this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2025
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I'm not claiming that capitalism improved life expectancy, but that in 99% of recorded history people died horribly very easily and at a very young age.
If you want to stay political, feudalism is a great example of glorious non-capitalistic system. You could starve to death because your crop had been taken by the lords or die hanged to a tree because you complained, but the system did not do considerable harm to the environment!
Not sure what point you're even trying to make here. Life expectancy has been improving due to science and technology improving.
That's literally how things work today where western corps exploit the workers in the global south. That's what your lifestyle in the west is built on. Go read up on the coups, death squads, and other atrocities the west regularly commits around the world to keep the system of exploitation going. Here's a good primer for you https://archive.org/details/KillingHope
In the XV/XVI century there was the equivalent of the Palestinian genocide, but scaled up to the entire surface of America, north+south. How can you tell that it was better then?
Last I checked, the genocide of the native population of America was fuelled by the British capitalism. Notably, capitalism was also the primary driver of African slave trade.
Of course there were the seeds because systems do not appear overnight, but that was not the Capitalism as we intend it today.
Wow, how convenient: "it wasn't a perfect utopia so you're not allowed to blame capitalism for it".
A reasoning as perfectly smooth and circular as your brain
"It wasn't real capitalism!"
Lol
Are you saying that since now only part of the world is starving, it was better in the medieval age when everyone was starving?
I'm a huge fan of arguments of the form "Are you saying [absurd nonsense that in no way resembles what they say said]?
That simply isn't true. You've made some pretty broad claims about the middle aged already and putting them together it's a pretty easy guess you don't know jack shit about that time period. Cause so far it seems like you've gotten all of your information from pop culture.
The Middle Ages were a long period with a lot of variety, but I hope we can agree that modern life is better than that for a large portion of humanity, if not all of it.
so we're to the point where you're not even making substantive arguable claims anymore, you're just expecting people to agree with you because you use reasonable sounding framing
So we cannot agree even on that. Ok.
Bye!
omg just shut the fuck up you clearly don't know what you're talking about
It's always so crazy how people can get ego trapped in the most pointless internet arguments. Like you aren't saying anything! Just trying to wiggle your way through this when you could just walk away from the computer and do anything else.
Sure, if you say so.
Lmao they reported you with a "So much for a respectful discussion"
I have committed a crime
No
If they're not gonna be serious ill just start saying dumb shit back
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Motte-and-bailey_argument
Also, the nobility & clergy weren’t starving during feudalism, only the peasants during famines.
In every society (even animal) the leaders tend to have a better life than the rest. However, I would argue that also the nobility of the past was subject to all sorts of “inconveniences” that would be unthinkable today.
Contextualising to the discussion, I find quite ridiculous to “forget” that Capitalism brought more prosperity than any system before it, or to focus on the exploitations of minorities as if they weren’t the norm for the majority in the past.
Mao has a great quote about how if you don't investigate something, you have no right to speak. Basically "shut up you stupid fucker" and statements like this are what it was for.
That's cool. Do you imply that starvation was uncommon in the medieval age?
if "everyone was starving" how did humanity survive you dumb fucker
jason hickel talks a lot about actual medieval living standards if you'd ever like to be less of an ignorant dipshit
tell him to fix the Wikipedia then https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_of_1315%E2%80%931317
Liberals really do think Wikipedia is The Holy Scripture
So you agree with Elon?
That's ironic.
Incoherent.