ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠

And you’ve exemplified the heart of my gripe: There is more to value than economic value. I’m not talking about selling the jetstream, but about how it provides stable weather patterns to both the American Midwest and Central Europe. There is value in that.

I appreciate your base / superstructure argument but I don’t understand it without further explanation. A lot of the superstructure half do seem related to production: education and art, to name just two.

What labor is required for a sunset, or a clear mountain stream? What labor created the jet stream?

To harvest the ocean of fish requires labor, but to stock it did not. And a balanced ocean ecosystem has value whether or not it is utilized, as does a forest or the clear mountain stream.

Putting chili directly in the bag of Fritos.

I ended up with a pink-and-purple triple mohawk, my clothes in shreds, and my skin splattered with four different colors of dye. There was exactly one Polaroid taken of the final result and I looked like a plus-sized goblin. Sadly, the photo is lost to time.

See, this is part of why I’m not a communist. Not all value derives from labor, some is naturally occuring.

The other sticking point is the inherent value of labor. In communist theory (as I understand it) the value of the final product is equal to the value of the labor required to produce it. But this means that if the product is, well, crap, then the labor put into it is without much value. That’s a no-sell for me. You can say that the value of the labor was wasted, but to say it doesn’t exist? I can’t agree to that proposition.

You would think, if any company would promote remote work, it would be Zoom.

Fully with you on productive vs. extractive capital. I try to make sure all my investments are ethical and productive.

At this point, I almost have to think you’re trolling. Until you prove it, though, I’ll attempt to keep discussing in good faith.

And so, your link: “Usury” is the English word for that concept. And investments generally aren’t interest-bearing loans, anyway, but profit-sharing ventures.

Further: If I take my wages, my active income, and I invest it, the income from those investments is passive income, even if the initial investment was made with active income.

Finally: Videos are an ablist format that are hostile to those with vision and hearing impairments, both of which I have. I don’t think saying “use your words” is refusing new information, but rather demanding it.

I’m not watching a video. Anything worth saying is better said in plain text.

Again, I wait tables and will not receive a pension; I barely receive a wage. Any late-life income is going to be either support from my children or from investments I make now.

Maybe this is different where you live, but where I live, most retirees have retirement investments, not pensions, and even pensions are usually drawn from a fund that is invested in the market. You can argue this shouldn’t be the case, but you cannot seriously argue that this is not the case.

You know that most retirees rely on passive income, right? That investment is for the working class as well as the bourgeois and wealthy? Fucks sake, I wait tables and I invest, both in stocks and real estate.

2, and no.

I’m not against passive income, I’m against billionaires.

Just because I’m not a communist doesn’t mean I’m not in favor of eating the rich.

I think those are called “buddy comedies”, if you’d include things like Wedding Crashers.

For water and pop, sure.

For cocktails, not so much.

Sure. But you’re be surprised how often someone asks for, say, a sangria without ice and then asks why the glass is only half full.

See also: Trigun, Firefly, The Mandalorean

You remember a few years back when stimulus cheques were being sent out? They were only being sent to those who filed taxes.

Depends if I know them. There’s been a permanent camp around the corner from my house the last five years. My wife and I know a lot of the long-term residents and have helped them do laundry, charge phones, and file taxes. But a stranger? I’d direct them towards other local resources.