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A cartoon depicts a chasm with a rope bridge, once connecting both sides, cut and hanging from the side of the cliff, sabotaged by a suit standing on the well forested right side beside a spool of rope and holding a saw. The left side of the chasm is a wasteland of sawn tree stumps. There’s a sign that reads “Please return saw and rope when done”. An empty box sits beneath the sign. The suit calls out to a person in the wasteland on the left side of the chasm “BUILD YOUR OWN DAMN BRIDGE LIKE I DID!” The person in the wasteland replies “WITH WHAT?! “
Caption: Capitalism at its finest
h/t to @dgar@aus.social
This incorrectly depicts that the capitalist built his own bridge.
Yeah, the left side of the chasm should be full of all of the workers who built the bridge.
Or, hear me out, they’re at the bottom of the chasm now?
Though it is correct they would claim they did.
I wouldn’t say that capitalists do no work at all, that’s just a way to exploit people in the middle class to say the people on the lower class think they do no work and they are lazy.
It perfectly fits the metaphor because while the person on the right will tell a story about how when they started all they had was trees and a vision, it’s clear to see they were able to have that vision because of the tools that were handed down to them from the people before, that they selfishly hand removed from the equation not remembering they needed at least a scrap of iron and some fibers to make the vision seem reasonable.
The cartoon did not show that. He’s lying saying he did. He found the bridge therefore it’s his and the “you made this? I made this!” meme kicks in and here we are.
A capitalist would keep the bridge and charge people for crossing.
Except when profit no longer rises by double digit percentages every year, then they cut the bridge.
And then declare bridge bankruptcy, absolving them of building a new bridge.
The bridge is not a literal toll road but a metaphor for economic mobility.
The capitalist has found opportunities to improve his his wealth and has now created conditions where others are barred from same opportunities.
That’s the most efficient use of capital though. Everyone building their own bridge is stupid.
No the most efficient use is the government building the bridge because they can do it most cost efficiently when they already have to build 1000 bridges.
It also works for health care. Socialism works.
Government costs a lot of extra money, even when the scope is just building a 1000 bridges. That’s not cost efficient at all.
The capitalist alternative is worse though, because the cost for using it will be higher, even if the cost for making was lower.
But that takes capital away from the government who could be spending it on healthcare…
Opportunity cost
They can do both.
Magic money tree eh?
They certainly seems to have one for military and police.
Every country does. Every country doesn’t need to be building bridges constantly though, there’s only so many rivers. It’s inefficient.
Better to contract that out via competitive tenders to specialist bridge builders.
With your own bootstraps of course
Exactly!
Just build a bridge outta love
With the pieces of the bridge that fell to your side?
I feel like the original bridge builder should have burned the bridge, not cut it away, for a more accurate description.
Yeah but he kept the tools
Sure, but neither of those tools will help span the gap and get the rope and precut logs back in place. Like if they were on his side would it even help?
Also, I’m still not sure how the boomer guy got over there in the first place. Like, did he just jump or something?
Rawr xD
I’d say this is just the inheritance problem.
Not defending capitalism, but this is not capitalism, this is just a person being a sociopath.
The capitalist stand-in character privatized common resources. Which is the definition of Capital.
Sure, but in every centralized political and economic system, regardless of what you want to call it, some have more control than others and will exploit when they think they can get away with it.
Almost every CEO is a sociopath. Except Costco’s that man is a treasure!
So is almost every “leader” regardless of political or economic system.
in fact there are studies showing this https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniesarkis/2019/10/27/senior-executives-are-more-likely-to-be-psychopaths/?sh=333d4e4e47c4
