Thread regarding Wells Fargo & Co. layoffs

Capitalism and you, the reason for your headaches

(Repost from an earlier comment)

Capitalism has existed for a very long time. It is why things such as the manufacturing sector moving to Mexico/China/anywhere but the US happened. It's not like the sector wasn't able to expand...it just became cheaper to do it somewhere else. Capitalism is chasing infinite growth for companies. If your product is sold to the most people it can ever be sold to, you need to find other ways to 'grow' your company. Cutting costs by building the widget in Mexico/China instead of the US is the next step.

Take shrinkflation for example. We have all seen it and you can't deny it exists. It is the result of trying to 'grow' your company when you simply can't grow it anymore. So, let's take our existing product, make it smaller, and charge the same or even more for it. Bo-m, we just boosted our profits by largely doing nothing. Companies find every example of how to do this they can. Benefits get reduced, perks get removed, salaries stagnate, etc. Eventually, we find ourselves having to pay a subscription to enable the heated seats in our vehicles....

Back to offshoring our jobs. 20 years ago, you simply could not physically outsource those jobs to India...even if you wanted to. The infrastructure did not exist. Once it became possible, companies started doing it so save money. This saved money did not trickle down to employees that remained. No, it just helped the bottom line and boost share value.

That's it. That's the story. It is done to improve profits and increase value. It is not that hard to understand. Capitalism, and the infinite growth required by Wall Street caused this. Does that mean other economic policies are better? Not necessarily. Things could be much worse. They could be better too. Let's stop pretending capitalism is a nice guy and not to blame here.

by
| 1210 views | | 16 replies (last ) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1ntMSOTx

16 replies (most recent on top)

Bailing out the banks after 2008 was socialism for the rich, paid for by you, the taxpayer.

Socialism has saved Capitalism over and over for decades.

Bank bailouts, corn subsidies, tax cuts (paid for by you).

Wars for oil, paid for by you.

But you won't hear that from the PR folks hired to help you forget 2008.

WF and every other corporation in America only exists and is profitable because of socialism.

And here's a fun fact, WF doesn't actually "need" to lay off anyone, they just need to make their shareholders rich at your expense.

Even Ayn Rand spent her last years collecting Social Security and Medicare.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @4ajk+1ntMSOTx

Capitalism is great until a few people get so far ahead in the game they can game the system, pay for laws and rules that help them and hurt competition.

Then at some point they say "hey taxpayers, we did a million liar loans and other shady stuff and now we're not getting our million dollar bonuses unless you bail us out, er, I mean, we're in a systemic downward spiral..."

Capitalism is great if it's well regulated and it doesn't reward bad actors.

2008 was in your lifetimes, folks. Learn from history.

Also, are there ANY FLIPPING LAYOFFS COMING?

Why do you care if rich people rig the game? Because you have to make up the slack, because you will make less, becuase you will not have much of a future if you allow greedy parasititc billionaires to get away with robbing you all blind.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @4sxh+1ntMSOTx

Capitalism works well when a government protects own workers. You see income inequality and you open more H1B visa?

Hey H1B visa guy. You do realize that the H1B visa cap of 65,000 has been the same since 1991 except for a 5 year period from 1999 -2003. Starting in 2006 an additional 20,000 were added for those with a masters or doctorate degree from an American institution. In 2022 the amount of available H1B visas was met on February 27, 2022. No more are issued after the cap is met each year.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @1dtm+1ntMSOTx

Capitalism works well when a government protects own workers. You see income inequality and you open more H1B visa?

Those without a good job will never have a good job. Those working in a dead end job like me will never have chance to a career.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @ias+1ntMSOTx

There's no such thing as a nation without capitalism. Capitalism exists even in China, Cuba, and North Korea, it's just incredibly manipulated by the government instead of letting huge companies like Apple, Chase Bank, and Amazon manipulate it.

Capitalism is not a form of government, it's an observation of the laws of nature that supply and demand exist and where they meet is pricing. Even without currency pricing exists. Look at hungry animals when let into an enclosure with an abundance of food. They'll largely pay the smallest price they can, which is to go straight for the nearest food.

Put those same hungry animals in an enclosure with not enough food and they will end up paying the highest price possible: combat leading to pain, injury, and death in order to pay enough for that limited supply of food.

Capitalism is a law of nature, you cannot avoid it no matter what.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @ybr+1ntMSOTx

They didn't "know their place", they just didn't act live savages and criminals. Apparently to much to ask in modern times. One's personal failures are no excuse for crime and the other alleged results of someone else getting rich. And even if it were, 100% of the time it only really impacts your fellow poor people. Want to protest, riot, and burn some things down? The elites don't care, in fact some of them quite enjoy it. It won't be their home or favorite business that is destroyed, it will be ours. But keep on thinking that you're "sticking it to the man" while you're stabbing the poor in the back.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @oal+1ntMSOTx

Lol, yes, let’s go back to the Gilded Age when the poor knew their place. How does this place attract such loonies?

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @lrs+1ntMSOTx

We're so far from that it's not even funny. John D Rockefeller operated, initially anyway, in a land of unfettered capitalism. As concentrated as wealth was back in those days, crime / violence was not out of control and men that were down on their luck still dressed and behaved better than 99% of Americans do today. It was in many ways a more civilized age. People may have been poor, but they had self respect and were determined not to stay that way forever. Way fewer people back in those days sitting around on their rear end demanding a hand out.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @umj+1ntMSOTx

Unfettered capitalism is bad and not conducive to a civilized society. In general, people are more passive if they are able to participate in the economy in a meaningful way. They aren't spending their time worrying about putting food on the table or the cost of healthcare. The more that people have to worry about those things, the more angry they get at society. Right now, the US is in a cycle of continuous movement of wealth to a smaller group of people, which leaves less for the rest of us. It's not sustainable in the long run. Eventually, there will be no safe place to live without the worry of somebody stealing all your stuff and/or ki-ling you. We won't be any better off than a third world country, ripe for a government coup or another civil war.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @qqq+1ntMSOTx

I’m not the OP, but anything put in the wrong hands is bad.

Our BOD and Charlie Scharf have entered us in to a race to the bottom.

“The race to the bottom refers to a competitive situation where a company, state, or nation attempts to undercut the competition's prices by sacrificing quality standards or worker safety (often defying regulation), or reducing labor costs.

Although there are legitimate ways to compete for business and investment dollars, the term race to the bottom is used to characterize unhinged t-t-for-tat competition that has crossed ethical lines and could be destructive for the parties involved.”

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @xaw+1ntMSOTx

Good job explaining....comrade

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @bod+1ntMSOTx

What OP is ignoring is all the socialism that is the root cause for the cost of doing business here being so high that in order to compete globally businesses have to use at least some overseas labor or competitors that do well crush them.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @gpv+1ntMSOTx

One can selfishly rationalize anything: dumping trash on the side of the road, stealing supplies from your company, abusive behavior, cheating on your spouse, secretly opening millions of unauthorized accounts, firing Whistleblowers, wrongfully foreclosing on homes, illegally repossessing vehicles, lying to shareholders….

That is where integrity, respect, strong moral values and consideration for others is supposed to step in.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @ymc+1ntMSOTx

OP, you might have to accept that despite capitalism's potential weaknesses, it's the best system there is.

I'm all ears if you can describe a better system where the government doesn't control everything?

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @lfa+1ntMSOTx

Good grief, give it a rest already.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @qjg+1ntMSOTx

It's always easier to control or reduce expenses than it is to grow revenue.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @nlb+1ntMSOTx

Post a reply

: