I think as long as ppl can as individals buy massive superyachts we are fked and wont progress, only regress, the amount of toys, widespread power, and long term health you can buy with wealth only increases over time

I should have read the title and saved myself one paragraph

...i always ask providers up-front what is my cost without using any insurance versus my out-of-pocket cost after insurance, and most of the time it's substantially cheaper not to use insurance at all even though it won't count toward my deductible...

...those private-industry middlemen are a huge burden on the healthcare system, and they persist only because their costs are hidden from patients...

They sound like my family. God forbid there be "socialized" healthcare that the "leeches" can benefit from, but also insurance sucks and doesn't pay for anything and whoops now we have medical debt.

They don't want their tax dollars to subsidize the care of anyone they think is less deserving than them, while they begrudgingly accept having to pay hundreds of dollars each month on an insurance plan that won't even cover the care they need.

And they want to see every change introduced by Obamacare undone, so, have fun going back to insurance plans that can deny you coverage just because you have a preexisting condition that they don't want to pay for.

But also,

Citizen 2: [lists actual socialist policies while avoiding certain key words]

Capitalists: I can get behind that.

That sounds very much like must online leftists. Every single thing that improves the world slightly is pushed against, simply because it doesn't solve every problem.

Of course, none of these people do anything for the Revolution they love so much. They're evangelical at this point. Where the Revolution is the second coming, requiring no actual work, just believing in it.

The thing about the slow way is that it's too readily reversible, and since the existing order allows the wealthy who would lose under such policies to consolidate power quite easily, those changes can be undone much more easily than they can be made.

policies cannot always benefit everyone. e.g. wealth tax won't benefit the wealthy, consumer protection won't benefit the corporates

And there’s the third method: subsume it from within. Build a capitalistic product that depreciates a category and eliminates demand, thus rendering entire industries and their related activities obsolete.

It’s why renewable energy is being fought tooth and nail.

Edit: and no, this is not my response to “fastest way to socialism”, this is more like “how to speed-run post-scarcity”

Just depreciate the worthless stuff. If the average person doesn’t need petroleum then that’s 1 less need they have to take care of. If electricity is so cheap from overproduction then it’s practically free.

And here’s where it gets controversial and I start getting downvotes on principle: AI is part of that.

The most persuasive people I’ve seen don’t use that word often. They directly link peoples concerns to inequality (unfair taxation and employment laws), climate ( fossil fuel companies) and unregulated abusive businesses such as big tech.

This is the way. Lefty movements have rightly been criticized for being too academic. Expressing people's concerns in a more relatable and practical way gets more people on board.

I hate "whatever the fuck is happening right now". Give it a different name, I don't care.

Nah