But I plan to use that loophole for my retirement, and at current inflation rates I’ll be a billionaire too by then, although eggs will still be unaffordable.

Doesn’t it have a complete set of sex chromosomes at that point?

Great read, thanks for thoughtful content

Capitalism is defederating power, otherwise youll end up centralizing power and end up under some form of authoritarianism. We have all these elites because of privaleges granted by the state, not capitalism. We need less state if we want more equality.

Deregulation

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone

Don’t forget with a signicant pay bump

You got it. If this person committed fraud they owe damages to the victims of the fraud, not the government. If the government spills this persons blood on the street, what do you get? The only thing that happens is that the punishment for fraud is now death. Do you honestly believe it will stop here? What about the fraudster that commits $100 million worth of fraud? Should they be executed too? What about $10,000? When you apply capital punishment to civil crimes, the application can only ever be arbitrary and unjust.

Justice is supposed to make the victims whole. Calling for execution for financial crimes helps no one and gives the ruling class, the state or government, more precedent to do it to others.

It doesn’t act as a deterant. Many studies back this up. Your confidance is mispleced and simply reflects your violent personality.

If they’re willing to not kill this person, then don’t, she’s no use to anyone dead. Confiscate everything she has, and garnish all her future earnings. How can she pay her debt if they kill her?

Why cant you afford it? Didn’t you think about how you were going to pay it back when you signed the papers agreeing that you would pay it back?

Little Bobby Tables

What went wrong with the Soviet Union?

So accurate. Attention span issues.

I don’t agree that company towns were authoritarian. Can you find a real example that wasn’t just a newspaper political cartoon or a song? What did it mean to live in those towns? Think about it rationally. Let’s argue that a company was able to completely set up a new town with no previously existing infrastructure. Perhaps a mining company in remote Alaska. How do they get workers? They offer low rent or free housing, good schools, and reasonably priced shops, in addition to attractive salaries. This creates a real-life “company town” we’ve all heard of. What would happen if the company ever slacked off or attempted to exploit its “monopoly”? Of course, workers would begin to leave and look for work elsewhere! Who could possibly stop them from doing so, other than the state?

That’s the major difference between a state authority and a private “authority”. Private organizations are subject to market forces and competition. They can’t just simply be elected and do as they will for 2,4, 10 years, or life, without concern. The worse job private institutions do, the more unfair their pricing, the more attractive it becomes for competitive forces to come in and take their place. All the examples you can find of how terrible privatization is (e.g. healthcare) is actually because they are completely backed by the full might of the state, creating true monopolies and anti-competitive environment. These often come about as corruption and authoritarianism, private companies give money to key stakeholders in the state, who then use their power to craft regulation to protect their friends at the private companies, in return for more money. This will always happen, regardless of how many rules or safeguards you craft. If you don’t like that happening, the only solution is to stop giving the state the power to do that.

Thanks for the long and thoughtful response, but I think there is some misunderstandings about how Eco’s framework applies here. Ur-Fascism identifies things that may tend to lead to fascist thinking, rather than giving a definitive checklist of all actions that are fascist. Traits alone are not fascism; fascism arises when the state pushes to unify under a regime that enforces conformity, suppresses opposition, and uses centralized power to control people’s lives.

Remember, we’re discussing cutting government programs here, which is an economic decision, not inherently an authoritarian one. Fascism means expanding government power into private lives, enforcing a singular national identity, and controlling all discourse and industries. Cutting state programs, even if you personally disagree with the decision, limits government reach, which contradicts the key central tendency of fascism.

I think Eco’s framework is important for recognizing creeping authoritarianism, but when you carelessly apply it too broadly, you risk watering down the concept of fascism. Mislabeling every policy decision you disagree with as “fascist” can make it harder to identify actual authoritarian threats when they arise, and is inherently divisive, attempting to shut down meaningful discussion rather than welcome it. Instead of carelessly jumping straight to labels, I think it’s important to have more nuanced discussions about the reasons and implications of government policy.

Cutting agencies isn’t a fascist policy. It’s a move toward decentralization. Rather than expanding the government and corporate power, cuts to state agencies seek to limit their control over individual lives. It’s a move toward necessary fiscal responsibility. The US federal government’s current level of spending is not sustainable, and will inevitably lead to the shutdown of all of these agencies and more, crippling taxes (of course always on the middle and lower class), hyperinflation, or an unpleasant mixture of all three.

In fact, I will argue that excessive debt is a powerful driver of authoritarian policies, as the state is forced to prioritize revenue collection, even it it means infringing on the well-being of the people. Fiscal restraint, in contrast, reduces the risk state power will expand through financial necessity, making it anti-authoritarian. I think that’s a good thing.

You’re the one who brought up fascism. I said I can’t think of an example of fascism working. Cutting government scope is the opposite of fascism. Fascism is characterized by a strong centralized authority, which cutting is the opposite of.

Fascism? No. Argentina seems to rapidly be improving with thier ultra-extreme cuts.

I expect deep cuts will need to be made across the board