The Capitalist End Game Engineered by the GOP (3 Viewers)

[Huntn]

The Capitalist End Game
Think about it, this is the “patriotic”, “traditional values”, “moral”, “Christian values”, “fiscal hawk” party who railed about National Debt in the 1990s and personal responsibility while robbing us blind. Their genius? Focused on whites, brought out the racist in us, pitting us against one another, preaching to us the virtue of “traditional values”, “fiscal responsibility”, LOL, fool’d ya white privilege types. What they were preaching “I got mine, I want yours” and you’re on the menu.

“The National Debt is Evidence of the Crime- The first shots were fired in 1981, when Republicans’ so-called supply-side tax cuts began a forty-five-year upward transfer of over $50 trillion in wealth that made billionaires fabulously rich while it hollowed out our nation’s Treasury. They stole $38 trillion from our government, and another $12 trillion (at least) from working class families via wage freezes and the destruction of unions.”


https://substack.com/@thomhartmann/...&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action

 

[TampaJoe]

It is due to the cultural phenomenon called Jante

A lot of the disagreement in discussions about wealth and “greed” comes down to cultural differences in how wealth is perceived—not just how it’s distributed.

In the U.S., wealth is often closely tied to prestige, visibility, and personal branding. Being successful typically means showing it: promoting your achievements, standing out, and using wealth as a signal of competence and influence. Power is more openly expressed, and high consumption is often seen as a natural extension of success.

In Scandinavian countries influenced by Jante (“don’t think you’re better than others”), the relationship between wealth and prestige is more restrained. Wealth isn’t inherently negative, but openly displaying it or using it to elevate yourself socially is often discouraged. Prestige tends to come from contribution, reliability, and social trust rather than visibility or self-promotion.

This also affects how power is exercised. In the U.S., power is often explicit and tied to individual success. In Scandinavia, power is more informal and expected to be used carefully, without emphasizing hierarchy or personal status.

So when people react differently to things like high concentration of wealth or consumption, it’s not just about economics—it reflects different assumptions about what wealth is supposed to mean: a signal of individual achievement and status, or a resource that carries social responsibility and should be expressed with restraint.

I don’t disagree that many of the differences between the US and Europe are cultural. I have said quite often that just because something works in one place or culture is no guarantee it will work in others. Nor should it.

Nothing says we have to like the same things or value things the same way. No two people are alike. It only makes sense that people who are born and raised thousand of miles apart might not view the world in the same way. I would be surprised if they did.

The US is far from perfect. We, like our European friends, have our faults. But we also have our good qualities as well and those qualities and values on balance have worked for for more than 250 years. It is part of who we are as a people.

As to the question of how much wealth any one person requires, answering that question and managing the wealth of an individual is simply not the federal governments job under our Constitution. I find it hard to believe anyone who understands how our government operates wants our government to manage their wealth or lack thereof.

 

[MT15]

There is some of that culture in the Midwest - especially parts of it with larger Scandinavian influence.

I’ve heard it called “tall poppy syndrome”. You don’t want to be seen as a tall poppy, because they get whacked off.

 

[MT15]

I find it hard to believe anyone who understands how our government operates wants our government to manage their wealth or lack thereof.

Well, there are lots of ways Trump is operating our government that aren’t in the Constitution. He’s doing his damnedest to make the Constitution obsolete.

But to your point - nobody is trying to “manage” anyone’s wealth - we simply recognize that the path we are on is unsustainable for a free country and the pace of the wealth redistribution is quickening.

When nearly 50% of consumer purchases are made by 10% of the population, and 80% of the population makes less and less of a percent of consumer purchases - that is a recipe for disaster. Right now 80% of the population makes about 35% of the consumer purchases. It was closer to 50% in 2010.

This is a massive wealth redistribution - and it’s getting worse not better.

 

[UriUT]

The light bulb is one of the best examples of how greed is more of a drain on society than a benefit to it. The greedy love intentional inferiority and planned obsolescence.

The light bulb was intentionally redesigned to burn out faster to force people to have to buy them more frequently. That meant people had to pay more to have lighting than was necessary and created a shirt ton of landfill waste that could have been avoided.

The greedy have made things even worse. We throw away enough working cell phones every year to bury Manhattan Island, because of intentional obsolescence.

Greed is a bad thing on balance, no matter how anyone tries to spin it. We should never embrace or glorify greed in any form. We teach our children not to be greedy for a good reason. It's sad that too many adults in our society abandon and ignore the reasons we are taught not to be greedy.

Regarding Tesla being greedy, Tesla spent his life trying to figure out how to give everyone electricity for free. That's not the goal of a greedy person. Also, Tesla wanted DC, because it's better than AC. Edison went with AC, because he could make a lot more money with it.

I'm not glorifying greed. I'm pointing out that we can use greed (my very broad definition) to our benefit and also be guarded against it too.

