Squid Game Says More About Communism Than Capitalism

[@getgud7849]

I never watched the show, but based on all the clips and what I heard it was about, I had always thought it was a critique against authoritarianism. Interesting that some people, even the writer, saw it as a critique of capitalism. Capitalism seems like it might need a pretty hefty PR campaign. Lord knows socialism and communism have one.

[@stevenborg102]

These silly Gen Z'ers are gonna get a big shock if they succeed in taking down Capitalism and ushering in Communism. They honestly think they will spend the mornings tending their tomato plants in their new Utopia whilst bird watching and writing mood poetry in the afternoons...Marxist teachers have spent decades romanticizing an always brutal and authoritarian social model to ignorant kids. I always just say... "YOUR tomato plants?"

[@JDG-hq8gy]

@@stevenborg102 It depends on how you what to achieve communism, through the state is obviously authoritarian, but voluntary communes, that can co-exist with capitalist societies, the same way that worker co-ops can co-exist with capitalist firms are not authoritarian.

[@Bobbe002]

@@JDG-hq8gy Voluntary communes isn't communism though, that's anarcho-capitalism. The whole problem with the government is that many of it's actions and demands are extremely involuntary. These places that adopt centrally planned economies almost always devolve into obscure protests because eventually the people broadly realize the actual theft that was taking place under these rulers, as opposed to the pseudo-theft that is described as taking place under capitalism.

[@freelancer6112]

@@stevenborg102 as a Gen z I pray to god no one replaces the USA with the UCPS

[@siyacer]

@@stevenborg102 in a better world, communism would be seen with even worse scorn and kneejerk hatred than nazism

[@stevenscott2136]

Saying that your film is a critique of capitalism is simply a way to get critics and certain audiences to fawn over it. Neither you nor they need any actual knowledge of capitalism or any other system, other than to make sure they BELIEVE you when you say that.

[@aidenblanchard7157]

funny as you are proving you have no understanding of either system by saying this.

[@Krysnha]

@@aidenblanchard7157 I dont know you, but i have read, and watch more than enougth to understand, that capitalism has a million problems, but i prefer a sistem, that actualy allow me to live and prosper, than a sistem that reduce me to a mere number, and the great leader, can literaly dispose me, as a fly, for something so simple, as criticise him, or make a joke

[@DonVigaDeFierro]

@@aidenblanchard7157 Nice non-argument bro. Either elaborate or shut up.

[@alessandrorona6205]

@@Krysnha Except neither socialism or communism when well implied reduce you to a number. What you mention is a common misconception or talking point the conservatives ues to mislead the people ''bigger the governmnet smaller the people''. That is usually what Capitalism does, as people who lack both in wealth and power are just numbers. If you think about it, in every single private owned company you'll ever work in every day you live in a dictatorship. What the boss want the employees do. He wants to fire you? Fine. There is nothing in the way for doing so, maybe a union, but is not assured. You're are going to be out of the door in 30 minutes. What is this if not being a mere number?

[@Krysnha]

@@alessandrorona6205 You know, i have read more or less the same thing, over and over again, that is a misconception, that it has never well impemented, and yet every time, it is implemented it ends in the same, over and over again, i wonder why every time, it is imeplemented, it always end in the same, people running away, misery, starvation and yet t has never been imeplemented well. Also, again, capitalism has its problem, specialy with the tipe that acutaly want that, that is financial capitalism, and it have seen actual problems in industrial capitalism, the problem is goverment, because the great capital, want to make the goverment pass laws, to benefict it, in order to capitalism, thrive and create good well being, is mantain a small goverment, wich you guess is what comunism wants, in the moment goverment start to inverveine is when capitalism become worst. I will not deniy, that there are horrible things capitalism allows, but again if i have to choose a sistem, that reduce you to a mere number, and again i have seen story a lot and yes corporations and industries do that but in capitalism, you can progress, you can get out, you have a choice, in comunism you dont have it, neither front of the members of goverment and party or any other elese. I am tired not only miself, go to any channel of person that live under comunism, and they will show the true to you, old hardcore, romianiantvee, please dont come with the it has never being truly implemented, no it has been implemented as intended

[@13Yeared]

“The show’s writer says it’s a critique of free market capitalism” Yeah no shit, he just said that in the video. He’s simply disagreeing with the notion because the writer clearly confuses free market capitalism with authoritarianism.

[@SeraphX2]

I think the problem is that everyone wants to say America is capitalist. So then they see the corruption and everyone believes capitalism is bad. We aren't capitalist anymore. At best, we are corporatism. Sure, the individual still has their rights, but the government and big tech and businesses are cavorting together to fix the system. That is no longer true capitalism, since capitalism is supposed to just be an economic system, separate from the government, other than regulations put in place when businesses try to take advantage of people.

[@agm5424]

@@SeraphX2 yeah, you would think that America having a central bank, one of the main planks of communism, would be a big sign that America is no longer a capitalist country. But in these people's minds "Capitalism" is when people don't use money for other people's, specifically them, benefit.

[@SeraphX2]

@@agm5424 exactly. they see rich people and immediately think that's some indicator that the system is wrong. without rich people there are no at will contract jobs. period.

[@d3fau1thmph]

There is no "free market", and there never was or will be such thing. And capitalism a first step toward authoritarianism. Power through wealth.

[@khaledibrahim614]

Sadly people on both ends don’t grasp that difference and end up championing the current system too under the banner of capitalism good, while pure capitalism has essentially been agreed upon to be a bad idea as greed is too rampant

[@samhand8270]

Thank you! I find that most of these cultural critiques of capitalism in movies, TV shows, books, etc actually have very little to do with capitalism. They more accurately portray cronyism, corruption, or authoritarianism, none of which are intended capitalist ends.

[@samhand8270]

@AirandThoughts You have absolutely no idea which “side” I’m on, but thanks for being the newest addition to those who’ve put a stranger on the internet in a box who you know literally nothing about.

[@vcalv9354]

Yeah, they're almost always attacking a strawman

[@davidtucker9498]

@AirandThoughts Fair point, and you are correct, without government regulations, Capitalism WILL lead to monopolies that will then rig the system for their own benefit and extract as much wealth and power from all others as possible. Just like how Socialism will lead to Communism (or Fascism) and that will inevitably lead to mass death and economic ruin, as it has every. single. time. Capitalism, if properly regulated, will lead to economic prosperity for all levels of society. If unregulated, Capitalism and competition will cease to exist as monopolistic corporations take control of the industry. We can see that now with Google and the other Silicon Valley tech giants, or internet service providers, cooperating to eliminate competition and stifle their potential opposition. The fact that we allow lobbying, or legal bribery, in our government makes the matter far worse. The issue is, none of these things are actually addressed in Squid Game...

[@samhand8270]

@@emmettturner9452 I don’t think you understood my comment

[@fbaallied]

There are no ends without means

[@smoothALOE]

I think the issue is that people who are not pro-capitalism assume that corporatism is always the ultimate result. Truthfully, every approach to society has negative connotations and potentially negative outcomes. It’s become popular to only discuss this when referring to capitalism, these days.

[@detectiveofrivia311]

Exactly and these people think more government is the answer when it’s government that enables or becomes the corruption.

[@smoothALOE]

@@detectiveofrivia311 right, I don’t understand how they can come to that conclusion. Of course, I was once a hardcore progressive, back in the day, so maybe they just need time and experience. It’s like what I’m hearing now about the new Twitter for children. It’s already in the hands of Congress to try and regulate it. I’m thinking, “big mistake!”

[@_Solaris]

You nailed it.

[@planckc1]

The "progressives" dislike corporations having a lot of power, so they try to move all that power into an ultimate corporation - which is what a government essentially is.

[@smoothALOE]

@@planckc1 yes, that’s basically what I was getting at. It’s really just a matter of picking your poison; not choosing something virtuous over something evil.

[@coachken6130]

It's upsetting listening to people who don't know the DEFINITION of capitalism talk about what it is or isn't. 'Competition' is not the definition, it's a component. None of the contestants were in "control of the means of production". And where was the "free exchange of goods and services"? Liars! All of them!

