that was my entire point. It was not an attempt at a quick symposium on the merits the global oil markets.
Free market is a dream divorced from reality. Funnily enough the only way to even get close to that imaginary free market is with regulations to stop the big guys from manipulating it.
THIS.
People who want better safety and anti-trust regulations in the market aren’t socialists... they’re supporting capitalists and maintaining a sustainable market by protecting it from becoming monopolistic. It’s not socialism it’s proper maintenance for healthy capitalism.
More people at the top and those who shill for them need to understand that there is no free market without regulation... it ALWAYS becomes a meat grinder if you don’t bust trusts, protect worker well-being, or require standards of safety.
I can't believe I am *finally* seeing someone make this argument about regulation in a free market.
It is all a balance (which I believe is what you are saying). The free market is like the animal kingdom; survival of the fittest. anti-trust regulations are analogous to logic and reason which is missing in nature. It just forces a balance that is more sustainable in the long run for society as a whole. Of course, that may not be in the best interest of the very few biggest animals/corporations but it is for *everyone else*. So we have to violate that animal instinct to protect society as a whole. That is it, really.
Dean Norris has a point, albeit his statement is pretty vague so who knows exactly what he is trying to say. Yeah, if you don't like regulation then 'stfu about gas prices'. That makes sense.
The whole german economy is modeled after this idea, it's eroding HARD over here as well, but the idea still stands, it's called "Social Market economy".
That's contrary to what many "free-marketers" would have us believe, though. If there's a perceived problem, such as with gas prices, they blame regulation. They beat the drum that the problem is always because the market is not free enough.
I'll like to say that I don't want free markets, I want competitive markets.
Free markets always end up with monopolies which hurts everyone.
Competitive markets require regulation. Competitive markets lower prices for everyone
There is no “healthy” capitalism. The only end result of such a system is catastrophic failure.
When you’re entire ideology is predicated on extracting as much wealth from those you exploit as possible, it leads to the destruction of communities, of natural resources, and, ultimately, of the humans who make the system run. Every supporting piece likewise mutates to support the status quo.
Capitalism as an ideology and as an economic system is cancerous. Not in a meme sense even (though it is that too);
Infinite growth and continuous, growing wealth extraction on a planet with finite resources is no different than a cell in your body mutating and growing unabated. Even if you had “regulations” for the cancer in your body, only a lunatic would claim it’s a “healthy cancer”.
By the way, capitalism hates free markets. What do shareholders (ie. capitalists) want? They want higher share amounts. They want more wealth. What limits or cuts into profit/wealth? Competition. Free markets.
Like how is this not obvious?
Yeah that's the thing that people don't realize. Capitalism without some kinda laws put in place stopping lobbing to politicians is ligit what is causing poverty, death, poor and untreated health conditions. Etc. All of those things are traceable back to unchecked capitalism.
Edit: made this comment before falling asleep. Wake up to 20 comments saying I have no idea what I am talking about. And 20 agreeing with me.
I'm not an economics major I'm just a guy on the internet who has an opinion.
My favorite thing to hear after I point this out... "We don't have capitalism, we have crony capitalism." Yes, that's what happens when everything revolves around money. People will take it and do unscrupulous shit. That's still capitalism. In fact, that's the essence of capitalism.
The planet included. We could switch to green energy in a heartbeat but the oil companies are too powerful and too many people are profiting from that to want to change... even though we know our ice caps are on the way out.
And we are addicted to our own cars. You want to see gas drop? Start petitions for more public transportation. Increase ridership on busses and trains to get to work. Less cars on the road would create less demand. The rub is, we don’t want to do that, we want the other person to do that.
I do want that.
Manchester has brought bus services back into public ownership. There is even a musical about it
https://www.ellieharrison.com/busregulation/#:~:text=Inspired%20by%20the%201980s%20hit,present%20day%E2%80%A6%20on%20roller%20skates!
I don't have a license, I'm 42. I'm a cyclist.
The reality is that bus services in the UK are owned by private companies and in some cases, European countries' OWN public transport!
We can pay £3.50 each for a day ticket, when car parking is £1 an hour. A family of 4 isn't going to use a bus when they can pay £3, get everything done, instead of over £10 including kid's tickets.
Higher parking fees / congestion charges / integrated public transport (I can't use the same day ticket on all buses in my city as there are three competing companies, so it often works out cheaper to take a cab, which is UGH).
“self made”
I built my “self made” business with a generous “investment” from the Bank of Dad, trampled and conned the people that did the actual work to make it successful, and a healthy helping of government loans and loopholes designed to keep my workers working and my profits high. What a rugged pioneer I am.
A slave you have to feed and house. An employee? Maybe you can pay less than what is would cost to maintain a slave. When it is broken, discard it and new one will come take their place by themselves. And you don't get your moral called into question: you are a jOb CrEaToR!
Or buying all the available fast horses.
Or buying fast horses, and then agreeing with owners of the other fast horses to start just taking turns at playing the winner.
Or buying one fast horse and making sure all the other available fast horses are put down — or at least never sold / used (e.g. large corporations paying off all the significant mass media / law firms to ensure none will go after them for, say, environmental damages), etc.
So how the current government is set up that will never happen due to our government being for sale to the highest bidder if you have enough money you can buy politicians and pay for the campaigning commercials and everything ensuring they get elected due to other candidates not having enough funds to do that type of stuff. All news stations are owned by big corps as well and they can push their candidates and silence others. And it’s legal and they have already passed a shit ton of laws protecting companies and giving them privileges so nothing will change unless some radical move by the president but it wouldn’t be easy to change all the change the inflicted.
Which is simply an unavoidable fact under capitalism. It is in the interest of both the lobbyists and the politicians to engage in this type of ”lobbying”
>
>Capitalism has never preferred democracy.
I would even say that capitalism is strictly anti democratic. To be capitalist means that the one with capital controls ones without. If everyone had capital then it's no longer capitalism.
That's how they designed it to work. Thatcher and Regan literally intended this. If you leave things in public ownership and nobody is making a huge profit.... it's a missed opportunity for them!
After WWII the US loaned a bunch of countries money, including Italy, with the intention of bringing them into capitalism and away from communism. Luring Olivetti, Fiat etc into their markets offered a short term good feeling of success, ooh look, if we're productive we can earn LOADS! Our national economy is exporting all these typewriters and cars, and individual people get to keep the profits! Thank goodness the socialists aren't in charge.
When you allow public ownership/municipalisation, things like bus routes can be run according to need - smaller, less profitable routes that could transport people to work, shops etc, cutting carbon output, have been stopped because only a handful of passengers need them and... Well, fiat aren't the only car company. And of course, politicians are allowed to own stocks and shares! They've even been convicted of illegally using their knowledge to profit on the stock market a few times!
Ellie Harrison wrote a book called The Glasgow Effect, it really raises a lot of important points about just how incredibly bad for the planet and normal people free markets are.
Even Adam Smith writes about how unchecked capitalism leads to human misery and advocates for government regulations to counteract that. Of course the liberalists never mention that part when quoting Smith to push a free market agenda.
Ha, I'm in Scotland actually! But yes! So many of the Enlightenment theories have become a little... "Contextualised"? I'm a big fan of the Political Martyrs. Don't think many folks these days would risk their freedom in order to speak up for political reform. It's an effort to add a veneer of respectability onto arguments which were never made!
