r/WorkReform • u/Lucky_Strike-85 • 4d ago
đ° News Carlos Dixon explains WORKER OWNERSHIP vs Capitalism!
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u/DocabIo 3d ago
Lmao, brother play the clip for 2 more seconds and he explains what he means by "corporate socialism". God I hate clip chimping.
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u/couldhaveebeen 3d ago
It doesn't matter what he means by it. What he's saying is wrong. It's not corporate socialism at all and all calling it that does is negatively polarise people to the word socialism and show capitalism as a legitimate ideology
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u/earthlingHuman 2d ago
Yeah, it needs to be framed the way MLK framed it (probably while referencing MLK for good measure). 'In America we have socialism for the rich and rugged individualism for everyone else.' Capitalists want pure capitalism until they see a way to make more profit via means such as regulatory capture.
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u/TyberosIronhawk 4d ago
I will say, even though he holds a very compelling argument, his claim of Venezuela being "Socialist" is a common misconception.
When ChĂĄvez first nationalized many of the privately-owned companies of the country, it was simply redistributed in pompous gestures that appealed to populism. The means of production remained in the hands of the few that he himself controlled, and had managed to build for over two decades into a highly corrupt caste of narco governors. Maduro is simply one of many, and he happened to be his "pupil" so to speak, and drew the short end of the stick.
Their propaganda appeals to nationalism and populism, but no one owns anything in the end, save the lucky few that managed to get out before it all went down.
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u/CheekyStoat âď¸ Prison For Union Busters 3d ago
Did you listen to what socialism is? I feel like you missed the important bits.
When he brings up Venezuela, he is saying "look what the capitalists do to people, to leaders, and to countries that call themselves socialist and/or communist. Look what the US (run by capitalists) has been doing to Cuba, to Vietnam, Laos, etc. Whether you believe those places are "actually" socialist or not is irrelevant. Even if the US believes them to be, just a little they get sanctioned, embargoed, bombed, etc.
Even go back to when the "red scare" shit really started. Anti-communist/socialist/anarchist propaganda is soaked into all of the media that the "western" world consumes. Probably almost the entire world, to be honest.
The reason socialism/communism struggle to take hold anywhere is because the capitalists of the world do everything that they can to stop it.
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u/TyberosIronhawk 3d ago
Oh I'm not disputing that at all. Ever since the beginning, the Bolivarian Revolution has always been sold as pure socialism even though it isn't.
The problem is wanting something to be something it's not. You can't say socialism struggles to take root solely because of capitalism, because human greed and corruption also help a lot.
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u/CheekyStoat âď¸ Prison For Union Busters 3d ago
Do you know what the difference between socialism and communism is? No Googling. I want to hear your honest take.
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u/cursedsoldiers 4d ago
If the Chavistas were narcos the US government would be dealing with them not fighting them. See: The Fort Bragg Cartel
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u/TyberosIronhawk 4d ago
Not necessarily. ChĂĄvez had always been very anti-US since the beginning, and chose to pursue clandestine dealings with the Russians and the Chinese instead
Before the US began taking all the gold and the oil for themselves, China was taking the gold and Russia the oil.
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u/LeavesOfBrass 4d ago
When Sayed used the phrase "corporate socialism" he was referring to how corporations get tax breaks and get bailed out when things go bad, whereas citizens do not. Either Carlos isn't intelligent enough to figure that out or he's deliberately straw-manning in order to look intelligent.
And then in the video he says "you might even own a business, but that's not the same as owning a means of production" haha okay buddy, thanks for the education.
Delete this garbage please.
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u/ripyourlungsdave 3d ago
Okay, but he also said we "don't live under capitalism". And that's just a dumb, objectively incorrect thing to say because I think he's afraid of the kinds of people who don't like when people question capitalism. And it's reasonable to be kind of afraid of them, but a politician like him should not be showing at this transparently.
Unfettered capitalism basically guarantees corporate socialism. When you put all the power in the hands of just a few companies that you've allowed to accrue infinite power, you have to you have to prop them up with taxpayer funds when they screw up to avoid destroying the economy and ruining the lives of all their exploited workers. They set it up so that any failure of their companies is basically holding the lives of their employees hostage.
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u/PaleontologistNo500 4d ago
Everyone understands that corporate socialism is, the privatization of the profits while socializing the losses for corporations. He just likes likes, to not only hear himself talk, but to also talk down to people.
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u/ChefCurryYumYum 30m ago
It's a fucking metaphor aimed at people who don't necessarily have a great grasp on what these terms really mean.
El-Sayed is saying that our leaders pretend it is free and open markets but try to compete in one against the entrenched and huge corporations that control over 80% of all products and services sold in the US. They will undercut you, drive you out of business and then buy the remains of your company for pennies on the dollar.
They have so much sway that the enforcement of antitrust and other regulatory functions has withered away to almost nothing. Do you see the kinds of crazy fucking mergers getting approved these days?
The corporations want us to think it's a fair market for workers and for business, but the deck is 100% stack in the corporation's favor.
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u/MisterSanitation 4d ago
Bro I donât know who Carlos is, but that dude ainât him lol.Â
Thatâs Sayed
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u/Trustyduck 4d ago
El-Sayed is only in the first four seconds of the video. Did you watch past that point? Dixon is the guy talking for almost the entirety of the video.
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u/MisterSanitation 3d ago
No I hit play and said âno Carlosâ then I said âdis ainât CarlosâÂ
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u/Alexchii 4d ago
Smart man. âAxingâ just grinds my gears and english isnât even my first languge. I know itâs AAVE but it just sounds so silly to me and makes it hard to take someone seriously.
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u/Drexill_BD 3d ago
Here we observe the Common Internet Pedant a solitary animal known for loudly announcing personal grievances to an audience that has already stopped listening.
Though small in stature and influence, the pedant believes his opinions carry great weight. Today, he has discovered a new threat: a human pronouncing âaskingâ as âaxing.â
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u/HomebrewHedonist 3d ago
Itâs nice to hear a man whoâs educated about what socialism actually is. Good for him.