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by anovikov 165 days ago
Less consumer-oriented culture demands brainwashing, totalitarianism and terror, to force people to not do things they naturally want to, when there is a capability for doing that (if there's no capability, a nation will be physically overwhelmed by other nations and cease to exist/replaced)...
2 comments
sorushn 165 days ago
>> Less consumer-oriented culture demands brainwashing

It simply requires putting a stop to the constant brainwashing campaigns for inducing demand.

>> do things they naturally want to

collecting Stanley tumblers is not a "natural" tendency.

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anovikov 165 days ago
Well... if we had a constant stream of inventions so that people will always have things they'd love to have but struggle to afford, then there won't be a need to induce demand. But we don't have nearly enough: people have more spare cash than inventions they want, are produced every year.

If we don't induce demand by brainwashing, what will people do? They will keep inflating bubbles buying up stocks (making economy even more unstable, and eventually undermining themselves), houses (making sure new generations can't buy theirs, depressing birth rates and giving rise to political radicalism), and crypto (which is absolute insanity). People need to be given ways to spend their spare cash, and nudged to do it as opposed to "investing" that cash (which is, in the true meanin of this word, mostly impossible because there aren't enough inventions to invest into).

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throwway120385 165 days ago
This is a pretty cynical take. It's also possible people would find meaningful things to do with their money.
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fragmede 165 days ago
Stanley tumblers, no, but even magpies like collecting rocks and buttons and things. Seeing a checkmark on an online digital widget just really doesn't scratch the same itch.
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compiler-devel 165 days ago
> It simply requires putting a stop to the constant brainwashing campaigns for inducing demand.

Unfortunately, there are C-suite level roles for this so it will never stop.

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danielbln 165 days ago
Is this some libertarian/randian take?

There are many things people naturally want to do that we regulate and steer away from via many different means (smoking bans, traffic laws, etc.).

You do realize we don't live in an objectivist society, right?

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