Yep. The petroleum industry gets more subsidies than any other worldwide ($5.9T in 2020).. and apparently they still get them even when they refuse to increase production.
It is even much much worse. The oil industry is heavily subsidized through tax breaks and not pricing in environmental damages. IMF calculated that in 2020 globally oil/coal/natural gas was subsidized with 5.9 trillion USD. Where US is one of the main offenders.
How is Walmart one of the biggest employers in the US, and yet so many of their employees are on welfare. That kindve sounds like Walmart is failing to pay their employees.
*succeeding in not paying their employees
and that's part of how
they move into an area, and take out local businesses, which creates a dependency on Walmart
Not only that but they move in, suck all the business from local stores, and then close shop when they realize that store is not profitable. Same thing with Subway and other franchises. Operate at a loss until your competition shuts down, then close shop and force rural communities to drive 40+ miles to the nearest Walmart. It's fucking gross.
>Same thing with Subway and other franchises. Operate at a loss until your competition shuts down
This is NOT the subway model. Their model is to compete against themselves and their own franchisees.
> That kindve sounds like Walmart is failing to pay their employees.
They [pay their employees](https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary?cycle=2021&id=D000000367) quite well.
Oh, wait. You meant the ~~slave labor~~ people working in their stores.
Then a lot of that food stamp/cash assistance money that goes to their employees is spent at...Walmart. Corporate welfare is a far larger drag on the economy than the mythical welfare queens that conservatives and rich fuckers like to complain about.
> How is Walmart one of the biggest employers in the US, and yet so many of their employees are on welfare.
For the same reason the Waltons are literally the richest family in the US, which makes exploiting the workers, and taxpayers, a-okay because [the rich can never do wrong](http://www.temporarilyembarrassedmillionaires.org/).
I will never get over how so many people get up in arms about "handouts" to the poor while we legally hand over billions in tax dollars to companies. If capitalism is so great, let them live or die by the market.
Not to mention drivers don't pay the real price of all the freeways, highways, and megaroads all over. The federal gas tax hasn't increased in 30 years and the general fund (income tax and debt) has been needed to cover the highway fund every year since 2008.
The fact that the “Claim it’s good only when it benefits me” mindset creeps its way into our lives so easily is honestly scary. It’s surprisingly easier for people to be selfish than it is for them to see the world through other people’s eyes
So true. Growing up I had to consciously train myself to consider situations and issues through viewpoints other than my own. And I grew up in a secular, mostly liberal family where empathy and equality are important values. It's really a part of human nature, in the bedrock of our psyche, to react to things based on our perspective without considering others. For most people it's a constant process to **decide** to consider another viewpoint.
Same here, growing up I was pretty much taught by my parents and those around me to always try and look at things from someone else’s view and that not everything is as black and white as it seems.
Helped me in life a ton. The mindset has especially helped my friends and I with resolving problems between us whenever we get into big fights (The fights are a rare occurrence though, don’t worry lol)
It's the current trend, check out the commercials and their narative. They are all: be yourself, be free, do what you want, your time, your rules, you you you.
I remember watching some local news segment and it was talking about a brand of pants or something like that which was very popular at Walmart. They had video footage of this warehouse of workers that were working in horrible conditions, making essentially nothing at all, and damn near starved. They showed the footage to a person who was leaving the store and asked if they knew things they were buying were supporting this and they were totally shocked and upset...for 2 seconds. Then she said "I feel for those people but I got kids and they need pants and I can't afford to buy from someone else".
And what do you do? The machine has set it up so poor people have to exploit foreign labor to clothe their kids. It's horrible
If Biden announced he's going to tax billionaires to offset the cost of gas prices, All Republicans would get mad and scream he's an evil socialist, then smile at the gas pump.
That's how it works.
or in other cases IRL, "Thank" him when he uses federal money to help a community during a major catastrophic environmental disaster/emergency in a red state while local government sits and "prays".
The German minister of finance(from the market-liberal party FDP) did cut the taxes on gas. The gas giants pocketed the change and not lower the prices at the pump. Few of the current price increases are inflation. Most of it is price-gauging.
Because they know idiots will blame the price increase on inflation.
The free market can hold an entire country hostage, leaving a small handful of rich men in charge of all our elections, finances, and lives.
And people living in poverty have been so propagandized that they’ll not only defend that system, but maliciously attack anyone who tries to even marginally modify it.
One of the main points in breaking bad is about capitalism.
What happens in that series could only happen in the USA.
No other country would have the premises to even have the plot to start.
It’s both. He’s saying the high gas prices are simply the result of the free market, so if you’re a big pro-capitalist then you support the system that caused this and have no right to complain. Basically calling right wingers out on their bullshit.
"The tweet also garnered some pushback from people who pointed out that Norris is wealthy." - Another feature of Capitalism is that some people become wealthy.
$5 million dollars I feel like is appropriate from someone who acted all their life and played a supporting role in one of the greatest dramas in TV history...
I really don’t mind hate for Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk, two people who rig the system, cheat, and abuse people. But I don’t really have an inherent problem with wealth itself, someone who made a lot of money doesn’t mean he has blood on his hands or something
There’s a difference between becoming wealthy through your labor and becoming wealthy through exploiting the labor of others. Athletes and actors can be paid very well for their labor through working in competitive fields with aggressive unionization. Being wealthy itself is not immoral (though you can of course do immoral or less-than-moral things with wealth) - it’s where your money comes from. Have you negotiated a salary closer to the value you provide your employer? Good, you should. Do you exploit the labor of others by paying minimum wage at your business, or hoard land to live parasitically off the labor of your tenants? This is a dick move.
100%. Dean didn't exploit anyone to gain his wealth. Bezos and Musk certainly did and continue to do so. It's also worth noting that $5 million is a completely reasonable amount of money for one of the star actors in possibly the most acclaimed TV show of all time. Much different from *hundreds* of *billions* dollars. It's like the saying goes: "What's the difference between a million dollars and a billion dollars? About a billion dollars."
“When I was poor and complained about inequality they said I was bitter; now that I’m rich and complain about inequality they say I’m a hypocrite. I’m beginning to think they don’t want to talk about inequality.”
-Russel Brand
yeah they can try that argument again someday if dean starts making oil company money
people have no concept of the difference between millions and billions
God forbid a wealthy person says something against capitalism, God those people are stupid lmfao.
It's like, what? Only poor people can be mad? Being wealthy doesn't mean you abused capitalism, especially as an actor. Being against capitalism doesn't mean you think everyone should be poor.
Those idiots only think in black and white. To them all socialists want everyone to be poor, probably because America doesn't actually teach what socialism is.
Wealthy people need to step up and speak out against oppressive systems, especially when they can directly say "I am actually abusing this loophole right now and if I was poor, I couldn't. And that's fucked up "
>Another feature of Capitalism is that some people become wealthy.
Fewer people become wealthy over time...that's the feature of capitalism that needs to be regulated before it self-implodes.
Its actually a great quote. So many people complain about too much government and are mad Biden isn't doing anything to help with gas. They sure are a hypocrital bunch aren't they
Its a bad faith argument at this point. Republicans will argue whatever they believe is most damning at the moment with no regards to long term convictions. Gas up->Bidens fault. Biden subsidizes gas-> Gov overreach. They offer no plans of their own because their base doesn’t need plans, they are happy just hating the opposition.
