This is an original. I found this graffito on a wall in Taunton, Somerset in 2012 and I don't think I've ever posted it anywhere. Yes, I know it's not technically a meme.
~ Sunset Snuggles
@DaringSprinter quite right! And I suspect that some of the untranslated carvings around the base of Minoan ruins say the same thing.
But the caption is not correct: the one thing we can say with absolute certainty is that the people making such remarks are not capitalists. A capitalist would value the work correctly and be more than happy to pay the minimum wage that gets the work done.
@CuddleDuncan: Ah, I see. I thought a capitalist was someone who wanted as much capital as they could get their hands on (and thus would give as little as possible in exchange for as much as possible). More than happy, you understand, to pay the very minimum, even if it's not enough to live on—and quite possibly shoot anyone who demands more.
@DaringSprinter I think that's a mugger??
A genuine capitalist values capital, and wants to put it to the most efficient use. That is, they want the best possible return on their capital. So sure, a capitalist wants to pay the minimum amount possible. (Every time you compare prices you are acting as a capitalist.) But the sum is straightforward in principle: how much does it cost to get this work done, how much can I sell the work for, is it worth it?
In principle it's the same sum done by a cheetah when considering whether to chase an antelope. How much energy will it cost to catch the wretched thing, how much delicious antelope meat does that weak/sick creature look like it's got on it, is it worth it.
The whiners in those threads want something for nothing. They want the antelope to walk over to them and just .... die.
@CuddleDuncan: A mugger or a slave owner. But I'm pretty sure plantation owners were still capitalists! They were just capitalists with the power that, say, the people setting insulin prices do—the power to say "give me what I demand or suffer and die." The minimum amount it's possible to pay is very low! Basic humanity doesn't seem to enter the capitalist sum anywhere.
This is getting kind of off-topic, though. Sorry everybody!
@DaringSprinter
Technically, a slave plantation owner is indeed a capitalist. It works out cheaper to have slaves than it does to transport severely under-employed agricultural labourers from Europe and pay them the minimum wage they will accept.
The interplay between capitalism and basic humanity is complex. One does not trump the other - it's perfectly possible to be a true capitalist and a decent human being. In fact, successful capitalism requires a minimum standard of society to function. You need to have rule of law, decent public hygiene, sufficient standard of education and so on. Good capitalists therefore want decent basic social standards, because that's how they make the best return on their capital.
The problem is that excess regulation snuffs out capitalism and increases corruption. On the other hand inadequate regulation leads the competing capitalists into a 'race to the bottom', leading, for example to slave plantations.
Capitalism is a useful vehicle for those who are greedy, selfish, cruel or merely heartless. They use it to fulfil their greedy/selfish/cruel/heartless fantasies. But others use capitalism to fulfil their fantasies of philanthropy and improving social conditions.
It could be argued that one of the greatest problems our society faces is lack of capitalism. If the air, and the water, and the trees had been properly recognised as capital in their own right and valued correctly at the beginning, we would be in a much better state now.
@CuddleDuncan and @DaringSprinter - WAY off topic. Remember the TOS and no politics. Take it PMs, but thou shalt not in the forums. Much obliged. [-Sid]
@HumbleBaron Those are some spicy memes bro 👍🏼
@munkg Lol. Good memes. And @HumbleBaron's memes are rather spicy! Lol. And I speak most of that hillbilly. Lol.
@achetocuddle