[@wakaman3295]

Lol where is the "free exchange of goods and services" when you can't even afford paying for a rent, or when you loose your job due to a relocation. It sounds like a mantra you're repeating without even knowing what it means.

[@DonVigaDeFierro]

@@wakaman3295 But you're very happy getting 30%+ of your salary cut on taxes right? That free health care will get very handy when you get mugged and stabbed on the street by a bunch of starving children.

[@wakaman3295]

@@DonVigaDeFierro if I get cancer I won't have to sell my house to get healthcare. What a shaaaame lol I won't be in debt for the rest of my life when get out of school, so sad...

[@wakaman3295]

@@HelghastStalker this guy said "where is the free exchange of goods ?" In his message. So from what I understand his point about the show is that it is not about capitalism since the candidates who participate to the "game" don't have the opportunity to make free exchange of goods.... When you are poor, you're forced to get any job just to buy food, and that's even more the case in deregulated markets. When you have no money there is no "free exchange" at all. You're a slave, forced to get any job just to survive until the next day. Just like in the show.

[@wakaman3295]

@@HelghastStalker "writes a long walk of text" it's called argumentation. When you try to go further than memes and stupid slogans ("muh free market is good bcuz it's free ! It's in its name !")

[@mauijane420]

So, this show was created by someone who grew up under very harsh Communist-like conditions, & TOLD it was Capitalism, & now says his show is a 'critique of Capitalism'. His show is critical of 'Capitalism' as HE knows it from growing up in S.Korea in the 70's & 80's.

[@joaoaugusto6290]

Basically spitting on the plate from he eats

[@Ryan-is-me]

True. The show's creator is clearly just as educated about economic systems as any average joe. If he were trying to critique capitalism, he should have educated himself about economic theory first. Otherwise the critique just falls flat and sounds like an angsty teenager who's just trying to be contrarian. There are plenty of good critiques you could make about capitalism, but this show has none of them

[@nataestanislaubastos7637]

@@joaoaugusto6290 You can only be sure something is bad after you taste it.

[@jackdeniston59]

Ridiculousness of Capitilism vs communism. The conflict, as it ALWAYS has been and will be, is Leisure class Tyranny versus working. Free markets and democracy have done the most, by far, by far, for working, than any other efforts.

[@dominicklittle9828]

@@Ryan-is-me the last third of the show is proof hes not very good

[@elijahbigsby4154]

What I find absolutely amusing about it as a "critique of capitalism" is that, at least as far as the first few episodes that I've watched so far, every single person that we're supposed to feel is being beaten down by the system (except for the immigrant guy who legitimately seems to just be too naive for his own good and got scammed out of the money that he deserved for his work)... lost their money through extremely poor life decisions and/or put themselves into an awful situation in the first place of their own volition. Sorry, I'm not going to feel bad for a guy being tens of thousands of dollars in debt when the first way that you introduce him to me is him stealing his elderly mother's credit card to go gamble on horse races.

[@SeraphX2]

The point they are trying to make is that they are saying capitalism forces people to go to extreme lengths to get from under the system. So, even if we agree the show is about capitalism it plays the smallest role in the whole thing, shows that people are willing to try something else, but then that system jsut sucks too. How is it a critique of capitalism when 95% of the show is about a dictatorship with the elites laughing at the misfortune of the lower class that has nothing and is 100% a representation of socialism and what not. At best, for the show, capitalism is the catalyst that puts them in a just as bad or worse system. I'd really like to see the writer prove how it's a critique on capitalism.

[@SeraphX2]

@@LP12576 and that's why people think this show is representative of capitalism and don't question how that is stupid and makes no sense and proves how the narrative tries to make people think capitalism is evil. a job that you agree to is not a dictatorship. you can leave at will. no one is obligated to provide you a job.

[@davidtucker9498]

It's just like Starship Troopers. The creators CLAIM it is a critique of Fascism, but the actual society depicted is a free, non-oppressive Democracy which is currently engaged in a defensive war against an aggressive species trying to wipe out humanity. But their uniforms look like the Nazis... Same with Squid Game. It has capitalist trappings, with the rich elite and piggybank, but outside of aesthetics, there is very, very little to critique of Capitalism itself...

[@SeraphX2]

@@LP12576 you said real life people live in dictatorships called a job. we weren't talking about the show anymore. I live in America and I can leave my job tomorrow if I want and my company can't do jack shit about it. that is part of capitalism: the free will to market your labor as an individual as you see fit. wtf are you on about and if you can't leave your job at will where you live, I feel sorry for you.

[@elbowjuice2627]

Do you know how many great movies and tv shows exist where characters made flawed decisions? Do you know what makes a good character?

[@roslynsanders7755]

It’s true the creator intended it to be a critique of capitalism - however, it turns out to be a poor example of said critique as the reality displayed in the show much more closely resembles a communist dictatorship than a capitalist free market.

[@RT804]

You'd think a guy who lives 200 miles from North Korea might be smarter than that.

[@d3fau1thmph]

The mere EXISTENCE of this show and how it earns money is the critique of capitalism.

[@lm10_dxz91]

@@LP12576 Did you not watch the video? Or are you so insecure that you'll resort to manipulative nit-picking?

[@lm10_dxz91]

@@LP12576 So you proved my point. You are insecure that you’ll resort to manipulative nit-picking. There were literal graphical comparisons. Lmao.

[@lm10_dxz91]

@@LP12576 My point is the video itself, which you decided to nitpick from the parts you think you can ridicule, whilst ignoring the whole point. That is a reflection of insecurity. Besides, the graphical comparisons were pretty spot on, and maybe it just so happens that it doesn’t resonate with your feelings.

[@onetruthmediacompany]

Crazy fact about Mao Zedong's communist rule, In 1958 Mao Zedong ordered all the sparrows to be killed because he thought they ate too much grain. This caused one of the worst environmental disasters in history. Hundreds of millions were killed. This lead to a problem the next year. It was noticed that insect infestation of crop fields had soared. Sparrows ate pests such as locusts, and after the campaign, the locusts lost their major predator. This meant that killing the sparrows was counter-productive. The sparrows, it seemed, didn’t only eat grain seeds. They also ate insects. Locust populations boomed and they ate everything in their path. Grain production in most rural areas collapsed and a massive famine took an even worse turn.

[@bulletsizednuke1100]

Don't fuck with the ecosystem. How does one man get all that power in the first place?

[@ps92809]

Was this the great leap forward?

[@Goblinhandler]

@@ps92809 nah that was another thing, the sparrow thing was just another show of why Mao is burning in the deepest pits of hell

[@dipanshusingh6329]

Mao Zedong ended the campaign against sparrows and redirected the fourth focus to bed bugs. Only after Mao died, in 1976, did the official Chinese press agency announce that sparrows were more useful than harmful. The government took measures to increase the sparrow population in the province of Shandong. Again half truths , the government made a mistake , it took acknowledged it and tried to fix it ....

[@reclaimer2019]

The great leap forward only downgraded china, before it they were extremely important to the world's economy, but at least they opened their economy while keeping the "socialism" basically "companies can trade, but they're still under our complete control" it's not that bad, it has all the good things of capitalism (economic boom) while keeping the absolute power of the government, so it's horrible to the population while being extremely good for the upperclassmen of china. ​@@ps92809

[@1timothydillon]

I've watched it twice, and still don't see it about capitalism. Everyone is equal, but if you want to advance, turn in, turn on your neighbor, and you will be rewarded by the state, that's communism. Still have to watch it with subtitles, heard a bunch of people say it was better than dubbed.

[@Barskor1]

Stateism at every turn creating the problems yet they blame those who you are free to say no to. “Slavery, protection, and monopoly find defenders, not only in those who profit by them, but in those who suffer by them.” ― Frédéric Bastiat

[@sebastiangonzalez5013]

"Stateism" isn't a thing

[@Barskor1]

@@sebastiangonzalez5013 Have you heard the phrase "There ought to be a law!" ? Do people want to have a government? Do people differ their own judgment to that of a government appointed judge? When people feel threatened do they take care of the problem or do they call the police? You can build or buy a home that is fire proof or you can buy a wooden box with tar for the roof in an area prone to forest fires which should you pick? Well that why we have fire departments right? aka dependence on the State to save you from yourself.