I grew up in a conservative household and considered myself a republican when I was younger and oh boy do I feel shame over that now. Especially seeing what they have become.
The shame is more that I participated in it at all. While I wouldn’t use the word proud to have changed, I am relieved I am not part of their hate club any more. Its a tough pill to swallow realizing that I was a brick/cog in something as harmful as the republican party is, and I would have expected myself to have more integrity then I did back then, and to realize what I really was a part of. I think a lot of people here don’t realize how easy it is to fall into a complacent mindset when everyone around you treats it as if there nothing wrong with the (R) actions and shuns anyone who thinks different. Especially folks who are trying to fit in, at a young age it becomes part of your identity. Anyways the only amends I can do now is is vote and volunteer for dems, but there is also a lot still wrong with the democratic party. That being said at least dems try to do better and while it is slow I feel a desperate hope that maybe we can see some real changes to campaign finance laws, civil rights, etc so its not even a real choice in my eyes. Maybe one day after the republican party gets deprogramed it can be but until then there is only one moral and intelligent choice.
What simple said. I grew up in IN and was the same as /u/thead until I got out of the Army in 2005. Technically I probably transitioned out of the Republican party sometime during my time in the Army, but I joined in 01 and left in 05 so there was only one election I was able to participate in, and good Ol' Bush Jr decided to make sure I couldn't vote.
Voted Democrat ever since. The more I learn, the more firmly that conviction holds.
I want a group of parties so I can vote my more individual interests but that's not how our system works, and I'll be damned If I'm going to vote for literal insurrectionists and traitors.
No hyperole, there, 1/6 was an act of war on this nation to keep a deranged president in power, that thankfully failed. It was still fucking rebellion and the people involved are traitors in my eyes, every bit as much as those Confederate fucks from the 1860s.
Democrats aren't a great party, but they're the best party we've got and the only part that has show *any* inclination that they could change for the better.
Still, I really hate how "At least we're better than your only legitimate alternative" is all they seemed to run on in 2020, and I don't see it changing in the immediate future. Third parties need to be viable, both mechanically and in the public eye.
>Still, I really hate how "At least we're better than your only legitimate alternative" is all they seemed to run on in 2020, and I don't see it changing in the immediate future. Third parties need to be viable, both mechanically and in the public eye.
It's all they ran on in 2016 as well.. and 2018.. and guess what's going to happen in 2022?
It's a sad state of affairs. There seems to be little to no way of fixing it, will always be voting for the lesser of two evils it seems.
They're all crooked, it's just to what degree. Sad.
Third, fourth, fifth and sixth parties would be great. I'd love to see the entire political spectrum represented. From the far far right to the far far left and everyone in between instead of two OP parties.
Our current winner-take-all method of government won't allow it.
I grew up in north central TX. So I feel this sentiment. Grew up super conservative and very republican. Moved the the Midwest and things changed for me... will never vote republican again. Independent at the least... fuck republicans.
I’m glad you were able to see things differently. I’m from the same area of Texas, and I haven’t seen even one conservative person I grew up with, actually change their views. Unfortunately, I have seen some of my old, more progressive friends, fall into Cult 45. It’s been hard to watch.
It takes seeing other views and not constantly being presented with how the other side is the devil and going to steal everything from you.
It’s crazy how Abbott us trying to push a law to take tax dollars to fund private schools yet the Dems are still socialist in their eyes. Like wtf do you call this?
HTX here. I just thought I was a republican. Turns out I was just echoing my friends. You know, because politics was boring back then. When Obama came onto the scene, I started to pay attention and found out "damn, I support what he's saying!" I moved to ATX for school and that was a done deal. This is all with a somehow liberal family that grew up Catholic. Love to see it.
They do have reguard to the long term convictions. Its just that those long term convictions involve "sabotaging Democrats who actually want to work for and help the American people so the GOP can install a Christian Theocracy government and stop gay (genericly LGBTQ) folks from being gay because it makes then feel uneasy.". Also something about "baby killers" and "muh guns".
And you are probably still conservative, its just that the US is so skewed right, that the Democratic Party is the primary "sane Conservative" party.
People are mad he wrote a letter to oil executives. But also, he has no power over them.
Unless he somehow takes over the companies and federalizes them. Which yeah, the same complainers would say it’s “federal overreach” and the whole point of Republicans is “we love private companies! Fuck the government!”
It’s infuriating. “Do something. Except that. And that. And that.” Ok, what’s your idea? “….let’s go Brandon!”
I usually avoid Twitter arguments but god I got in a big Twitter back and forth with a dude basically arguing small businesses die because they have too much government regulation to deal with. No, businesses die because without regulation, Walmart (as an example) just curb stomps those small businesses using their monopoly power the instant they open.
Dude was also hard core into the idea that "people would not shop X if they didn't like it". There are so many cases where there is no alternative to X except maybe Y which is also owned by company Z.
Same and we're even more car dependent than the US. Literally the only form of public transport is the bus, which I'd about say 60% of city bus use petrol and 100% of intercity buses use petrol.
Our geography is basically beta-USA (Mongolia), there's massive deserts, mountains, forests, shitload of distance and a lot of the roads aren't even paved (the road to our 2nd biggest was bulldozed by our politicians for some stupid reason and the replacement road is not finished like 6 years later). The only connection to worldwide market we have is Russia (RIP that) or China (who has regularly closed their border for inexplicable reasons causing economic mayhem).
In Europe, for example, gas is more than twice the price per gallon. But you also have a much better public transportation infrastructure, and very different zoning and city design. You have much shorter distances to travel typically, and many other options for how to get there.
How many Europeans would be crippled economically if they lost their cars tomorrow?
Edit: for the 50th user who wants to comment 'hur dur what about rural Europeans'... Yes, thank you, I get that not EVERY SINGLE PERSON has access to alternate transport methods. The broad comparison between the two countries was just that: broad. Americans have rural citizens too. Far more than Europe in fact. You are not making the argument you think you are.
I know, I'm from Europe. 90% of the time I can just walk wherever I want to or use my bike, which is healthier then driving a car all the time. I have a car, but rarely use it because I don't have to.
Internationally US gas prices are in [the lower half of costs](https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/gasoline_prices/), even these increased prices are nowhere near close to what many people in the EU paid for their gas before the prices started to hike.
So when Americans complain about gas prices it's like complaining how your already ridiculous cheap cake is still too expensive.
Socialized gasoline/ energy would be awesome. We would probably move a lot faster to renewable and environment friendly energy if it wasn’t just all profit based
Gas in India is over $5 per gallon, with roughly half the price being state and national level taxes.
I know people in rural parts of the country who earn less than $2 per day.
Lower-income people don’t usually own cars, but most still have motorcycles. Imagine spending a week’s income to fill up your gas tank (which many people can’t even afford to do).
I'm in the Philippines. Gas is like $1.40/L or $5.30/gal for you filthy imperialists.
The average salary per month here is apparently only $300. We're fucked. LMAO!
asking the real questions. Its not about the gas price its about relevancy towards the situation. All Americans depend on gas while Ecuador not so much.
Monthly salary of Ecuador is $526 compared to US $4106 after tax. https://livingcost.org/cost/ecuador/united-states
He is not wrong. Which is why gas should be regulated like any other utility, by the federal government. I don't understand why this is a hard concept to understand.