Admittedly, I wasnt familiar with your light bulb reference. I did a quick search and reading.

Phoebus cartel - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

That is precisely what I talked about earlier regarding oligarchies. Cartels formed to maximize profits. We as a society should guard against it because it raises prices and provide fewer goods or services. We have cultivated more than a hundred years of lessons to avoid these entities. We frown upon price collusions from supermarkets. Japan has strict laws on packaging. What is on the label must be exactly found in the package. We can and should regulate.

Heres another example. There are two doctors. One has a laid back personality. He sees enough patient to fund his staff and office plus some just enough for the life that he liked. The other doctor is a bit more ambitious and "greedy". He works long hours and expands. He hires more staff and doctors for his next few clinics. There isnt an inherent evil in that. He wants more money for whatever reason and works hard to make a lot more than the other doctor. His "greed" opened more clinics for patient care. I dont have a problem with that until he monopolizes the clinic market in the area and raise prices. Till then we won by having more patient care. We can still progressively tax him to funnel some of that wealth back.

So back to Tesla and Edison. What you wrote there about DC and ac is exactly the competition I referenced. Edison championed DC. He had the infrastructure in place for nyc. The problem with DC is that power can only be transmitted in short distances. While safe to the touch, we would need a power plant at every block with power lines above us like a blanket. Tesla on the other hand championed ac, which can be trasmitted from long distances. He could power nyc from Niagara falls. It is unsafe and Edison shocked cows to show just how dangerous ac was, implying Tesla was out to kill people. Tesla countered by sitting in...was it a Tesla cage? In any case, the superior product won, leaving us with sprawling ugly power lines with power plants miles from city centers. Tesla patented his motor and lived a lavished nyc elite lifestyle. Whether he wanted to give free electricity is up for debate. He eventually died a penniless man...either to bad investments, bad business practices (selling his patents early) or altruism to his business partner. He still tried inventing new things even till his final failing company...for a profit.

 

[MT15]

I think ambition and greed are maybe being conflated a bit. Ambition is what drives people for increased notice, more money, etc. Greed can happen when anmbition overtakes morality or integrity.

Ambition can be both good or bad, depending. And greed is part of ambition, they’re somewhat linked I think.

 

[LA 2 L.A.]

I'm not glorifying greed. I'm pointing out that we can use greed (my very broad definition) to our benefit and also be guarded against it too.

Admittedly, I wasnt familiar with your light bulb reference. I did a quick search and reading.

Phoebus cartel - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

That is precisely what I talked about earlier regarding oligarchies. Cartels formed to maximize profits. We as a society should guard against it because it raises prices and provide fewer goods or services. We have cultivated more than a hundred years of lessons to avoid these entities. We frown upon price collusions from supermarkets. Japan has strict laws on packaging. What is on the label must be exactly found in the package. We can and should regulate.

Heres another example. There are two doctors. One has a laid back personality. He sees enough patient to fund his staff and office plus some just enough for the life that he liked. The other doctor is a bit more ambitious and "greedy". He works long hours and expands. He hires more staff and doctors for his next few clinics. There isnt an inherent evil in that. He wants more money for whatever reason and works hard to make a lot more than the other doctor. His "greed" opened more clinics for patient care. I dont have a problem with that until he monopolizes the clinic market in the area and raise prices. Till then we won by having more patient care. We can still progressively tax him to funnel some of that wealth back.

So back to Tesla and Edison. What you wrote there about DC and ac is exactly the competition I referenced. Edison championed DC. He had the infrastructure in place for nyc. The problem with DC is that power can only be transmitted in short distances. While safe to the touch, we would need a power plant at every block with power lines above us like a blanket. Tesla on the other hand championed ac, which can be trasmitted from long distances. He could power nyc from Niagara falls. It is unsafe and Edison shocked cows to show just how dangerous ac was, implying Tesla was out to kill people. Tesla countered by sitting in...was it a Tesla cage? In any case, the superior product won, leaving us with sprawling ugly power lines with power plants miles from city centers. Tesla patented his motor and lived a lavished nyc elite lifestyle. Whether he wanted to give free electricity is up for debate. He eventually died a penniless man...either to bad investments, bad business practices (selling his patents early) or altruism to his business partner. He still tried inventing new things even till his final failing company...for a profit.

You're glorifying greed by minimizing the damage of actual greed and confusing traits that aren't greed with greed to make false claims that greed gave us things it has not given us.

It's not debatable that Nicola Tesla was trying to create a cheap and renewable source of electricity with the intention of providing free electricity to everyone.

Greed is bad. Greed is destructive. Greed is an emotional and mental disease.

 

[UriUT]

I think ambition and greed are maybe being conflated a bit. Ambition is what drives people for increased notice, more money, etc. Greed can happen when anmbition overtakes morality or integrity.

Ambition can be both good or bad, depending. And greed is part of ambition, they’re somewhat linked I think.

