Capitalism was most certainly not born in England during the industrial revolution! Perhaps the word was, but not the meaning.
Right and wrong are matters of opinion. My view: He who tries to impose his view of right and wrong on others is dictatorial. He who tries to impose his views on others, while in a foreign country, is imperialistic. That's my view, i dont try to force it, so take it or leave it - i dont care :)
Nobody wants to force anything. But free market is an abuse from a minority towards a majority. You probably read about the employees forced to crawl around the main square of a big city by their management. So you call it " who pays the bill call the tune?"
Yuantongsi
(717 posts) •
The funny thing is that there has already been a revolution to free the workers in this country, but here we are again...
I just read that Henry Ford refused to hire smokers for his plant!
misfit; "free market is an abuse from a minority towards a majority"..sorry, I guess I bit off more than I can chew, I'm really not qualified to comment on that.
In fact I did not read about employees(?) forced(?) to crawl on hands and knees around a main square - sounds like some kind of promotion? What was your point actually - what is offensive in this story? were they underpaid? Was it outside of working hours (i.e. they were not employed, but rather enslaved)? Is the task offensive? Look, I KINDA know where you're coming from, but still not quite there. All around the western countries people are paid to wear ridiculous signs in main streets, stand all way holding a big arrow pointing to some nearby business, etc. However there's a contradiction in terms here regarding "Employees being forced" and I just cant get my head around it. Anyway, yes, the one who pays the piper should get to call the tune. It's a quote from Malcolm X by the way, but I guess he got it from someplace else coz I'm not aware of many pipers in Harlem :)
@faraday
Maybe not called capitalism, but I was taught that the idea of the 'free market economy' was born in England during the industrial revolution.
@misfit
If someone runs a school and customers/parents do not want brown/black skinned teachers, and there were plenty of other schools to choose from... What does the owner do? The fact that ABC/BBC/etc. make better teachers is irrelevant. There are far better food choices than the ubiquitous McD/KFC.
Your point about 'unqualified laowai' is also contestable. I wish people would not feed the urban myth. In 10 years I have only me one person who was not qualified.
tigertiger, free-market economy is not quite the same as capitalism, and it's correct to say it was born in England during the industrial revolution. In fact I've heard someplace that the very word "Economy" was first used by Adam Smith in "The Wealth of Nations" in 1776 - recommended reading for anyone interested in the ties between finance, justice, and logic, as is "The ascent of Money" by Niall Ferguson. One of those is my favorite book, not sure which:)
I agree, that free market economy is not quite the same as capitalism. But for most people they are synonymous. They are certainly bed fellows.
One of my favourite books on the 'evils' of capitalism has to be Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle'. Based on actual happenings in the Chicago beef industry around 1905. The story horrified the public led to the formation of the FDA, or whatever it was originally called, and an end to the 'Beef Barons'.
Tainted meat products, doctored milk, graft, exploitation of (im)migrant workers, vote rigging, organised crime; it is all in there.
ok faraday tomorrow you wanna get a bowl of noodles in your favorite restaurant and you read the sign "black and dogs are not allowed in this shop". Well, let the piper call the tune (sounds irish to me btw), the owner is selling his stuff and he chooses his customers.
the story of employees crawling on knees on the square was a pure exercise of "physical resistance" ordered by the management and it had nothing to do with the task employees were paid for (so you understand that the comparison with the "sandwich" guys in the west is not really relevant). That created big discussions among the population.
