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On February 25 2025 20:57 KT_Elwood wrote: The efficiency of the private sector also comes from FAILING businesses.
Small businesses average 8 1/2 years of lifespan.
Know what shouldn't fail or be sold after 8 1/2 years?
Public sector.
There is a lot more to it. A private company can fail because it is too good, for example by becoming a threat to a giant Corp, which proceeds to buy them and wreck it.
The main problem with private companies is that they too often serve owners instead of customers or employees. It might seem "efficient" to max out a short term profit, but at what cost?
How many multi million golden parachutes for bad managers do you see in the public sector?
The public sector has to be held accountable to elected politicians, who are accountable to their voters.
The public sector is not a free-for-all of wasting money any more than the private sector is, the unfortunate mechanics are just very different.
On February 25 2025 18:18 Acrofales wrote: Where does this unshakeable belief in the invisible hand of the market come from? No economist believes that shit anymore. They gave Kahneman a novel prize years ago for his work showing that it's a fun idea but with no basis in reality. And behavioral economics is a mainstay of every undergraduate program in economy. So why the fuck are people still attached to this idea that perfectly informed rational actors are setting the correct price for everything in the free market of capitalism, and if they aren't then it's because they aren't free enough, not because *shudder* they aren't rational nor informed. It's insanity to still believe that shit today.
I think from people around when the Soviet union fell it is the memory of how much worse they had it then people on our side of the wall. I don't think it is a fluke that the far right is rising there, you have many disaffected people and no way they are turning to communism after what happened last time. Tankies really need to change their marketing from the USSR was good it was just capitalist propaganda, too that wasn't really communism it was just Russian colonial authoritarianism branded as communism if they want even the slightest bit of traction. Saying it was propaganda does not work on the people who lived it, and those make up most of the people voting.
The Far Right is perhaps rising in primarily East Germany because the region as a whole hasn’t bridged gaps to the West, despite having my entire lifetime to do so.
If Germans, or those non-Germans more au fait want to correct me, go ahead and do so. I don’t think from, what I’ve read that much of the various left parties were operating on any kind of ‘hey Soviet Communism was great, let’s go back to that!’
Tankies, or even non-Tankie Communists aren’t really that much of a going concern in actual electoral politics almost anywhere in Europe, at least to my knowledge.
It’s liberal democrats of various stripes in liberal democracies that keep losing ground to the Far Right, and yeah a smattering of the Far Left but generally to a lesser degree, and generally those aren’t Communists.
It’s also a fight the left are broadly losing sure, but the left doesn’t have decades+ of status quo orthodoxy, economic power and the cultural imprinting that liberal capitalism has behind it.
And hey, yeah very much doubt it’s the majority but you will also have people who did prefer Communism and ye olden days, or those who liked aspects and disliked others, alongside those who just outright hated that system.
from what i've read, ADF is second on polls in western Germany so i doubt it's only an eastern thing. about 1/3 of germans voted for extreme wing parties.
Where do you get 33%? AfD got 20% and is the only extreme wing party. Bsw is a populist shit show without any real message except Putin great. The left is no extreme wing party, they want to tax the rich and block the rise of renting prizes. AfD is indeed a problem in all of Germany, because stupidity is everywhere and despite everyone thinking that way, we never got rid of our nazis, they indoctrinated their children and now that there is a real mass movement of assholes again, they think they are the majority again and can put on their boots again ...
"Die Linke" former PDS former SED (Governing party of the GDR) is the most left of the spectrum. So yeah, 1/3 of the germans voted for either extreme.
But positions of Linke and AfD are acutally similar towards moscow and just bending the knee to putin.
Linke and AfD are working on germany leaving NATO, or even dismanteling it.
Germany is fully open to be influenced by social media, and since the "Content Mafia" is in dire need of that googleAd Sense money, we won't shut either US or CN socials down.
Old people fall for fake news, young people fall for TikToks.
The handicapped DEI Dwarfs of the FAA were at it again in Chicago:
On February 26 2025 06:38 KT_Elwood wrote: "Die Linke" former PDS former SED (Governing party of the GDR) is the most left of the spectrum. So yeah, 1/3 of the germans voted for either extreme.
But positions of Linke and AfD are acutally similar towards moscow and just bending the knee to putin.
Linke and AfD are working on germany leaving NATO, or even dismanteling it.
Germany is fully open to be influenced by social media, and since the "Content Mafia" is in dire need of that googleAd Sense money, we won't shut either US or CN socials down.
Old people fall for fake news, young people fall for TikToks.
The handicapped DEI Dwarfs of the FAA were at it again in Chicago:
Well, by that logic, 100% of the US always votes for the extremes. They have 2 parties. One by defnition is the "most left" and the other is by definition the "most right".