[@MrSam2497]

Fun fact, Squid Game is actually banned in North Korea. You'd think that if it truly was a criticism of capitalism, North Korea would praise it. But North Korean government sees the similarity of Squid Game and communism

[@lm10_dxz91]

Source?

[@Mintstar_Oceanpop]

I too would like a source. For curiosity's sake.

[@Scarycrowzz]

You have a baby brain.

[@Ninjaeule97]

Source? Also if it is true it could simply be that one of the main characters is a North Korean defector/refugee. North Korea doesn't like that people are leaving the country, so any depiction of someone doing that or someone who has done that is most likely censored or banned.

[@efw-vz4hc]

North Korea also tried using it as propaganda against South Korea lol

[@AutismFamilyChannel]

While Squid Game isn't friendly to capitalism, per se, it certainly isn't friendly to communism. What most people aren't talking about is how many of the participants practiced poor money management and everyone acts like they are blameless. Really I saw fault, greed, envy, etc. in all the systems in Squid Game, both inside and outside the compound. Plus this show is making millions of dollars in the free market, so take that for what it's worth.

[@nathankinman7753]

Winner winner Chicken dinner! Us aspies have a way of pointing out other people's bullshit! 😆

[@AutismFamilyChannel]

@Icarus Loved when did I say rich people were immune to poor money management? Also one of the characters in Squid Game seems rich but they find he had issues as well.

[@bryanboone7363]

The first step to create a movie or TV series about the evils of Capitalism is to misrepresent Capitalism, and ignore the evils of the other systems.

[@354dena]

It represents how some people betray their values in the pursuit of money

[@Xyanider]

The funny part is that they even have a character that is there because she escaped the hell of communism and they do not even take the effort to elaborate about that.

[@bryanboone7363]

@Vegan Zombie I can' tell if you are mocking me and Capitalists, or if you are mocking non-Capitalists. So I will just respond with a straightforward response. Yes, that is correct. Necessities of life didn't exist before Capitalism. Capitalism is nothing more than voluntary trade between free individuals who refuse to utilize violent force against each other while trading. Any time in history where you have a breakdown in voluntary trade, that isn't Capitalism. For the past 200,000 years of human history, every time you see violence, war, famine, death, and disease it is precisely due to the departure of Capitalism. Every time you see prosperity, peace, freedom, and abundance, you see that Capitalistic values are in place.

[@kohank5938]

@@354dena Have you ever live under communist regime? I say this to you "people betray their values in the pursuit of money" is thoundsand times worse under communism.

[@PvblivsAelivs]

@@bryanboone7363 Well, let me help you out. I prefer capitalism over communism or, for that matter, any other system they have come up with to date. But I don't worship it. I do not consider it the all-good you seem to. Violence, war, famine, and disease are not departures from capitalism. Mercenaries, hired for profit, to go to a land and seize its resources because it is cheaper than trading with the people there is no departure from capitalism. When people in an isolated area are left to starve because the land is infertile and they don't have the money to have food brought in, it is no departure from capitalism.

[@hrs29]

I had to pause at 1:17. "Capitalism is Bad" says the people that are making a lot of money off of this message... You can critique capitalism, but doing so in a manner that makes you a lot of money is counter to your point.

[@andrewguerra9343]

Oh, the irony

[@tristenatorplaysgames6833]

This is genuinely brain damaged. If you want to change a capitalist system you need capital. Same way if you wanted to change a communist system you need the community on your side.

[@sandshark2]

The greatest propaganda done by capitalism is telling you that “making money” is capitalism. Spoiler alert: every economic system involves making money, not just capitalism. Truly brainwashed sheep who have no idea what other options are beyond the ones fed by your businessmen

[@DeJake]

A lot of money from where? KZbin doesn't pay, especially for 100k views per vid which is nothing

[@DeJake]

@@sandshark2 No, some systems use money. Others most certainly do not

[@dfw_motorrad1329]

Watching it without any context behind the creator, I got the impression that it was a critique on authoritarianism. Strange to hear that it was intended to be a critique on capitalism. I didn't get that at all.

[@ujjalshill6442]

Authoritarian capitalists

[@wakaman3295]

The only goal of these people, who spend the entire show killing each other, was to get the money in order to get out of their poverty/ pay their debts etc.... How didn't you understand it was about capitalism ?

[@dfw_motorrad1329]

@@ujjalshill6442 Think about that one for a second there, guy.

[@dfw_motorrad1329]

@@wakaman3295 That's not how capitalism works, buddy.

[@ujjalshill6442]

@@dfw_motorrad1329 that's how capitalism works you become so wealthy that you buy political power

[@Azraiel213]

It's amazing how every attack on capitalism turns out to be an accidental case for more capitalism. 😆

[@rachelrasmussen1101]

This.

[@Iamwolf134]

Ironically enough.

[@ujjalshill6442]

It's not

[@ujjalshill6442]

By authoritarian you mean authoritarian capitalists not the government in capitalism few people become so rich they make democracy impossible they use their power to keep the poor poor until they kill themselves

[@fwa8590]

Bruh this all feel like useless debate. Capitalists believe that Capitalism supports freedom and are againts authoritarian government (that allows big corporate authoritarian to exist), while Anti Capitalists believe that Capitalism supports big corporate authoritarian by letting them to do whatever they want in a free market. In the end, both sides are against authoritarian, but have different believe on who is the authoritarian and what causes authoritarian to exist.

[@epsilon3821]

This journalist along with Stossel always brings the best reporting out of this channel and him deciding to do this topic is just an icing on top

[@TKUA11]

Yeah except the part where he thinks nations and borders are part of some communist agenda, and that we don’t have the right to chose who comes into our country

[@epsilon3821]

@@TKUA11 enlighten me

[@MsGreenlamp]

@@TKUA11 quote, please.

[@Esper320]

@@TKUA11 This. Reason.tv is controlled opposition and most of their policies are more socially liberal than anything else a la no borders and no rule of law. Seems they advocate for what is closer to anarcho-communism where this is no state, no borders, no rule of law, and chomos can run free.

[@sorzin2289]

@@TKUA11 Well I'm a communist and I want to get rid of nations and borders. That's pretty much a staple both An-Comms, Troskyists, Anarchists and I think ML's all share. Which according to Reasons logic makes them communist too.

[@cornpopwasabaddude6270]

If you have a misinformed definition of capitalism, then I can see how this can be seen as a critique of the system. Unfortunately most don't even know what capitalism is, just another semantics problem your average Netflix viewer can care less of

[@ForgotMyPasswd000]

Okay then, what’s the definition? Real capitalism as the free marketeers describe it cannot exist, it’s purely idealistic. Capitalism is a system riddled with contradictions, how can you have no state apparatus and enforce property rights without having a corrupt mess? Just injecting a profit motive doesn’t make things better and in many instances makes things worse, healthcare budgeting being a thing, prostitution degrading helpless women who need to eat, families starving because they can’t get food. You’re talking from a position of high privilege if you think that environments don’t mould people, that a kid growing up in a crime ridden neighbourhood with little opportunity won’t just join the rest, that in times of desperation from life being unfair to you that you won’t turn to crime.