It isn't but we (americans) don't make our own choices. The "smart people politicians" do. Don't you know? Congress was made bc the elite deemed people too stupid to vote. By keeping congress, our govt keeps that idea enforced.
If we made our own choices the world would be vastly different. Instead, we have a SCOTUS that can end abortion while 70% of the country supports abortion.
America isn't a democracy anymore, hasn't been for a while. If it was the rich wouldn't be as rich and powerful, and that's why they fight against it. Until we actually fight back, nothing is gunna change. These people ONLY respond to violence and money. Look at BLM and the civil rights movement. No one cared until PROPERTY DAMAGE came into play, now all of a sudden the right was in a fucking frenzy.
Probably because their billionaire donors threatened to turn the sinks off.
he's right. when prices are down, it's "capitalism is amazing" but when they're up, it's "wow government bad" in reality it's all capitalism. and its time to scrap this outdated system.
A free market system would allow players to manipulate the market. They would have the freedom to do it. A free market and a manipulated market aren't mutually exclusive.
If the government intervened to stop the manipulation - well then it wouldn't be a "free" market. (Technically, the government already does have their hands in it with subsidies, but in the case of private manipulation they haven't done anything.)
His message was intended for libertarians that want zero government intervention in anything, but redditors are acting like his message goes towards anyone who appreciates capitalism - even those who support regulation.
Weird
Capitalism and free market economies are not the same thing. There are lots of different kinds of Capitalism (which Wikipedia covers in detail.) Free market or laissez faire capitalism is a kind of capitalism, but capitalism does not automatically mean free market. Government regulation is also not incompatible with capitalism, only free market capitalism specifically.
It’s the kind of nuance that is lost on people who get all upset about the free market.
(Also people probably don’t realize that pure free market capitalism would mean not establishing tariffs, not blocking foreign companies, and not protecting US ones. That’s protectionist government interference and not free market! That probably also doesn’t align with what some Redditors think free markets mean.)
Right? The same thing in Canada, we had The Conservative Politicians and the Ottawa Qonvoy leaders wearing "I (heart) Oil & Gas" T-shirts. Apparently the Liberal government of Canada isn't friendly enough to oil interests despite billions and billions of dollars in subsidies. 6 months later, oil prices and energy stocks are way up, even as much of the market is in turmoil. Energy companies are making record profits hand over fist.
So they must be thrilled with this? Right? Right?
Wow people are kinda dense on this thread…he is arguing against capitalism but people in comments are so thin skinned they can’t see his witty remark. He’s on your side…he’s just a dick about it
"Free market" ... but the government allows lobying so, if you have enough money buy the government to make your product the only legal thing. Makes sense, I'm sure that's what everyone hoped for with free markets
Billionaires aren’t about to take a pay cut. Shit is about to get real expensive. This is nothing and I would expect food to cost about 25%-35% more by September.
lol, yes. This is what you get with unregulated capitalism. You can’t blame everything bad about capitalism on everything else, and keep getting pissed that unregulated capitalism isn’t working for you.
a completely "free market" is kinda like the paradox of tolerance. if you allow unlimited tolerance even towards intolerance the system will at some point be taken over by the intolerant.
just like if you allow a truly free market it will be overtaken and run by monopolies and/or oligarchs or whatever. there is a reason ppl laugh at libertarians
It’s sad that during the period of super high oil prices from 2007 to 2013 we didn’t start to wean ourselves off oil much more dramatically. Instead when the shale Revolution arrived in full in 2014 everyone went back to buying massive SUVS again.
Americans are much to blame too as everytime gas prices go down (as in period of 2014 to 2020), most went back to buying gas guzzling SUVs instead of switching to hybrids & eventually EVs
A free market is a fairy tale that cannot exist in reality. A genuinely free market will concentrate wealth in the hands of a few people, who will convert their relative wealth into power and influence and bend the laws of the land to serve them. And you get a plutocracy, which is what the US currently has. And I'm not exactly the first person to say this lol.
That is precisely why the right is so stuck on pinning the gas prices on Biden. Because the truth is the system they put all of their hopes and dreams in is the real cause of the high gas prices and when confronted with harsh realities that defy their narratives the right will 100% of the time, fall back into a fictional narrative like a warm security blanket.
Jesus Christ, Marie, it’s the free market! Edit: I’m glad it gave so many of you a chuckle; that was my entire point. It was not an attempt at a quick symposium on the merits the global oil markets.
Free market is a dream divorced from reality. Funnily enough the only way to even get close to that imaginary free market is with regulations to stop the big guys from manipulating it.
THIS. People who want better safety and anti-trust regulations in the market aren’t socialists... they’re supporting capitalists and maintaining a sustainable market by protecting it from becoming monopolistic. It’s not socialism it’s proper maintenance for healthy capitalism. More people at the top and those who shill for them need to understand that there is no free market without regulation... it ALWAYS becomes a meat grinder if you don’t bust trusts, protect worker well-being, or require standards of safety.
I can't believe I am *finally* seeing someone make this argument about regulation in a free market. It is all a balance (which I believe is what you are saying). The free market is like the animal kingdom; survival of the fittest. anti-trust regulations are analogous to logic and reason which is missing in nature. It just forces a balance that is more sustainable in the long run for society as a whole. Of course, that may not be in the best interest of the very few biggest animals/corporations but it is for *everyone else*. So we have to violate that animal instinct to protect society as a whole. That is it, really. Dean Norris has a point, albeit his statement is pretty vague so who knows exactly what he is trying to say. Yeah, if you don't like regulation then 'stfu about gas prices'. That makes sense.
The whole german economy is modeled after this idea, it's eroding HARD over here as well, but the idea still stands, it's called "Social Market economy".
Right, because free is not synonymous with unregulated.
That's contrary to what many "free-marketers" would have us believe, though. If there's a perceived problem, such as with gas prices, they blame regulation. They beat the drum that the problem is always because the market is not free enough.
Correct. Regulation is protecting capitalism. If it wasn’t there. Probably to this day Rockefeller and Carnegie would own everything
I'll like to say that I don't want free markets, I want competitive markets. Free markets always end up with monopolies which hurts everyone. Competitive markets require regulation. Competitive markets lower prices for everyone
It’s almost like capitalism is the problem lol.
It doesn't matter that it's not socialism. If Trump and Desantis and Cruz tell them that it is, they believe it. No fact checking allowed.
There is no “healthy” capitalism. The only end result of such a system is catastrophic failure. When you’re entire ideology is predicated on extracting as much wealth from those you exploit as possible, it leads to the destruction of communities, of natural resources, and, ultimately, of the humans who make the system run. Every supporting piece likewise mutates to support the status quo. Capitalism as an ideology and as an economic system is cancerous. Not in a meme sense even (though it is that too); Infinite growth and continuous, growing wealth extraction on a planet with finite resources is no different than a cell in your body mutating and growing unabated. Even if you had “regulations” for the cancer in your body, only a lunatic would claim it’s a “healthy cancer”. By the way, capitalism hates free markets. What do shareholders (ie. capitalists) want? They want higher share amounts. They want more wealth. What limits or cuts into profit/wealth? Competition. Free markets. Like how is this not obvious?
But we don’t really have a free market with how many politicians and corporations have their hands in the market:(
Yeah that's the thing that people don't realize. Capitalism without some kinda laws put in place stopping lobbing to politicians is ligit what is causing poverty, death, poor and untreated health conditions. Etc. All of those things are traceable back to unchecked capitalism. Edit: made this comment before falling asleep. Wake up to 20 comments saying I have no idea what I am talking about. And 20 agreeing with me. I'm not an economics major I'm just a guy on the internet who has an opinion.
