OP didn’t respond so I will take a shot. My understanding is that under communism, the economy has to be planned by the government. Under capitalism, the price of shoes (for example) is usually determined by the demand for shoes and the amount of shoes that can be manufactured. If demand falls, the price falls. If manufacturing capacity increases, the price falls more, etc. This mechanism has feedback loops that make it efficient. In theory, companies never make more shoes than they can sell, because if they do make too many, they can sell the excess by cutting prices. Under communism there is no free market, so the mechanics of supply and demand don’t work. Some communist bureaucrat conducts a study and estimates that the country will need 100k pairs of shoes next quarter. The government then makes those shoes in a state-owned factory. Suppose, though, that it turns out that the country needed more. With no free market, there is no competitor to step in and meet the demand for shoes - now you have a shortage. Similarly, you can have considerable waste if you grow too many apples or whatever. In true communism, there is no price to adjust - you either have an apple voucher or you don’t. Thus there is generally more problems meeting demand efficiently. This is, in fact, exactly what we saw under the Soviet Union - the stores were often stuffed with unwanted items while long lines developed for items that were in high demand. Without any consideration of authoritarianism etc., this is an often-cited reason for the failure of communism.

I am not a political theorist or an economist, so please correct me if I am wrong.

The racism was there before Trump. He just gave the klan permission to ditch the sheets

Because this is Trump’s America now :(

Sweet! Four more years of Trump presidency, and Elon Musk can just pay for it out of pocket.

I remember when Trump joked about running for president. He also joked about sexually assaulting women. Then he joked about supporting white supremacists, undermining democracy, etc. Every Trump joke is a probe to see if his supporters will back him.

The amazon reviewer is confusing chloroform (an inhalation anaesthetic that, in movies, is used to knock out people for kidnapping) and chlorophyll (a harmless substance used by plants for photosynthesis)

Well, it’s plausible if you take ‘us’ to mean the corporate ruling class

Musk has now surpassed Carnegie. You are right about Mansa Musa (for now), but the gap is closing. According to google today, Musk is at $334B, Carnegie peaked at a modest $309B, and Mansa Musa had about $400B, though there are quibbles about personal wealth vs. kingdom’s treasury. If you want to compare Musk and Musa, I think you could reasonably add the GDP of the US to Musk’s fortune, since he is one of the puppeteers behind Trump. All figures adjusted for inflation, by the way.

Haha right you are. It is in his nature, I suppose, to grasp and grasp after already being the richest person in history. In a better world, we would put people like Musk in a nice, humane institution.

If you’re LGBTQ or a racial/religious minority, the wet and windy thing that is coming to kill you was just elected president

Yep. Fortunately for Elon (and, you know, fascism) he doesn’t need it any more. For Elon, it is already ‘Mission Accomplished’. The richest, most thin-skinned losers on Earth already control the biggest economy and the biggest military. What more could that shitstain hope to get out of Twitter?

Pretty sure corruption was a literal campaign promise. “Vote for me and I will put my chief donor in charge of ruining your stupid lives” turned out to be a compelling message

yep. trump controls all three braches of government. who is going to do something about it?

i’m worried about that too, especially since many people who voted against him belong to vulnerable groups. however, i think his largely ignorant and poor supporters will get their fair share of suffering as he simultaneously destroys the economy and the social safety net

You say ‘politics’ like it is some trivial thing. Politics involves beliefs on personhood, human rights, racism, equity, crime and punishment, and fundamental ideas about morality. I think it is totally appropriate to make judgments about a person’s character based on their politics.

Now JD Vance should cosplay a Wal-Mart greeter: “Salutations, fellow human”

This is the perfect answer. Self-reinforcing loop

I didn’t know the republican party operated in Germany