[@MythSpeed]

@@ForgotMyPasswd000 1 .authoritarianism is way more curropt and when they do it caused even more poverty and deaths from either silencing an individual nor to cause more poverty meanwhile in capitalism corporations cant really do as much as curropt authoritarianism which is bound to happen since power curropts. and when they get caught being curropt the buyers can simply just boycott it and since in capitalism unlike authoritarianism buissnesses depends their lives on the buyer and economy meanwhile the government doesnt depend on it which creates *moral hazard* good example of this is the housing crisis. 2. healthcare run by the government is exactly why the US has a shitty healthcare because it has an organization that enforces and doesnt allow better healthcare and doesnt even allow any transparent pricing if we were to allow retail healthcare because the laws of supply and demand the cheaper the price the more the costumer 3. contrary to what socialists say, capitalism, with all its warts, is the preferred economic system to bring the masses out of poverty and to make them productive citizens in our country and in countries around the world. Remember this: Capitalism rewards merit, socialism rewards mediocrity. 4. Capitalism is the greatest economic system because it has numerous benefits and creates multiple opportunities for individuals in society. Some of these benefits include producing wealth and innovation, improving the lives of individuals, and giving power to the people. 5. markets when allowed to can actually be good for the enviroment a good example of this is when africa allowed trophy commercial hunting trophy hunting provides a means of funding conservation work and protecting the habitats that sustain wild animal populations across large swathes of the continent where, without hunters' dollars, wild bush would soon be taken over by agriculture or the wildlife decimated by poachers

[@kgoblin5084]

@@ForgotMyPasswd000 "how can you have no state apparatus and enforce property rights without having a corrupt mess? " Capitalism doesn't call for no state apparatus, you are confusing it with the extreme variant of anarcho-capitalism. Healthcare budgeting: at least in the USA, it isn't all fucked up because we have a capitalist approach. The problem is we are actually using a mixed approach, hampered by government protectionism of the insurance companies, that has allowed prices to vastly exceed the means of the consumer. Something which would NEVER happen in unregulated capitalism, because prices will remain fixed to what people can pay... so they can keep paying for it. Meanwhile if we switched over to a fully socialized system... well we would be in trouble. Healthcare is a shitty business to be in, constantly short of people because folks don't want to work in that meat grinder. And you want to strip away the 1 universally appealing fringe benefit of it paying well. Brilliant. Prostitution: 1st, you are applying a cultural lens, where you see sex as degrading. That is NOT a universal cultural stigma. 2nd - we don't really have very good examples of a purely capitalist approach to prostitution - for most of the modern era the practice has been shunned & made illegal... and black markets don't function like legal markets. violence, shame, & abuse happens in any & every industry when you make the product illegal. Pre-modern era would also be pre-capitalist... the exception is probably the brothels of the old west, but that was also fringe frontier society that bordered on anarchism. And of course pre-modern society ALSO had very different cultural values which would need to be accounted for. In the wild west though, as bad a direct comparison as it is, I find it notable that quite a few whores became madams, with established businesses in said frontier towns. "families starving because they can’t get food": Socialist systems have the WORST track record in feeding people. "You’re talking from a position of high privilege if you think that environments don’t mould people" Kindly look in a mirror.

[@ForgotMyPasswd000]

@@kgoblin5084 I mention the state apparatus because thats what’s seen to be the ultimate goal of advocates of capitalism. As for healthcare, healthcare has inelastic demand and deregulating healthcare would be even worse than it is now. Naturally there will be very few companies who can provide healthcare due to the immense cost of starting up. You can’t have true competition in a field where consumers can’t opt out of the options presented to them. The laws of supply and demand are also never really applied, if these were then price gouging wouldn’t exist where supply is artificially made low to drive up cost. Socialised healthcare is also definitively better than the US especially, the issue we have in countries like the UK is a lack of funding which means you have overworked workers who end up not performing as well as they should. People rarely go into the healthcare industry just for money, you’re better off in many other industries for that. Interesting to mention communist countries starving people, documents from the CIA have even them admit that the USSR had better nutrition, had a higher calorie intake etc than the US. I can’t provide a source directly here since KZbin removes links but you can find it very easily. Socialists have managed to rectify food insecurity in nearly all the countries wherein they take power.

[@ForgotMyPasswd000]

@@MythSpeed State and economics are inherently linked. Authoritarianism and capitalism are not incompatible in the slightest if anything they are deeply connected if we look at the works of the neoliberals like Hayek “I prefer a liberal dictator to democratic government lacking liberalism”. To separate the two is to suppress the will of the people.

[@RefugioAnarco]

The series is created in South Korea, if capitalism is so bad you just have to jump the fence and experience the wonderful socialism / communism

[@RefugioAnarco]

@AirandThoughts My comment is aimed at people who think that the series criticizes capitalism

[@efw-vz4hc]

@@RefugioAnarco that would include the writer...

[@jyotibasu408]

@@efw-vz4hc yes it does, but the point still stands

[@jyotibasu408]

after watching the video, you should be able to understand the series is much better at conveying the horrors of state planning and authoritarianism than about capitalism

[@daryno9047]

@@RefugioAnarco so you’re so brainwashed that just the act of criticizing capitalism means you should leave for North Korea? Funny thing is if If you were born in North Korea you would probably be the perfect citizen there

[@deci2723]

I thought it was a critique of many things at once, that is what makes it such a good story. It is a critique of communism through the northern girl, a critique of capitalism through the system itself, a critique of rich people who will do spend horrendous amounts of money for horrible reasons just to entertain themselves, a critique of (poor) people who will do anything if they are really desperate, a critique of idealists who will do horrible things if they convince themselves that it is in the name of some twisted ideas and a critique of Korea (both northern and southern) as a whole. That is pretty much what discerns a story for children from a story for adult people, right? The complexity of the storyline and the amount of points a person can conclude from analysing the story?

[@grimmriffer]

I don't know how anyone could produce a series showing a boilersuited underclass, identified by number, trudging to and fro under the gaze of faceless guards with guns, and think "yeah that's capitalism all right". Hell, one contestant was executed for breaking the rules of equality! 🙄

[@alessandrorona6205]

''From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs'' that's one of the main rules of socialism. Boiling it down to equality show how little you understand. How a game about people competing for a prize against each other where cooperation is not incuraged could be about critiquing Socialism, a system where cooperation is key, when even the guy who made it says is about critiquing Capitalism? In which Socialist system rich biliionaries are allowed not only to exist, but also to buy people and make them fight aginast each other for their own entertainment?

[@pedromotta4231]

@@alessandrorona6205 socialist systems typically turn out with gross inequality as the political class wields absolute power. Kim Jong Un for example effectively has the entire gdp of North Korea as his personal wealth, since anything anyone owns there can be seized if it's deemed to be in the interest of the state. Meanwhile the average person barely has enough to eat.

[@zainbouali6288]

@@pedromotta4231 Yes I know there has never been a capitalistic authoritarian state.

[@pedromotta4231]

@@zainbouali6288 can you point out where in my comment did I claim that?

[@karambiatos]

I don't know my dude, that's capitalism in my country

[@narnius6139]

I have massive Problems with this Video. 4:05 exemplifies these very well. You narrow down the definition of capitalism to whatever is necessary to make the show's allegory not fit said description, yet you warp and inflate the definition of communism to benefit your narrative. The scene you show at 1:26 where the Frontman babbles about "equality" is, along with the continuous talk of "everyone has a fair shot at winning this", an allegory for the capitalist lie, that, "everyone can make it" "equal opportunity" etc, when in fact, even in an idealised version of capitalism, you'd have to replace the word "everyone" with the word "anyone" to be truthful. The uniforms and masks, on the other hand, are meant to represent another uniformist, collectivist ideology, one which, many people don't yet know is an aspect of capitalism, namely: Fascism.

[@themachine9366]

Fascism is not free-market capitalism, because fascism involves the state picking winners and losers in the economy. It is right-wing because it is hierarchical but it is not capitalism. You cannot have well-functioning markets when the state can favor one enterprise over another, like happens in fascist regimes. Finally, and to support your claim, I think this show is a critique of capitalism as much as communism. After all, it is the capitalist promise (like you said) that leads everyone to keep competing even thought they have the real choice to vote to distribute the earnings among all of them. That way, no one else dies. In the real world, the stakes are lower than this, yet even in this extreme example, the participants keep competing to win it all. Fundamentally, the creators of the show agree that communism is against human nature as given the choice, people would rather die competing than survive with less money. I would have never made this choice and that’s the beauty of free market capitalism. In a free market system, people could have opt out of the life-or-death rat race regardless of what the majority wanted. In a Marxist system, you don’t get that choice.

[@starfoxnes]

I agree with the video. While it tries to portray a capitalist system, the show contained critiques of both Thomas Hobbes's and Rousseau's Social Contract Theories. The show literally had everyone sign a social contract at the beginning that allows for a majority opt out. The only critique I can see of Capitalism is how it can and sometimes does lead to a call for Communism/Socialism. After all, all of these people failed in a Capitalist system, so they ran into the arms of an authoritarian democracy as a path to salvation. Much like other "Democratic Socialist States", it show cases the moral depravity one is willing to sink to just to achieve some success in such a system. The Westerners in masks showcase how wealthy capitalists use colonialism by funding the authoritarian regimes, which actually was pretty much most of the history of Korea.