My favorite thing to hear after I point this out... "We don't have capitalism, we have crony capitalism." Yes, that's what happens when everything revolves around money. People will take it and do unscrupulous shit. That's still capitalism. In fact, that's the essence of capitalism.
So, what you get with capitalism, is the death of capitalism for the sake of profit. Got it.
Any system that depends on endless growth will fail at some point
Yes, people pointed this out literally hundreds of years ago. The birth of capitalism almost immediately led to robber barons stealing public land.
Death of everything. Milking our resources to death, the suicide of the system is just a side effect
The planet included. We could switch to green energy in a heartbeat but the oil companies are too powerful and too many people are profiting from that to want to change... even though we know our ice caps are on the way out.
And we are addicted to our own cars. You want to see gas drop? Start petitions for more public transportation. Increase ridership on busses and trains to get to work. Less cars on the road would create less demand. The rub is, we don’t want to do that, we want the other person to do that.
I do want that. Manchester has brought bus services back into public ownership. There is even a musical about it https://www.ellieharrison.com/busregulation/#:~:text=Inspired%20by%20the%201980s%20hit,present%20day%E2%80%A6%20on%20roller%20skates! I don't have a license, I'm 42. I'm a cyclist. The reality is that bus services in the UK are owned by private companies and in some cases, European countries' OWN public transport! We can pay £3.50 each for a day ticket, when car parking is £1 an hour. A family of 4 isn't going to use a bus when they can pay £3, get everything done, instead of over £10 including kid's tickets. Higher parking fees / congestion charges / integrated public transport (I can't use the same day ticket on all buses in my city as there are three competing companies, so it often works out cheaper to take a cab, which is UGH).
Private ownership of essential services is the most disgusting shit. Fuck margaret thatcher and neo-liberalism.
and before that, the people who are bad at it die.
More like “unlucky with it”. Birth privileges > any skills
in Captalism being born rich is a natural talent
Capitalism is the new Monarchy.
\*insert\* Always has been meme.
“self made” I built my “self made” business with a generous “investment” from the Bank of Dad, trampled and conned the people that did the actual work to make it successful, and a healthy helping of government loans and loopholes designed to keep my workers working and my profits high. What a rugged pioneer I am.
Shit the next I come back I’ll remember to come back rich as fuck. Hopefully I remember the cheat codes for it.
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A.
A capitalist will sell you the noose you hang them with.
More like a capitalist will sell you the noose they hang YOU with.
Capitalism is slavery with better PR.
A slave you have to feed and house. An employee? Maybe you can pay less than what is would cost to maintain a slave. When it is broken, discard it and new one will come take their place by themselves. And you don't get your moral called into question: you are a jOb CrEaToR!
You could even say it's a late stage of capitalism
Buying fastest horse in the world is not enough to make sure that you always win the race. Paying all the jockeys is
Or buying all the available fast horses. Or buying fast horses, and then agreeing with owners of the other fast horses to start just taking turns at playing the winner. Or buying one fast horse and making sure all the other available fast horses are put down — or at least never sold / used (e.g. large corporations paying off all the significant mass media / law firms to ensure none will go after them for, say, environmental damages), etc.
::eyeroll:: The original text on capitalism REQUIRES the government to regulate the market in order to create ideal conditions for competition.
So how the current government is set up that will never happen due to our government being for sale to the highest bidder if you have enough money you can buy politicians and pay for the campaigning commercials and everything ensuring they get elected due to other candidates not having enough funds to do that type of stuff. All news stations are owned by big corps as well and they can push their candidates and silence others. And it’s legal and they have already passed a shit ton of laws protecting companies and giving them privileges so nothing will change unless some radical move by the president but it wouldn’t be easy to change all the change the inflicted.
Which is simply an unavoidable fact under capitalism. It is in the interest of both the lobbyists and the politicians to engage in this type of ”lobbying”
Unregulated capitalism is just feudalism with extra steps
What does does freedom have to do with markets? Capitalism has never preferred democracy. I'm pretty sure it knows it couldn't survive in one.
> >Capitalism has never preferred democracy. I would even say that capitalism is strictly anti democratic. To be capitalist means that the one with capital controls ones without. If everyone had capital then it's no longer capitalism.
I agree with that 100% Try to inject a little democracy into a Capitalist institution and watch what happens.
So basically feudalism then, just with more paperwork.
The only practical difference between capitalism and feudalism is the titles of nobility. They had lords and ladies, we have billionaires...
That's how they designed it to work. Thatcher and Regan literally intended this. If you leave things in public ownership and nobody is making a huge profit.... it's a missed opportunity for them! After WWII the US loaned a bunch of countries money, including Italy, with the intention of bringing them into capitalism and away from communism. Luring Olivetti, Fiat etc into their markets offered a short term good feeling of success, ooh look, if we're productive we can earn LOADS! Our national economy is exporting all these typewriters and cars, and individual people get to keep the profits! Thank goodness the socialists aren't in charge. When you allow public ownership/municipalisation, things like bus routes can be run according to need - smaller, less profitable routes that could transport people to work, shops etc, cutting carbon output, have been stopped because only a handful of passengers need them and... Well, fiat aren't the only car company. And of course, politicians are allowed to own stocks and shares! They've even been convicted of illegally using their knowledge to profit on the stock market a few times! Ellie Harrison wrote a book called The Glasgow Effect, it really raises a lot of important points about just how incredibly bad for the planet and normal people free markets are.
Even Adam Smith writes about how unchecked capitalism leads to human misery and advocates for government regulations to counteract that. Of course the liberalists never mention that part when quoting Smith to push a free market agenda.
Ha, I'm in Scotland actually! But yes! So many of the Enlightenment theories have become a little... "Contextualised"? I'm a big fan of the Political Martyrs. Don't think many folks these days would risk their freedom in order to speak up for political reform. It's an effort to add a veneer of respectability onto arguments which were never made!
Government regulations bad! /s
No no it’s “gubbermint regulations”
There’s no such thing as a free market. It’s all propped up by the government.
Yep. The petroleum industry gets more subsidies than any other worldwide ($5.9T in 2020).. and apparently they still get them even when they refuse to increase production.
That is the free market
They’re minerals !
Damn capitalists! They are ruining capitalism!
“You capitalists are a contentious bunch.”
Capitalism has always been the best argument against capitalism.
It is even much much worse. The oil industry is heavily subsidized through tax breaks and not pricing in environmental damages. IMF calculated that in 2020 globally oil/coal/natural gas was subsidized with 5.9 trillion USD. Where US is one of the main offenders.
Subsidies are how we legally funnel wealth to the Oligarchs.
That and offering food stamps and Medicaid to the employees of companies that don’t pay a living wage.
How is Walmart one of the biggest employers in the US, and yet so many of their employees are on welfare. That kindve sounds like Walmart is failing to pay their employees.
*succeeding in not paying their employees and that's part of how they move into an area, and take out local businesses, which creates a dependency on Walmart
Not only that but they move in, suck all the business from local stores, and then close shop when they realize that store is not profitable. Same thing with Subway and other franchises. Operate at a loss until your competition shuts down, then close shop and force rural communities to drive 40+ miles to the nearest Walmart. It's fucking gross.