There Is No Such Thing as Greed

If you think someone is greedy, then the problem is within you.

www.psychologytoday.com

Greed, then, is just desire with the added adjective excessive. Wait a minute – isn’t that what we call ambition? So, who gets to determine what level of excessive desire becomes greed? Is it like United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s description of hard-core pornography: “I’ll know it when I see it”? That’s not only vague, it’s completely subjective, and a frightening standard on which to determine the law of the land.

 

[Dragon]

I worked for an international company before retiring and a few years ago I spoke with an american collegue about the difference in work culture

He put it this way

Denmark

• You’re expected to be competent but modest
• Emphasis is on: “How do you contribute to the team?

US

• You’re expected to sell yourself confidently
• Achievements are highlighted clearly
• Emphasis is on: “What makes you stand out?”

That clearly highlights the difference in culture

 

[TampaJoe]

I worked for an international company before retiring and a few years ago I spoke with an american collegue about the difference in work culture

He put it this way

Denmark

• You’re expected to be competent but modest
• Emphasis is on: “How do you contribute to the team?

US

• You’re expected to sell yourself confidently
• Achievements are highlighted clearly
• Emphasis is on: “What makes you stand out?”

That clearly highlights the difference in culture

I don’t see that the difference is either good or bad.

I also work for a multinational company. We have all kinds of colleagues in the US. Some are type A and some are not. So I don’t know that your summation is necessarily the norm. Company philisophy differs from company to company here in the states.

 

[Dragon]

I don’t see that the difference is either good or bad.

I also work for a multinational company. We have all kinds of colleagues in the US. Some are type A and some are not. So I don’t know that your summation is necessarily the norm. Company philisophy differs from company to company here in the states.

I don't know about US companies aside from what I have heard from collegues but the danish one is spot on! Every job interview I have ever been to or participated in has focused on team work and asking about successfull team projects. So what you can contribute to the team and how you work in teams are the absolute top priority

 

[TampaJoe]

I don't know about US companies aside from what I have heard from collegues but the danish one is spot on! Every job interview I have ever been to or participated in has focused on team work and asking about successfull team projects. So what you can contribute to the team and how you work in teams are the absolute top priority

As I said. Cultures vary from company to company. I don’t see that as either good or bad.

 

[Dragon]

As I said. Cultures vary from company to company. I don’t see that as either good or bad.

"Cultures vary from country to country" - fixed

 

[TampaJoe]

"Cultures vary from country to country" - fixed

Yep. That is true as well. So what may work in one doesn’t necessarily work in the other.

 

[LA 2 L.A.]

There Is No Such Thing as Greed

If you think someone is greedy, then the problem is within you.

www.psychologytoday.com

Greed is very real, but it's not what you keep saying it is and trying to make it be. Greed is not simple ambition or desire. Greed is an excessive and insatiable compulsion to keep acquiring. It's an addictive need to acquire. Like all compulsions and addictions it is dysfunctional and destructive.

The Psychology of Greed

Why can't we ever have enough? Read on to discover the psychological factors driving our endless chase for more-and the paths to contentment that cultures worldwide have mastered.

www.psychologytoday.com

Greed comes in many forms. Financial greed...Material greed...Power greed...experiential greed...relational greed...​

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Greed isn't a moral failing. It's a psychological trap that promises fulfillment through acquisition, while consistently failing to satisfy us. Understanding the mechanisms behind our endless desires is the first step toward escaping this trap.​

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https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2025/07/15/the-problem-with-greed-and-what-leaders-can-choose-instead/

Greed doesn’t innovate; it extracts. Greed doesn’t lead; it dominates. Greed doesn’t build; it consumes.​

​

A neural perspective on when and why trait greed comes at the expense of others - PMC

Depending on the point of view, conceptions of greed range from being a desirable and inevitable feature of a well-regulated, well-balanced economy to the root of all evil - radix omnium malorum avaritia (Tim 6.10). Regarding the latter, it has been ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Here, we show that trait greed predicts selfish economic decisions that come at the expense of others in a resource dilemma. This effect was amplified when individuals strived for obtaining real money, as compared to points, and when their revenue was at the expense of another person, as compared to a computer.​

The Psychology of Greed

Explore how greed shapes behavior, from ambition to addiction—why it drives success but can destroy happiness and teamwork.

www.europeanbusinessreview.com

The psychological literature shows that greed also correlates with various (dark) traits, such as Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, and antagonism. Greedy people are also bad company: bad in your work team, bad in your social group, bad in your community.​

https://repository.tilburguniversity.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/4db336af-d6d0-4f4b-8c6e-890dafa6a801/content

Today, greed is not part of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–5) anymore, but a related condition is: Hoarding Disorder. Compulsive hoarding tendencies actually occur across a variety of mental disorders, including not only hoarding disorder, but also obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and schizophrenia (Dozier & DeShong, 2022)​