[@calibvr]

Rousseau caused the downfall of liberalism in my opinion

[@madhukarjonathanminj2772]

great analysis

[@HydraHolden]

China and the Soviet Union divided North Korea from the south, established the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and gave lots of military aid via direct involvement in the Korean War. Both being authoritarian regimes arming like minded satellite nations to progress "the workers' struggle against oppression." Which is not capitalism. We need to call it what it is, militarism.

[@starfoxnes]

@@HydraHolden Looking further past from the Korean War, Western powers, particularly in Europe, colonized much of Asia and used their influence to prop up authoritarian regimes. The industrialized Japanese, largely influenced by the West during the Meiji Revolution, also played a role in colonizing much of China and Korea. Japan's slogan during WW2 was Asia for Asians, justifying their acts as a reaction of Western powers setting up colonies in Asia. Of course, this does not justify their actions as the Japanese were barbaric towards Asians whom they conquered. Korea, even before that, was largely under a tribute system to China throughout most of its history. I suppose the author feels that Korea is still under such a system in the South to America. It wouldn't be the first time the South Koreans needed protection from the North. Much of its history was a division between the merchants in the south against the militaristic north. Also, just on a side note, Marx welcomed colonialism as a means of spreading Communism. Despite modern Marxist critiques, countries that were colonized did see rapid material progress, which Marx saw as a good thing. The added bonus was that Capitalism was also undermining the cultures of colonized states, which he believed was necessary to usher in Communism. Just to be clear, I am an Austrian Economist and thus believe in Capitalism is the best system to promote freedom and prosperity. I am just analyzing the video and its message.

[@starfoxnes]

@@calibvr Rousseau is the culmination of liberalism in its final form. Hobbes developed the Social Contract theory making the political the highest entity. Locke, though he put limits on the states, later stated that any crime committed was a crime against the state itself when the state is a democracy since the people are the state. Rousseau later took Locke's theory and developed the General Will to state that the Democratic state represents the will of the people and should thus be considered the only legitimate government. If the rest of society does not agree, the must be made to agree or in his language, forced to be free. This is what Marx meant when he said "the dictatorship of the proletariat". Rousseau was the final step in the creation of what we call today the left and the right. Hobbes is the right, Locke is center, and Rousseau is the left. Conservatives, like Burke, stand outside of the spectrum as they reject the mere vertical hierarchy of the social contract theory that solely creates either intense individualism or intense collectivism believing instead in multiple horizontal hierarchies like the family, church, guild, market etc to each maintain their separate spheres of influence largely based on merit and traditional social ties.

[@yitivitzen5239]

Ironic how someone can criticize capitalism in a capitalist society, but you can’t criticize socialism in a socialist society.

[@Prat-zi1ou]

You can come to India

[@AlteFore]

Capitalism isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but to suggest that we should try socialism or communism is stupid. Every other time we've tried it, it's caused nothing but pain and sorrow

[@ZoeyTheSobble]

“tHaT wAsN’t rEaL cOmMuNiSm1!1!!1!!”

[@DonVigaDeFierro]

I used to think that socialism works... when I was in middle school... Luckily, I grew up.

[@KikogamerJ2]

When we first try ed capitalism we had very cool slavery and even better executions of everyone who doesn't support capitalism the difference his communism fixed everything in few years while capitalism took century's to fix itself

[@Superficial_Intelligence]

Yeah, communism is a good idea on paper, but it always ends in a coup by the CIA and replaced with a dictator backed by the US.

[@andreamalone3048]

If everyone is equal then why is there still rankings in the system? Such as guards being above the other people.

[@nathankinman7753]

Equality for thee, but not for me.

[@renkol123]

There are always ranks within ever human system because humans naturally rank themselves. It's part of being an aggressive social species.

[@becominghero9754]

That's similar to the CCP (Chinese communist party) structure

[@DonVigaDeFierro]

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others"

[@prithvisukka9271]

Are adults not above children

[@jonathancangelosi2439]

It takes crazy mental gymnastics to think that a show about taking people with crippling debt and pitting them against each other in brutal, inhumane ways for the amusement of rich oligarchs could be anything other than a critique of capitalism. You have to redefine “capitalism” and “socialism” beyond recognition to get even remotely close to a salient interpretation. It’s not enough to ask whether something is “socialist” or not; you also have to ask who is benefiting from it: the elites or the working class. Have you ever heard the phrase “socialism for the rich, rugged individualism for the poor”? That phrase is not a critique of socialism, it’s calling out the hypocrisy of people who claim to value hard work and independence while getting massive subsidies, tax breaks, and corporate bailouts at the expense of everyone else. That is a capitalism problem. To put it simply, it could at most be considered a critique of “socialism for the rich,” which as I mentioned is really a critique of capitalism.

[@Slugma-kx7pv]

Capitalism requires deregulation of the government for a free market. To have a free market, you must have voluntary action. No one is exploiting when you voluntarily agree with a contract. But it is exploiting when rich people use the coercive force of government to benefit themselves and make competition insanely hard to exist. It's socialism for the rich because they steal from the poor to fund the rich via government intervention. The least you could do is read "Anatomy of the State" by Murray N. Rothbard. Which isn't a long read, maybe an hour or two if you're a slow reader?

[@DudeTheMighty]

"ThE sHoW's CrEaToR sAiD iT wAs A pOrTrAyAl Of CaPiTaLiSm!!" And he did a really bad job portraying it.

[@davidtucker9498]

Just like Starship Troopers and Fascism...

[@MrLilpapy]

Also a journalist pretending to know the intentions of the author better than the author himself is next level of gaslighting

[@vanomxxx]

Better then you would

[@Spartan322]

@@MrLilpapy tbf, plenty of communists don't understand crap about their own stories, generally morons who don't have an original idea in their head can't think outside the box, those who do portray concepts that don't in fact agree with their precepts logically and results in cognitive dissonance between the narrative and the writer.

[@KjngKhanh]

he did a great job at portraying it actually. You just don't understand his message

[@videojeroki]

Yes, a friend of mine told it was a great critic of the capitalism and free market. So I watch few clips and I quickly realise it wasn't at all. People just don't get the concept of capitalism and free market, it's somehow funny.

[@d3fau1thmph]

Oh, we get it. It's simple: the rich get richer by the exploitation of the poor.

[@ryangrange938]

@@d3fau1thmph right, so we should do communism where you don't even have a chance to get rich because we are all starving together aside from those in the government? Yeah that seems worse to me...

[@videojeroki]

@@d3fau1thmph Sarcastic, I love it :P but you have to exaggerate even more otherwise people may actually think you believe that. I would say "Capitalism is simple: rich people kill and suck blood of poor people and then burn the planet so everyone died because rich people are ego maniac without soul."

[@davidtucker9498]

@@videojeroki I have seen many people online say exactly that without a hint of irony... I think the problem has to do with a serious failure of the education system to explain WHY bad things are bad, and WHY good things are good, and also political polarization. The Left has flirted with Communism since the 50s, denouncing McCarthyism without denouncing the far worse Communist regime that McCarthy was rightly concerned about (and, incidentally, 100% correct in all of his accusations, as we now know...) The Democrats allow people like Bernie Sanders and AOC in their ranks, open advocates of socialism who never met an authoritarian Communist regime they didn't like... On the other side, the Right has been so paranoid of the "leftist Commies," they have become obsessed with not only Capitalism, but unfettered Capitalism, to the point that any criticism of the Capitalist system is immediately shut down as "commie talk"... What we are left with is a Right that won't address problems with the economic system, and a Left that more and more wants to tear it all down, either choice leading to the increased suffering of millions.

[@videojeroki]

@@davidtucker9498 limited/guided education and political polarization. You said it all.

[@noblephoenix6151]

Yeah, the whole setup seems way more like Noth Korea than any free market capitalism.

[@Krysnha]

Indeed, in a comumnistic society, if they beleive you are talking bad about the goverment, or even implie it be true or not you get cancel

[@DonDadda45]

The fact that this video was WELL Recieved is worrying

[@Alexis-lg3dq]

?