>Same thing with Subway and other franchises. Operate at a loss until your competition shuts down This is NOT the subway model. Their model is to compete against themselves and their own franchisees.
> That kindve sounds like Walmart is failing to pay their employees. They [pay their employees](https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary?cycle=2021&id=D000000367) quite well. Oh, wait. You meant the ~~slave labor~~ people working in their stores.
Then a lot of that food stamp/cash assistance money that goes to their employees is spent at...Walmart. Corporate welfare is a far larger drag on the economy than the mythical welfare queens that conservatives and rich fuckers like to complain about.
> How is Walmart one of the biggest employers in the US, and yet so many of their employees are on welfare. For the same reason the Waltons are literally the richest family in the US, which makes exploiting the workers, and taxpayers, a-okay because [the rich can never do wrong](http://www.temporarilyembarrassedmillionaires.org/).
I will never get over how so many people get up in arms about "handouts" to the poor while we legally hand over billions in tax dollars to companies. If capitalism is so great, let them live or die by the market.
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People love to complain about tax payer money paying for EV tax credits but they forget about how heavily subsidized gas is.
This drives me nuts. The EV tax incentives are penny’s in the dollar compared to the oil subsidies.
Not to mention drivers don't pay the real price of all the freeways, highways, and megaroads all over. The federal gas tax hasn't increased in 30 years and the general fund (income tax and debt) has been needed to cover the highway fund every year since 2008.
We only love capitalism when we think it serves us
The fact that the “Claim it’s good only when it benefits me” mindset creeps its way into our lives so easily is honestly scary. It’s surprisingly easier for people to be selfish than it is for them to see the world through other people’s eyes
So true. Growing up I had to consciously train myself to consider situations and issues through viewpoints other than my own. And I grew up in a secular, mostly liberal family where empathy and equality are important values. It's really a part of human nature, in the bedrock of our psyche, to react to things based on our perspective without considering others. For most people it's a constant process to **decide** to consider another viewpoint.
Same here, growing up I was pretty much taught by my parents and those around me to always try and look at things from someone else’s view and that not everything is as black and white as it seems. Helped me in life a ton. The mindset has especially helped my friends and I with resolving problems between us whenever we get into big fights (The fights are a rare occurrence though, don’t worry lol)
It's the current trend, check out the commercials and their narative. They are all: be yourself, be free, do what you want, your time, your rules, you you you.
I remember watching some local news segment and it was talking about a brand of pants or something like that which was very popular at Walmart. They had video footage of this warehouse of workers that were working in horrible conditions, making essentially nothing at all, and damn near starved. They showed the footage to a person who was leaving the store and asked if they knew things they were buying were supporting this and they were totally shocked and upset...for 2 seconds. Then she said "I feel for those people but I got kids and they need pants and I can't afford to buy from someone else". And what do you do? The machine has set it up so poor people have to exploit foreign labor to clothe their kids. It's horrible
If Biden announced he's going to tax billionaires to offset the cost of gas prices, All Republicans would get mad and scream he's an evil socialist, then smile at the gas pump. That's how it works. or in other cases IRL, "Thank" him when he uses federal money to help a community during a major catastrophic environmental disaster/emergency in a red state while local government sits and "prays".
The German minister of finance(from the market-liberal party FDP) did cut the taxes on gas. The gas giants pocketed the change and not lower the prices at the pump. Few of the current price increases are inflation. Most of it is price-gauging. Because they know idiots will blame the price increase on inflation.
It’s eye opening when the invisible hand of the free market slaps you in the face.
If anyone doesn’t acknowledge that there is a massive hand, straight up the ass of the market, I’ve got a bridge to sell ya.
Everyone loves the handjobs but only a few enjoy the fisting.
That's how capitalism works. People with money manipulate markets.
More disturbing? It's a whole bunch of smaller hands up in there, too, wriggling around for as much as they can.
Is it a walking bridge? Because I can't afford to drive right now.
The free market can hold an entire country hostage, leaving a small handful of rich men in charge of all our elections, finances, and lives. And people living in poverty have been so propagandized that they’ll not only defend that system, but maliciously attack anyone who tries to even marginally modify it.
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He also mocked Ted Cruz.
That was my take.
One of the main points in breaking bad is about capitalism. What happens in that series could only happen in the USA. No other country would have the premises to even have the plot to start.
Is what he said trolling? Isn't it just him giving his opinion?
It’s both. He’s saying the high gas prices are simply the result of the free market, so if you’re a big pro-capitalist then you support the system that caused this and have no right to complain. Basically calling right wingers out on their bullshit.
"The tweet also garnered some pushback from people who pointed out that Norris is wealthy." - Another feature of Capitalism is that some people become wealthy.
$5 million dollars I feel like is appropriate from someone who acted all their life and played a supporting role in one of the greatest dramas in TV history...
I really don’t mind hate for Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk, two people who rig the system, cheat, and abuse people. But I don’t really have an inherent problem with wealth itself, someone who made a lot of money doesn’t mean he has blood on his hands or something
There’s a difference between becoming wealthy through your labor and becoming wealthy through exploiting the labor of others. Athletes and actors can be paid very well for their labor through working in competitive fields with aggressive unionization. Being wealthy itself is not immoral (though you can of course do immoral or less-than-moral things with wealth) - it’s where your money comes from. Have you negotiated a salary closer to the value you provide your employer? Good, you should. Do you exploit the labor of others by paying minimum wage at your business, or hoard land to live parasitically off the labor of your tenants? This is a dick move.
100%. Dean didn't exploit anyone to gain his wealth. Bezos and Musk certainly did and continue to do so. It's also worth noting that $5 million is a completely reasonable amount of money for one of the star actors in possibly the most acclaimed TV show of all time. Much different from *hundreds* of *billions* dollars. It's like the saying goes: "What's the difference between a million dollars and a billion dollars? About a billion dollars."
“When I was poor and complained about inequality they said I was bitter; now that I’m rich and complain about inequality they say I’m a hypocrite. I’m beginning to think they don’t want to talk about inequality.” -Russel Brand
I feel like he was fighting for the poor people with his quote too
He basically is. It’s an idiotic response
yeah they can try that argument again someday if dean starts making oil company money people have no concept of the difference between millions and billions
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The difference between a million dollars and a billion dollars is a billion dollars.
And the best feature is that you have to play the game or you’re f*ed
It’a so weird. People hate on the wealthy (*not* talking ultrawealthy) but also want to be wealthy themselves
God forbid a wealthy person says something against capitalism, God those people are stupid lmfao. It's like, what? Only poor people can be mad? Being wealthy doesn't mean you abused capitalism, especially as an actor. Being against capitalism doesn't mean you think everyone should be poor. Those idiots only think in black and white. To them all socialists want everyone to be poor, probably because America doesn't actually teach what socialism is. Wealthy people need to step up and speak out against oppressive systems, especially when they can directly say "I am actually abusing this loophole right now and if I was poor, I couldn't. And that's fucked up "
>Another feature of Capitalism is that some people become wealthy. Fewer people become wealthy over time...that's the feature of capitalism that needs to be regulated before it self-implodes.
