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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?
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.
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.
A capitalist would keep the bridge and charge people for crossing.
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.
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.
Except when profit no longer rises by double digit percentages every year, then they cut the 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.
Just build a bridge outta love