[@DonDadda45]

@@Alexis-lg3dq What "?" it's a literal propaganda video lmao

[@Alexis-lg3dq]

@@DonDadda45 is this propaganda or do you just not agree with the conclusion its reaches....goodness what a doink

[@kc1303fox1]

@@Alexis-lg3dq Its propaganda. read a book.

[@thelastoferrathen613]

If you are against corporatism, you should be against statism. What is the state if not the largest and most powerful corporation.

[@TheRisky9]

I remember Hunger Games was called a critique of capitalism too. And what was mostly cited was because there were classes and there were wealth discrepincies as well as a lot of consumerism. This is what people are taught is the identifying markers of capitalism, when the reality is that it's how the systems are constructed that define the various social, political, and economic structures. When I point out that the Hunger Games is actually socialism because the government owns the means of production, people look at me like I'm crazy. "But there's classes." They don't compute that classes is not limited to one type of economic structure!

[@IncredibleMD]

The official definition of socialism adopted by academics and promoted by society is the Marxist one, which is theoretically classless. They reject the idea that socialism can have classes because Marxism rejects the idea that socialism can have classes.

[@TheRisky9]

@@IncredibleMD That explains it. Again, we get into the intent versus the results. Yes, it was the intent of socialism to create a classless society, but the results is far from it.

[@totaldramagamer5521]

@@IncredibleMD "Theoretically classless" is such a wonderfully useless phrase. "Well theoretically this can only work out well for you." imagine if they expanded that mindset. "Theoretically hunger free" Oh, it's not clearly socialist, because people starved to death. Amazing.

[@TheRisky9]

@@totaldramagamer5521 It's kind of sad when you can literally deny any fault by claiming that something wasn't what you intend.

[@totaldramagamer5521]

@@TheRisky9 "The medicine didn't work because you did it wrong." -- Despite doing it correctly.

[@lawrencevaughn9149]

Y’all do realize that China and Korea aren’t actually communist right?? I know a joke in most capitalist lover groups, but true communism has never actually been done, a lot of dictator ships use communism as their face to get into power but they’re more fascist than anything, and have more in common with Nazi Germany. Then they do with the ideology of actual communist ideals. That’s what frustrates me about people that talk about stuff like this because I’m not personally a communist but people point to the worst examples of people that labeled themselves as communist without checking to see if they actuallyfollow by its rules and regulations and ideals

[@tegathemenace]

They are headed in that direction. One more than the other. We can see what they tend to as they approach the ideals.

[@ericshelby8813]

Tries to critiques capitalism but is able to be created because of capitalism.

[@wakaman3295]

"you're part of the society so you can't criticize society" very talented thinker you are.

[@syzler8664]

@@wakaman3295 no stupid, under communism he would be too busy mining in the coal camps to make a movie

[@smoke2730]

@@syzler8664 In capitalism children are mining in coal mines to make $1 a day

[@KikogamerJ2]

@@syzler8664 do you have a proof for your accusations ?there is a lot of proof for childlabour in mines in capitalism but none in communism how interesting

[@kennybeck4115]

I enjoy these pop culture through a libertarian lens things. So often you see this type of thing done by either leftists or conservatives that’s it cool to see one that I can agree with

[@BNK2442]

Nah, it is cringe when leftists try to look cool by talking about the politics of video games or films, it is cringe when libertarians do it. And this series don't even look particularly good, as it just looks as another variation of the Battle Royale set up. I bet that in five years people will not talk about this just as they don't talk about Lost.

[@BNK2442]

@SparrowEgg Going by the ç, I would say no.

[@dannybryant1114]

@SparrowEggfirst off I don't label myself as a librarian, I'm more of a pragmatist but I do have a question for you. I always assumed librarian wanted people to be able to do with their lives what they please, and to be able to inter into contracts with who ever they want. So why would you shut down the death games if everyone is their voluntarily I mean a lot of people risk there lives every day for example cage fighting, pharmaceutical testing, crab fishing etc..

[@mysticalrandomness4282]

Leave it to conservatives to explain how they know more about the true meaning of a piece of media depicting a country they've never been to, than the author that created it. A show about debt and competition among working class people below the rich 1% is actually not about capitalism because that's not what capitalism *intends*

[@excke]

Great video. I would recommend the video from Libertarian View as well about this show.

[@TheMagnificentMongoSlade]

I did one. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gaOaY3-rdtOam7s

[@Xyanider]

The problem I had with the show was that for all the talk about equality of opportunity at the beginning of it, they actually manipulated the games at the very end. Making that point a complete hypocrisy of the entire show and could also be interpreted as the government intervening with a free market.

[@KikogamerJ2]

Or a big corporation that the a small business cannot compete it can be interpreted both ways

[@jonaskoelker]

> Hippocratic "Hypocritical", talking the the talk but not walking the walk. "Hippocratic" refers to Hippocrates and the oath doctors swear: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocratic_Oath

[@nathanjora7627]

@@KikogamerJ2A big corporation wouldn’t rig the game, it would beat the smaller corporations at it, unless we’re talking about crony capitalism, in which case the bigger corporation can only rig the game thanks to the government

[@SeraphX2]

While you can draw some parallels between the social structure, capitalism is not a government so the "elites" shouldn't be able to dictate the lives of those below them. America is no longer a capitalist economy so you can't say, oh look at America, capitalism sucks. At best, it's corporatism. But even that said, the bottom guy can still make a business if they really want to. Nothing is stopping them. In a socialist country where the economy and government are 100% tied together, you don't get to just do what you want because the "lower class" needs to ALL be equal.

[@blackwing5535]

Corporatism is the wrong word for that. The words for what you mean are corporatocracy or crony capitalism. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporatism

[@blackwing5535]

Also socialism isn’t government owning business or anything of that sorts. It literally just that workers should own the means of production aka worker owned workplaces, no bosses though there can be elected management by the workers. What you’re describing is state capitalism

[@Scarycrowzz]

Cronyism and corporatism are just later iterations of later stage capitalism. It naturally trends that direction. How is that not capitalism? Imagine simping for for capitalism when you're not a capitalist.

[@SeraphX2]

@@Scarycrowzz that's not "later stage" it's corruption. another term to demonize the system itself.

[@becominghero9754]

@@blackwing5535 I have a question. If there are no bosses, how do companies get started? That particular argument, where I can't own something I made, always sounds more anti-small business and more communist than anything. Lenin promised the workers would own the means of production and instead the govt did. Socialism is usually government modulating a privately-owned economy, isn't it? Either way, whatever lets the little guy actually make her own thing and own it without anyone else stopping her from making something new, that is best, I think.

[@AndrewChumKaser]

The creator said it himself. It's about a ruthless competition, and capitalism only contains that in part. It's about people and control. It's about lots of things, and "Capitalism has flaws" is hardly the end of what it has to say. Also, do keep in mind that the front man and by extension the games were saying that everyone is equal, and yet they're portrayed as the authoritarian overlords who kill without hesitation. So maybe everyone being perfectly equal is actually... you know... a bad thing?

[@gustavonomegrande]

"Some animals are more equal than others" -George Orwell

[@anafu-sankanashi8933]

So it's a critique of authoritarianism?

[@jer1014t2th]

That's...actually pretty well-reasoned. The start was weak, but the finish was pretty strong.

[@SoloRenegade]

every time people try to go after capitalism like this, they always prove they don't even know what capitalism is.