So clearly, that is a totally nonsensical way of looking at these elections. Just because Die Linke are "the most left" doesn't make them extreme. By European standards, they are a normal socialist party. Just because you Americans have moved the Overton window to the point that anything left of neonazis is considered the "far left" over there, doesn't mean we've all gone insane on this side of the ocean too.
That was exactly my point in a previous post. The right has coopted everything. Basically if its not right wing its left wing. Thats why EVERYTHING is political now.
On February 26 2025 09:05 micronesia wrote: Sounds foolish. People who can afford $5M already know how to game the system so they're an economic net less for the country's cashflow.
Could be useful for criminals and terrorists who couldn't get in otherwise. But I suspect this brilliant idea will work as well as Trump vodka or Trump mattresses.
On February 26 2025 06:38 KT_Elwood wrote: "Die Linke" former PDS former SED (Governing party of the GDR) is the most left of the spectrum. So yeah, 1/3 of the germans voted for either extreme.
But positions of Linke and AfD are acutally similar towards moscow and just bending the knee to putin.
Linke and AfD are working on germany leaving NATO, or even dismanteling it.
Germany is fully open to be influenced by social media, and since the "Content Mafia" is in dire need of that googleAd Sense money, we won't shut either US or CN socials down.
Old people fall for fake news, young people fall for TikToks.
The handicapped DEI Dwarfs of the FAA were at it again in Chicago:
Well, by that logic, 100% of the US always votes for the extremes. They have 2 parties. One by defnition is the "most left" and the other is by definition the "most right".
So clearly, that is a totally nonsensical way of looking at these elections. Just because Die Linke are "the most left" doesn't make them extreme. By European standards, they are a normal socialist party. Just because you Americans have moved the Overton window to the point that anything left of neonazis is considered the "far left" over there, doesn't mean we've all gone insane on this side of the ocean too.
On internet and media you almost only see the extremes too. It‘s like the US appears to be in a constant battle between blue haired pansexuals on antidepressants who post on reddit and pick up truck owning gun nuts who love the death penalty and their cousins.
On February 25 2025 18:18 Acrofales wrote: Where does this unshakeable belief in the invisible hand of the market come from? No economist believes that shit anymore. They gave Kahneman a novel prize years ago for his work showing that it's a fun idea but with no basis in reality. And behavioral economics is a mainstay of every undergraduate program in economy. So why the fuck are people still attached to this idea that perfectly informed rational actors are setting the correct price for everything in the free market of capitalism, and if they aren't then it's because they aren't free enough, not because *shudder* they aren't rational nor informed. It's insanity to still believe that shit today.
I think from people around when the Soviet union fell it is the memory of how much worse they had it then people on our side of the wall. I don't think it is a fluke that the far right is rising there, you have many disaffected people and no way they are turning to communism after what happened last time. Tankies really need to change their marketing from the USSR was good it was just capitalist propaganda, too that wasn't really communism it was just Russian colonial authoritarianism branded as communism if they want even the slightest bit of traction. Saying it was propaganda does not work on the people who lived it, and those make up most of the people voting.
The Far Right is perhaps rising in primarily East Germany because the region as a whole hasn’t bridged gaps to the West, despite having my entire lifetime to do so.
If Germans, or those non-Germans more au fait want to correct me, go ahead and do so. I don’t think from, what I’ve read that much of the various left parties were operating on any kind of ‘hey Soviet Communism was great, let’s go back to that!’
Tankies, or even non-Tankie Communists aren’t really that much of a going concern in actual electoral politics almost anywhere in Europe, at least to my knowledge.
It’s liberal democrats of various stripes in liberal democracies that keep losing ground to the Far Right, and yeah a smattering of the Far Left but generally to a lesser degree, and generally those aren’t Communists.
It’s also a fight the left are broadly losing sure, but the left doesn’t have decades+ of status quo orthodoxy, economic power and the cultural imprinting that liberal capitalism has behind it.
And hey, yeah very much doubt it’s the majority but you will also have people who did prefer Communism and ye olden days, or those who liked aspects and disliked others, alongside those who just outright hated that system.
Have you listened to James O'Brien before? He had an excellent couple of hours discussing the German elections and why the berlin wall perimeter casts such a long shadow on the voting patterns of Germans today. One of the interesting insights was that people in East Germany yes suffered under authoritarianism and a uber police state, but they also didn't really have to decide anything for themselves. And once they get offered true democracy, there is almost too much to figure out and they want the warm blanket of authoritarianism. They want things to go back to being uncomplicated. And as you said many actually enjoyed their previous country, not everything in East Germany was bad. The AfD offers simple strong messages that they resonate with. (to note, obviously not all feel this way and some East German callers contradict these views.) Heres the discussion, youtu.be
On February 25 2025 18:18 Acrofales wrote: Where does this unshakeable belief in the invisible hand of the market come from? No economist believes that shit anymore. They gave Kahneman a novel prize years ago for his work showing that it's a fun idea but with no basis in reality. And behavioral economics is a mainstay of every undergraduate program in economy. So why the fuck are people still attached to this idea that perfectly informed rational actors are setting the correct price for everything in the free market of capitalism, and if they aren't then it's because they aren't free enough, not because *shudder* they aren't rational nor informed. It's insanity to still believe that shit today.
