I don't think it is fair to criticized parent for expressing his broad opinion on economics in this particular case. There is a wide body of political and economic thought which believes that capitalism in general is a system designed to create scarcity, social and economic stratification. This vein of thought is particularly prevalent in communist and anarchist circles (see, The Conquest of Bread, Kropotkin, 1892, for a progressive criticism of historic economic systems).
Granted, most everybody who uses this website willfully engages in capitalism. However, quite a few do not, and are simply compelled to participate in it. To somebody in the second group who perceives what appears to be a notably frivolous use of money, it is particularly galling to for that same act to essentially further the aforementioned stratification.
I don't think capitalism is necessarily bad, and it's certainly better than Soviet-style (pseudo-)socialism.
Meritocratic capitalism I'd favor strongly. The problem is this who-you-know corporate capitalism based on conformity rather than excellence.
I agree that corporations create artificial scarcity, and that it's horrible. I don't know if that's a "capitalism" problem so much as an undesirable result of what happens when a small, socially closed set of people hog lots of resources.
Sure, but of course there are other options. Both liberal capitalism and national socialism/state communism (Soviet) are highly centralized forms of government, whereras anarcho-syndicalism is decentralized and highly capitalist, and anarcho-communism is decentralized, based upon overproduction and a radical reimagination of property rights.
Barcelona and other parts of Valencia with a strong culture of trade were famously stable (the essential city services remained up and running, etc.) flying the black flag as an anarcho-syndicalist region in the 1930s for a few years before being infiltrated by the communists and dominated later in the Spanish Civil War.
I don't think it is fair to criticized parent for expressing his broad opinion on economics in this particular case. There is a wide body of political and economic thought which believes that capitalism in general is a system designed to create scarcity, social and economic stratification. This vein of thought is particularly prevalent in communist and anarchist circles (see, The Conquest of Bread, Kropotkin, 1892, for a progressive criticism of historic economic systems).
Granted, most everybody who uses this website willfully engages in capitalism. However, quite a few do not, and are simply compelled to participate in it. To somebody in the second group who perceives what appears to be a notably frivolous use of money, it is particularly galling to for that same act to essentially further the aforementioned stratification.
For that reason, the comment is relevant.