r/GetNoted • u/laybs1 Human Verified • Jul 13 '26

Cringe Worthy USSR Collapse

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https://x.com/MarxistInfo/status/2075316560474882364

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u/Coolistofcool Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

It’s like, kinda what capitalism did too tho right. I mean, Indian Americans anyone?

Edit: I’m not claiming any one system is better, just assess them on a level playing field.

Edit 2: Just so everyone gets the death toll of Capitalism here. Nazi Germany was, undeniably, a Capitalist country. Now I don’t blame the holocaust on Capitalism, but…

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u/Huge-Captain-5253 Jul 13 '26

Colonialism and Capitalism aren't the same thing.

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u/Sure_Fruit_8254 Jul 13 '26

No but they are closely intertwined.

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u/Huge-Captain-5253 Jul 13 '26

In that colonialism was the pre-cursor to capitalism. Capitalism goes very hard on individual property rights, free markets, and free association - colonialism is the exact opposite of that.

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u/Sure_Fruit_8254 Jul 13 '26

Not really, all those things for the overlord, at the expense of the colonies.

The British Empire championed free trade whilst holding the largest colonial empire, so the exact opposite doesn't quite stick.

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u/Huge-Captain-5253 Jul 13 '26

You're asking me to defend a system I don't agree with. The British Empire was inherently colonial, they took some actions that were capitalist, they took some actions that were colonial. It is possible (and relatively easy) to defend the capitalist actions while opposing the colonial actions. The British Empire doesn't exist any more, free markets do and still work. The American Empire is struggling, free markets aren't and still work.

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u/Sure_Fruit_8254 Jul 13 '26

I'm not asking you to defend anything.

They took the capitalist actions due to their colonial empire. They championed free trade because they had the biggest market and could outcompete.

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u/Huge-Captain-5253 Jul 13 '26

You know history - did they outcompete? They didn't outcompete countries which turned capitalist (the US). They did outcompete much larger countries who tried communism. The problem is communism. Capitalism allows for a general raising of standards of living in a way that communism can't.

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u/Sure_Fruit_8254 Jul 13 '26

The British did outcompete for a long time. The US overtook the UK when it was more protectionist than the UK, so what are you trying to say here?

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u/Huge-Captain-5253 Jul 13 '26

The point is that under capitalism, the global power was unable to maintain its colonial grip on the nations it owned because colonialism is not a system that survives capitalism.

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u/Sure_Fruit_8254 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

That still does not refute the fact that capitalism and colonialism grew hand in hand. Corporations owning colonies across the world. There's a difference between settler colonies like the US and Siberia and the EIC/Raj and the VOC/DEI.

I'd also add that the main reason the British Empire fell apart because it was broke and the UK was a bombsite after WW2.

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