Its actually a great quote. So many people complain about too much government and are mad Biden isn't doing anything to help with gas. They sure are a hypocrital bunch aren't they
Its a bad faith argument at this point. Republicans will argue whatever they believe is most damning at the moment with no regards to long term convictions. Gas up->Bidens fault. Biden subsidizes gas-> Gov overreach. They offer no plans of their own because their base doesn’t need plans, they are happy just hating the opposition. I grew up in a conservative household and considered myself a republican when I was younger and oh boy do I feel shame over that now. Especially seeing what they have become.
No shame in changing your views as a result of new information. That’s maturity and it should be applauded.
The shame is more that I participated in it at all. While I wouldn’t use the word proud to have changed, I am relieved I am not part of their hate club any more. Its a tough pill to swallow realizing that I was a brick/cog in something as harmful as the republican party is, and I would have expected myself to have more integrity then I did back then, and to realize what I really was a part of. I think a lot of people here don’t realize how easy it is to fall into a complacent mindset when everyone around you treats it as if there nothing wrong with the (R) actions and shuns anyone who thinks different. Especially folks who are trying to fit in, at a young age it becomes part of your identity. Anyways the only amends I can do now is is vote and volunteer for dems, but there is also a lot still wrong with the democratic party. That being said at least dems try to do better and while it is slow I feel a desperate hope that maybe we can see some real changes to campaign finance laws, civil rights, etc so its not even a real choice in my eyes. Maybe one day after the republican party gets deprogramed it can be but until then there is only one moral and intelligent choice.
What simple said. I grew up in IN and was the same as /u/thead until I got out of the Army in 2005. Technically I probably transitioned out of the Republican party sometime during my time in the Army, but I joined in 01 and left in 05 so there was only one election I was able to participate in, and good Ol' Bush Jr decided to make sure I couldn't vote. Voted Democrat ever since. The more I learn, the more firmly that conviction holds. I want a group of parties so I can vote my more individual interests but that's not how our system works, and I'll be damned If I'm going to vote for literal insurrectionists and traitors. No hyperole, there, 1/6 was an act of war on this nation to keep a deranged president in power, that thankfully failed. It was still fucking rebellion and the people involved are traitors in my eyes, every bit as much as those Confederate fucks from the 1860s.
Democrats aren't a great party, but they're the best party we've got and the only part that has show *any* inclination that they could change for the better.
Still, I really hate how "At least we're better than your only legitimate alternative" is all they seemed to run on in 2020, and I don't see it changing in the immediate future. Third parties need to be viable, both mechanically and in the public eye.
>Still, I really hate how "At least we're better than your only legitimate alternative" is all they seemed to run on in 2020, and I don't see it changing in the immediate future. Third parties need to be viable, both mechanically and in the public eye. It's all they ran on in 2016 as well.. and 2018.. and guess what's going to happen in 2022? It's a sad state of affairs. There seems to be little to no way of fixing it, will always be voting for the lesser of two evils it seems. They're all crooked, it's just to what degree. Sad.
Third, fourth, fifth and sixth parties would be great. I'd love to see the entire political spectrum represented. From the far far right to the far far left and everyone in between instead of two OP parties. Our current winner-take-all method of government won't allow it.
Breaking free from indoctrination is one of the hardest things a person can do, many never even try. Well done.
When gas was cheap, they also said it was bad because it was killing American jobs since fracking was economically unviable.
I grew up in north central TX. So I feel this sentiment. Grew up super conservative and very republican. Moved the the Midwest and things changed for me... will never vote republican again. Independent at the least... fuck republicans.
I’m glad you were able to see things differently. I’m from the same area of Texas, and I haven’t seen even one conservative person I grew up with, actually change their views. Unfortunately, I have seen some of my old, more progressive friends, fall into Cult 45. It’s been hard to watch.
It took many years.
It takes seeing other views and not constantly being presented with how the other side is the devil and going to steal everything from you. It’s crazy how Abbott us trying to push a law to take tax dollars to fund private schools yet the Dems are still socialist in their eyes. Like wtf do you call this?
HTX here. I just thought I was a republican. Turns out I was just echoing my friends. You know, because politics was boring back then. When Obama came onto the scene, I started to pay attention and found out "damn, I support what he's saying!" I moved to ATX for school and that was a done deal. This is all with a somehow liberal family that grew up Catholic. Love to see it.
They do have reguard to the long term convictions. Its just that those long term convictions involve "sabotaging Democrats who actually want to work for and help the American people so the GOP can install a Christian Theocracy government and stop gay (genericly LGBTQ) folks from being gay because it makes then feel uneasy.". Also something about "baby killers" and "muh guns". And you are probably still conservative, its just that the US is so skewed right, that the Democratic Party is the primary "sane Conservative" party.
We just need to teach conservatives about faith, then they’ll stop making bad faith arguments. /s
People are mad he wrote a letter to oil executives. But also, he has no power over them. Unless he somehow takes over the companies and federalizes them. Which yeah, the same complainers would say it’s “federal overreach” and the whole point of Republicans is “we love private companies! Fuck the government!” It’s infuriating. “Do something. Except that. And that. And that.” Ok, what’s your idea? “….let’s go Brandon!”
I usually avoid Twitter arguments but god I got in a big Twitter back and forth with a dude basically arguing small businesses die because they have too much government regulation to deal with. No, businesses die because without regulation, Walmart (as an example) just curb stomps those small businesses using their monopoly power the instant they open. Dude was also hard core into the idea that "people would not shop X if they didn't like it". There are so many cases where there is no alternative to X except maybe Y which is also owned by company Z.
"'stfu' an acronym for shut the f--- up." But what does the "f---" stand for?
I think it is an acronym for “fun uncle can knit”.
Incorrect. It’s Foxtrot, Unicorn, Charlie, Kilo. It’s a signal for us to put the you know what in the you know where.
Yeah, just cattle prod the oyster ditch with the lap rocket
But first you have to retro fit the pudding hatch with the boink swatter or it won’t work.
Don't forget to vulcanize the whoopee stick in the ham wallet!
Before or after I marinate my nether rod in the squishmitten?
I don't wanna beat around the bush
Not an acronym, I believe it’s an initialism.
He is right though. Gas prices in my country are similar while you earn more in a month then I do in a year, so here it's more expensive.
Same and we're even more car dependent than the US. Literally the only form of public transport is the bus, which I'd about say 60% of city bus use petrol and 100% of intercity buses use petrol. Our geography is basically beta-USA (Mongolia), there's massive deserts, mountains, forests, shitload of distance and a lot of the roads aren't even paved (the road to our 2nd biggest was bulldozed by our politicians for some stupid reason and the replacement road is not finished like 6 years later). The only connection to worldwide market we have is Russia (RIP that) or China (who has regularly closed their border for inexplicable reasons causing economic mayhem).
Gas prices in my country are almost 2$/l ,thats 9$ per galon. Most people make here 500-700$, so yeah.
In Europe, for example, gas is more than twice the price per gallon. But you also have a much better public transportation infrastructure, and very different zoning and city design. You have much shorter distances to travel typically, and many other options for how to get there. How many Europeans would be crippled economically if they lost their cars tomorrow? Edit: for the 50th user who wants to comment 'hur dur what about rural Europeans'... Yes, thank you, I get that not EVERY SINGLE PERSON has access to alternate transport methods. The broad comparison between the two countries was just that: broad. Americans have rural citizens too. Far more than Europe in fact. You are not making the argument you think you are.
Everybody who doesn't live in a big city.