[@onetruthmediacompany]

The thing is anybody with any basic level education on communism, socialism, and, capitalism can see this is about Communism & socialism. The sheep 🐑 are the ones that listens to these creators propaganda and fall for their lies. Those that are under constant brainwashed ideologies forced to falsely believe that free market capitalism is bad. When in fact capitalism with free markets has brought more people out of poverty than anything else ever throughout history. Capitalism & the free market creates more zero to wealthy people than anything else and that's why immigration to democratic countries with open free markets surpass all others. And America surpasses the best of the best. There are 100s & 100s of immigrants that came to America without any money or possession and followed the American dream & achieved the American dream. Like Elon Musk, Celine Dion, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Alex Trebek, Bob Marley, Albert Einstein, Ceasar Millan, just to name a few you probably didn't know about. People like Ceasar Millan couldn't have achieved such levels of wealth and fame without becoming a legal American citizen? Elon Musk who knew he had to move to America to have as much freedom as possible and he literally made his 300 billion dollars starting from absolutely nothing, coming to America as an immigrate knowing that the "American dream" was real & in America 🇺🇸 under capitalism & the free market was the only thing needed for ANYONE to create GREAT WEALTH from nothing. Check out the 100s & 100s of examples and then give me just one single example of anyone that lives in a communist or socialist country that is wealthy and that is NOT Jack Ma. A Chinese millionaire that created and owned Alibaba (A Chinese version of domestic Chinese made Amazon worth over a trillion dollars USD) Prior to Jack Ma's disappearance he was personally worth 50 billion. Jack Ma disappeared for 3 months after a rather benign light criticism of the CCP - Chinese Communist party and ironically right after announcing that he was offering his company Alibaba to be publicly owned & traded. He was summoned by President Xi Jinping. Shares in Ma's companies fell, wiping nearly $76bn off its value. Immediately after that meeting, Jack Ma was nowhere to be seen. And stayed disappeared for over 90 days. When he did emerge it was through a somber cryptic short video clip only explaining that he no longer ownes or is in control of his business Alibaba. Giving no reason why other than because he wanted to & that (all of a sudden) he did NOT like being rich anymore. We all know that President Xi Jinping re-educated him and reassigned Ma's position & control of his own business to "others" and you can be sure that his wealth was "redistributed" not to the poor, like the CCP shills and communist propaganda says it goes to. But it was obviously redistributed to those high up in the CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTIES DICTATORSHIP. Furthermore, Jack Ma was forcibly removed from his position, stripped of his shareholdings (transferred to ”five unnamed individuals” with the same address),and will likely be jailed or ”disappeared” within the next year.This is how xi and wang treat any chinese that become too powerful. This can NOT & absolutely NEVER happens in democratic capitalist free market countries. www.businessinsider.com/billionaire-and-millionaire-immigrants-2018-4?op=1 www.moving.com/tips/how-famous-american-immigrants-moved-to-us/ www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2016/10/05/a-record-number-of-the-u-s-billionaires-are-immigrants/ www.millionairebefore50.com/2021/02/here-are-americas-richest-immigrants-in-2021.html/ Jack Ma's disappearance and wealth redistributed by Chinese Communist party www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/d2e5ct/kyle_bass_clockworkjack_ma_was_forcibly_removed/ www.forbes.com/sites/georgecalhoun/2021/06/24/what-really-happened-to-jack-ma/?sh=7c33a41d7c7e

[@KikogamerJ2]

Damn Bro your sorces are litteraly corporations praising themselves for how good they are damn , I think you are the sheep and worse your belive in a system that openly admits to not care about you , that's some low self esteem right there

[@Goblinhandler]

@@KikogamerJ2 corporations praising themselves for what? It’s bunch of news journals and Reddit

[@el_naif]

In capitalist societies, it’s easier to fulfill the earthly needs, particularly through generations, and the population ends up deeply occupied looking for further meaning. In anticapitalist systems, the majority of people overwhelmingly value material goods and their mind is busy trying to secure food. Isn’t it ironic?

[@w2class]

It's a gender studies student's take on capitalism.

[@tinypotato1361]

Missed the whole point lol

[@africanzungu7350]

Libertarians manipulating narratives and themes to justify their ideology will always be funny. The show is as blatant a critique of Capitalism that could be made and anyone that tries to manipulate the narrative into justifying their ideology is being extremely dishonest. It shows that modern Neoliberal Capitalism is no different than the authoritarian systems it claims to differ from.

[@tinypotato1361]

Exactly

[@jakestaheli8532]

Did you even watch the video? There are many other points you aren't even acknowledging. -the contestants are taken to an area sectioned off from the rest of society and are tricked into signing away their rights with a social contract. -the contestants are then dehumanized with the same outfit, and are labeled with numbers, while being ordered around by faceless guards only differentiated by rank. -said guards are just as expendable as the contestants, and deviation from the front man's obsession with ideological purity and equality within the games is met with instant execution, and their bodies are strung up as a warning to others. -contestants are directly rewarded for throwing other contestants under the bus via the prize pool being increased (ratting out neighbors in the soviet union often came with societal advantages, it's a bit of a stretch, but you get the idea) -the cramped, non-private beds in the main sleeping quarters are not at all dissimilar to the living conditions of those who lived in the mass produced apartment blocks in the soviet union, where residents would often kill each other for more space within said blocks (another stretch, but the contestants also attacked each other that one lights out, remember?) -the front man is essentially a dictator with absolute centralized control over every guard and contestant within the facility. This is not to say that there is nothing to critique within capitalism, or that the show doesn't do so in an effective way, hell, one of my favorite episodes is the glass bridge one, where contestants are ordered effectively at random in an ascending order or numbers, and are forced across the bridge from lowest to highest. The people at the bottom are essentially dead, because they have so little chance to succeed, when they could've all had an equal chance to survive by jumping once each, but their conflicts led to far more deaths than needed. Plus, the glass worker could have won the game, but its proved that the game is rigged against them, when they turn the lights off, forcing them to guess, proving it was never truly fair. BUT, denying the validity of, if not the existence of a different perspective is blatant intellectual dishonesty.

[@tinypotato1361]

@jakestaheli8532 eveything you said literally isnt Communism? You are missing the whole point on why these people are in the position they are in the first place. While yes there are some who gamble and did stupid things most are in debt due to this capitalist system. The VIP’s the one organizing this system are the elite who will look at and exploit the people in need.

[@mysticalrandomness4282]

@jakestaheli8532 Did you even watch the show? -the contestants willingly are taken to an area sectioned off from the rest of society and are given the opportunity to back out, and they do, yet they *go back* -if wearing the same outfit, having an assigned number, and taking orders from superiors with ranks is communism, well I think the United States military is communist! And every military for that matter. -the guards represent the middle class -exactly, that's how it works in capitalism. the only way to rise up is to lower somebody else, no matter how self made you are. -Turns out the subsidized housing in Manhattan is communist....and any group of identical apartments for that matter. Actual Warsaw Pact commie blocs weren't even that bad until they were privatized, they were efficient and affordable. Who cares if they were ugly on the outside, better than being homeless -the front man essentially still serves the VIPs, which now that I think of it is definitely an analogy for Korean Chaebols and politicians(although is of course applicable in most capitalist countries). But to the point you were trying to make, turns out that dictatorships isn't unique to any ideology(in fact, it's by definition incompatible with communism unless it's Dictatorship of the Proletariat). Do you think that Syngman Rhee was a communist? This is the most blatantly anti-capitalist show ever, there is no subtle messaging because the writer literally said it. You and "Reason"TV are trying to make that argument that there's an alternative point of view but there really isn't, you're taking all these aspects of society that *already* exist in *current* capitalist society and are saying that it's a reflection of an ideology that hasn't ever existed and by definition is the opposite of all the themes in this show(doesn't mean that you have to actually agree with communism, I'm not a communist).

[@Pioneer_DE]

​@jakestaheli8532 1. *cough* company towns *cough* 2. Wow, could this, perhaps, be a comment on the way employees are just treated as replaceable machines? 3. Huh so the enforcers of the system are also treated just like the participants of the system.... hmm I wonder if anyone ever wrote something about that, something like a Class struggle? 4. People throwing each other under the bus? Like employee's ratting each other out for rewards, unheard of! 5. Now you're not even trying. Im sure there aren't any cramped apartments in capitalist society, nothing like a housing crisis or anything, especially not in South Korea, one of the most densely populated countries in the world (especially if you exclude micronations) 6. Like a CEO?

[@willstikken5619]

If you cannot defeat an idea on the merits then you start to confuse it with something else in peoples minds until they defeat it for you out of ignorance.

[@sgtjonmcc]

Can we just pause for a second and acknowledge that the reference in the first minute was pitting "working class" against "middle class" as if those two things are mutually exclusive?

[@IncredibleMD]

To socialists, the middle class is the petit bourgeoisie, who exist to oppress the working class for the promise of eventually becoming part of the bourgeoisie.