I think from people around when the Soviet union fell it is the memory of how much worse they had it then people on our side of the wall. I don't think it is a fluke that the far right is rising there, you have many disaffected people and no way they are turning to communism after what happened last time. Tankies really need to change their marketing from the USSR was good it was just capitalist propaganda, too that wasn't really communism it was just Russian colonial authoritarianism branded as communism if they want even the slightest bit of traction. Saying it was propaganda does not work on the people who lived it, and those make up most of the people voting.
The Far Right is perhaps rising in primarily East Germany because the region as a whole hasn’t bridged gaps to the West, despite having my entire lifetime to do so.
If Germans, or those non-Germans more au fait want to correct me, go ahead and do so. I don’t think from, what I’ve read that much of the various left parties were operating on any kind of ‘hey Soviet Communism was great, let’s go back to that!’
Tankies, or even non-Tankie Communists aren’t really that much of a going concern in actual electoral politics almost anywhere in Europe, at least to my knowledge.
It’s liberal democrats of various stripes in liberal democracies that keep losing ground to the Far Right, and yeah a smattering of the Far Left but generally to a lesser degree, and generally those aren’t Communists.
It’s also a fight the left are broadly losing sure, but the left doesn’t have decades+ of status quo orthodoxy, economic power and the cultural imprinting that liberal capitalism has behind it.
And hey, yeah very much doubt it’s the majority but you will also have people who did prefer Communism and ye olden days, or those who liked aspects and disliked others, alongside those who just outright hated that system.
Have you listened to James O'Brien before? He had an excellent couple of hours discussing the German elections and why the berlin wall perimeter casts such a long shadow on the voting patterns of Germans today. One of the interesting insights was that people in East Germany yes suffered under authoritarianism and a uber police state, but they also didn't really have to decide anything for themselves. And once they get offered true democracy, there is almost too much to figure out and they want the warm blanket of authoritarianism. They want things to go back to being uncomplicated. And as you said many actually enjoyed their previous country, not everything in East Germany was bad. The AfD offers simple strong messages that they resonate with. (to note, obviously not all feel this way and some East German callers contradict these views.) Heres the discussion, youtu.be
Don't have the time to listen to 90 minutes of youtube right now, but from my personel experience, his take is not the best. All the people from eastern germany i know (my family and the family of my wife) are in the camp of it wasn't all bad. My mother is the greenest person i know, her parents are AfD/BSW. The reason they think that verything wasn't bad in the GDR is that not everything was bad in GDR. As long as you were not in opposition to the system or the system decided that it wanted to oppose you, life in the GDR was uncomplicated and easy. There was no pressure in the workplace, there was a lot of social security, you did your thing and thn you went back to your personel life.
Of course, compared to the west, there wasn't a lot to buy and do, but a lot of people only realized the difference in consumerism when the borders opened. And then they also realized the pain that was needed to achieve this consumerism. I am pretty sure that my mother was much more happy in Thüringen then she was and is in Baden-Württemberg and that's the thing they want back. Not the charade of a political system with an authoritarian government, but the simplicity of social and economic life. Go to work, be safe and happy with cucumbers instad of bananas.
The older people in the east started to be widely left when they realized, that their easy way of life was exchanged with poverty in a consumerist society that had everything they had dreamed about for sale, just not for them. It's their children that turned neo nazis and right wing social media smombis that shifted them slowly to AfD, in addition to those that had always been nazis becaus their parents had escaped the net of righteous oppression that the real nazis had enjoyed in the east a lot mor then in the west.
Being against NATO in Europe is typically a stance for the actual far left, though. Ukraine even caused internal turmoil, as they tend to support the "underdog", but some far leftists still look up to the USSR, and have sympathies for Russia.
Once up on a time, there were even far-left domestic terrorists, but they are now so old and fringe, most have forgotten about them.
When pushed about their most unpopular points of view, far left parties who manage to grow tend to get swallowed up by more moderate leftwing parties. The main threat in Europe is defenetly from the far right.
Conflating modern Russia with USSR is like, hilariously sad for people who have a, so called, hard left stance in Europe. Allegiances to countries decoupled from their executed ideology makes no sense, you need those two together for it to make sense. It's why the fascist side of USA is so fond of Russia today, they're so deep into the sauce that they just see a 1:1 mapping with Putin and how the Trump administration wants to run things.
EPT