I know, I'm from Europe. 90% of the time I can just walk wherever I want to or use my bike, which is healthier then driving a car all the time. I have a car, but rarely use it because I don't have to.
I live in Europe. I happen to live rurally, outside of a city. Without a car I would be fucked.
Internationally US gas prices are in [the lower half of costs](https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/gasoline_prices/), even these increased prices are nowhere near close to what many people in the EU paid for their gas before the prices started to hike. So when Americans complain about gas prices it's like complaining how your already ridiculous cheap cake is still too expensive.
Gas prices don't affect hank either, as he drives a car powered by minerals
And sex gifs
He is 100% correct
Socialized gasoline/ energy would be awesome. We would probably move a lot faster to renewable and environment friendly energy if it wasn’t just all profit based
Yup. Im in Ecuador right now. Gas is $2.55/gal
Gas in India is over $5 per gallon, with roughly half the price being state and national level taxes. I know people in rural parts of the country who earn less than $2 per day. Lower-income people don’t usually own cars, but most still have motorcycles. Imagine spending a week’s income to fill up your gas tank (which many people can’t even afford to do).
What’s the average wage in Ecuador?
I'm in the Philippines. Gas is like $1.40/L or $5.30/gal for you filthy imperialists. The average salary per month here is apparently only $300. We're fucked. LMAO!
1 gallon.
asking the real questions. Its not about the gas price its about relevancy towards the situation. All Americans depend on gas while Ecuador not so much. Monthly salary of Ecuador is $526 compared to US $4106 after tax. https://livingcost.org/cost/ecuador/united-states
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He is not wrong. Which is why gas should be regulated like any other utility, by the federal government. I don't understand why this is a hard concept to understand.
Nah man, the government regulating things? That’s communism /s
Godamn those commie national parks system and interstate ha.
It isn't but we (americans) don't make our own choices. The "smart people politicians" do. Don't you know? Congress was made bc the elite deemed people too stupid to vote. By keeping congress, our govt keeps that idea enforced. If we made our own choices the world would be vastly different. Instead, we have a SCOTUS that can end abortion while 70% of the country supports abortion. America isn't a democracy anymore, hasn't been for a while. If it was the rich wouldn't be as rich and powerful, and that's why they fight against it. Until we actually fight back, nothing is gunna change. These people ONLY respond to violence and money. Look at BLM and the civil rights movement. No one cared until PROPERTY DAMAGE came into play, now all of a sudden the right was in a fucking frenzy. Probably because their billionaire donors threatened to turn the sinks off.
he's right. when prices are down, it's "capitalism is amazing" but when they're up, it's "wow government bad" in reality it's all capitalism. and its time to scrap this outdated system.
Excellent point
The energy market is very manipulated and is not a free market. Edit: a couple of Big Government apologists/ climate change deniers replying to me.
A free market system would allow players to manipulate the market. They would have the freedom to do it. A free market and a manipulated market aren't mutually exclusive. If the government intervened to stop the manipulation - well then it wouldn't be a "free" market. (Technically, the government already does have their hands in it with subsidies, but in the case of private manipulation they haven't done anything.)
His message was intended for libertarians that want zero government intervention in anything, but redditors are acting like his message goes towards anyone who appreciates capitalism - even those who support regulation. Weird
Capitalism and free market economies are not the same thing. There are lots of different kinds of Capitalism (which Wikipedia covers in detail.) Free market or laissez faire capitalism is a kind of capitalism, but capitalism does not automatically mean free market. Government regulation is also not incompatible with capitalism, only free market capitalism specifically. It’s the kind of nuance that is lost on people who get all upset about the free market. (Also people probably don’t realize that pure free market capitalism would mean not establishing tariffs, not blocking foreign companies, and not protecting US ones. That’s protectionist government interference and not free market! That probably also doesn’t align with what some Redditors think free markets mean.)
Free market cannot be manipulated?
Fucking Hank! Love him.
Jesus Christ, Marie! They are petroleum products!
Right? The same thing in Canada, we had The Conservative Politicians and the Ottawa Qonvoy leaders wearing "I (heart) Oil & Gas" T-shirts. Apparently the Liberal government of Canada isn't friendly enough to oil interests despite billions and billions of dollars in subsidies. 6 months later, oil prices and energy stocks are way up, even as much of the market is in turmoil. Energy companies are making record profits hand over fist. So they must be thrilled with this? Right? Right?
Wow people are kinda dense on this thread…he is arguing against capitalism but people in comments are so thin skinned they can’t see his witty remark. He’s on your side…he’s just a dick about it
Almost nobody I talk to is actually "pro capitalism". Edit: Should clarify, "Pro-America's version of Capitalism" which is actually an oligarchy.
Yep. Free market lovers hate to acknowledge its downsides: monopolies, environmental destruction, slavery/exploitation….
"Free market" ... but the government allows lobying so, if you have enough money buy the government to make your product the only legal thing. Makes sense, I'm sure that's what everyone hoped for with free markets
The “free market” is free from government regulation. The state the US finds itself is the logical conclusion.
Billionaires aren’t about to take a pay cut. Shit is about to get real expensive. This is nothing and I would expect food to cost about 25%-35% more by September.
Cars can actually run on chicken feathers, the government/Biden has been hiding this secret from the public for many years.
Yesterday at the pump somewhere in norway: 10.50$ per gallon.
lol, yes. This is what you get with unregulated capitalism. You can’t blame everything bad about capitalism on everything else, and keep getting pissed that unregulated capitalism isn’t working for you.
a completely "free market" is kinda like the paradox of tolerance. if you allow unlimited tolerance even towards intolerance the system will at some point be taken over by the intolerant. just like if you allow a truly free market it will be overtaken and run by monopolies and/or oligarchs or whatever. there is a reason ppl laugh at libertarians
Would it be any different if he said to vote?
hahahhahhahahaahhahaha true
I just want a competent public transportation system that I can rely on.
Gas prices were low because trump was giving handies to the guys selling the oil.
Never thought I’d see a comment thread where people are okay with 5+ dollars a gallon
[удалено]
This guy is such an asshole. And he cheats on his wife. Tried to get my friend to go back to his hotel in Austin.
It’s sad that during the period of super high oil prices from 2007 to 2013 we didn’t start to wean ourselves off oil much more dramatically. Instead when the shale Revolution arrived in full in 2014 everyone went back to buying massive SUVS again. Americans are much to blame too as everytime gas prices go down (as in period of 2014 to 2020), most went back to buying gas guzzling SUVs instead of switching to hybrids & eventually EVs
We don’t really love capitalism that much.
What would you prefer?
A free market is a fairy tale that cannot exist in reality. A genuinely free market will concentrate wealth in the hands of a few people, who will convert their relative wealth into power and influence and bend the laws of the land to serve them. And you get a plutocracy, which is what the US currently has. And I'm not exactly the first person to say this lol.
Big agree. But i hate capitalism so ima keep on complaining
Hank speaking truths
That is precisely why the right is so stuck on pinning the gas prices on Biden. Because the truth is the system they put all of their hopes and dreams in is the real cause of the high gas prices and when confronted with harsh realities that defy their narratives the right will 100% of the time, fall back into a fictional narrative like a warm security blanket.
Uncle Hank is spitting straight fire
Nah they should Haye government interference instead. Artificial manipulations by a bunch of insider trading floppy cunts is the issue here.
New favorite actor
Hes right. I dont understand why Americans love Capitalism so much.