[@drproton85]

Why would anyone think it's about capitalism?

[@mado-wh4jv]

Because "Ugh money is bad, Rich people with muh power" and of course, the production expressing so

[@fikamonster2564]

a lot of people see athuritarianism and capitalism as the same thing: People having more power and resources then others. also, a lot of leftists i have talked to dont see China now or in the past as communism, but as "state capitalism". And ive never met anyone who thinks of north korea as communist: they think of it as a dictatorship.

[@frogdeity]

Lmao the entire time I was watching I kept thinking "This must be an allegory about the authoritarianism present in communism and a critique of NK." How the hell did they intend this to be about capitalism?

[@danielvictor3262]

why is it that every youtuber posturing as some "reasonable" and "introspective" always make the stupidest of takes like really you see "symbols" and "costumes being red" and your main takeaway is "it's communism". Are you being serious with this? The fact that the series portrays North Korean defector character living a pretty shitty life in a Capitalist country is pretty much evident that it is a critique of Capitalism.

[@jakestaheli8532]

Did you even watch the video? There are many other points you aren't even acknowledging. -the contestants are taken to an area sectioned off from the rest of society and are tricked into signing away their rights with a social contract. -the contestants are then dehumanized with the same outfit, and are labeled with numbers, while being ordered around by faceless guards only differentiated by rank. -said guards are just as expendable as the contestants, and deviation from the front man's obsession with ideological purity and equality within the games is met with instant execution, and their bodies are strung up as a warning to others. -contestants are directly rewarded for throwing other contestants under the bus via the prize pool being increased (ratting out neighbors in the soviet union often came with societal advantages, it's a bit of a stretch, but you get the idea) -the cramped, non-private beds in the main sleeping quarters are not at all dissimilar to the living conditions of those who lived in the mass produced apartment blocks in the soviet union, where residents would often kill each other for more space within said blocks (another stretch, but the contestants also attacked each other that one lights out, remember?) -the front man is essentially a dictator with absolute centralized control over every guard and contestant within the facility. This is not to say that there is nothing to critique within capitalism, or that the show doesn't do so in an effective way, hell, one of my favorite episodes is the glass bridge one, where contestants are ordered effectively at random in an ascending order or numbers, and are forced across the bridge from lowest to highest. The people at the bottom are essentially dead, because they have so little chance to succeed, when they could've all had an equal chance to survive by jumping once each, but their conflicts led to far more deaths than needed. Plus, the glass worker could have won the game, but its proved that the game is rigged against them, when they turn the lights off, forcing them to guess, proving it was never truly fair. BUT, denying the validity of, if not the existence of a different perspective is blatant intellectual dishonesty.

[@danielvictor3262]

@jakestaheli8532 All these "allusion to a communist dictatorship" really doesn't work and falls apart when you realize the setting literally happened in a capitalist country.

[@jakestaheli8532]

@danielvictor3262 but it didn't happen in a capitalist society. It was a remote island sectioned off from the rest of society and was literally being investigated by a cop from said capitalist country.

[@jakestaheli8532]

@danielvictor3262 besides, even if it was on the mainland, hell, even if it was considered legal to the capitalist country, that doesn't mean the structure and ideology of the games are automatically capitalist! If I was running a black market within the soviet union, does that mean that market is communist?

[@limq9831]

2:12 "does this sounds like capitalism??" yes, very much.

[@greevar]

Are you shitting me? In Squid Game, there is an explicit ruling class that claims there is equality, which doesn't exist, while being the exclusive wielder of martial power to enforce their rules over the rest of the population who have no other choice than to obey the rules. There is a stark difference between what that ruling class says and what it does. The players don't make the rules. They don't get to refuse. They either obey and participate, or die. They are leveraging the desperation of people to coerce them to perform tasks that they would otherwise refuse to do. This is exactly what is happening in capitalist society right now. In a communist society, there is no ruling class. There is no martial power imposing rule over the rest of society. The term equality in regards to communism has been distorted and misrepresented to the benefit of those trying to argue against it. You are "equal" in the sense that you have as much socioeconomic power as everyone else. There is no private ownership of what we currently call capital (i.e. the means of production). Ownership in communism is universally inclusive. The factories, schools, farms, mines, hospitals, and other infrastructure are the inclusive property of the whole of society. Equality extends to the point that you cannot command me to work against my will by denying me the means to produce my own goods for my own use. The same tools used to build society are available to me as a human right so as that I can produce anything I need with what labor power I possess within myself. In communism, I can produce anything I want with my labor. I don't need a business. I just need tools, of which are eternally accessible to me whenever I have a productive use for them. If I want to build everything I need by my hands alone, I am free to do so. If I want to collaborate with my community to achieve production of greater scale, I'm free to do that as well. A capitalist says, "No, you may not have access to the means of production! They belong to me! If you want access to the goods your labor produces, you must give me your labor first. Then, I will decide, without your consent, how much of that you are allowed to have. I will never allow you to have the means of production, as that would nullify any power I have over you! You will be dependent on my means of production and give me your labor for the rest of your life!" Only a liar or a fool would claim Squid Game is about communism. That's capitalism projecting its own crimes onto its rival to prevent the capitalists from losing their power.

[@qsr1776]

Name one communism society where there hasn’t been a ruling class more oppressive than a free market capitalist one.

[@mysticalrandomness4282]

@@qsr1776 "Name one communism society" (ftfy) There have been none. Next question?

[@qsr1776]

@@mysticalrandomness4282 If we want to use that narrow definition of communism "no ruling class, therefore no communist societies have been done. Sure, I can flip it around by saying no capitalist free market societies have been done. The west has been a liberal mixed market for ages I.E not capitalist.

[@qsr1776]

@ Name one capitalist society. There have been none, they’ve all been liberal mixed markets I.E. not capitalist.

[@mysticalrandomness4282]

@@qsr1776You're confusing Laissez-Faire with capitalism. Capitalism is when private property exists and the free market determines the distribution of wealth. The majority of countries are capitalist.

[@ZoeyTheSobble]

Ironic how it’s supposed to be a criticism of capitalism yet it accumulated 900 million dollars, it’s like if a cigarette company sponsored an anti drug corporation.

[@Miguel-jr3gb]

That’s stupid, saying they can’t make money with a series that criticizes capitalism, it’s like saying you can’t have a phone because you’re a communist, it’s stupid that only someone with zero knowledge of communism or socialism would say

[@ZoeyTheSobble]

@@Miguel-jr3gb seethe

[@soultr549]

@@ZoeyTheSobble wow dude, you literally destroyed elox_1

[@ZoeyTheSobble]

@@soultr549 Ikr?

[@monitorunal4903]

Gesus christ, the mental fucking gymnastics of this thing! Wow!

[@ObviousOfTheMaster]

This is the main difference between Capitalism and Communism. In Capitalist Society you can critique Capitalism. (also Communism) In Communist Society you can't make Movies or TV Series.

[@becominghero9754]

Amen brother

[@RomanBelios]

South Korea and USA is not pure Capitalist South Korea and USA is mixed economy.I think you mean can critique Democracy and cannot critique authoritarian regimes.

[@bulletkiller0689]

"squid game isn't really about capitalism, properly understood. it's about developing strategies for undermining and resisting authoritarian control, and maintaining your humanity under a system designed to strip it all away" so.. capitalism? they are literally refusing to rip each other apart for cash despite needing it to survive and progress in a, guess what? capitalist system, that doesn't support socioeconomic growth like socialist (or even communist) systems do.. the entire point is to show how authoritarian and involuntary capitalism truly is, so to say "its about how bad authoritarianism is" is missing the point entirely, its taken for granted that authoritarianism is "bad". one of your arguments is that "they wear clothes that communist wear", no they wear clothes that they were pressured/forced into wearing. another one of your points is that a company alluded to was owned by the Chinese state, as if that made it "not capitalism". honestly, do you even understand what capitalism, communism, and socialism are? or were you just told like the rest of us that capitalism=freedom=good and everything else=not capitalism=bad.

[@jsheav]

Question for the north defector: if you no longer think the south is better, why are you still trying to get your family to SK from NK? Seems like that slipped the writers mind

[@gtmirm8]

Your argument is specious. You seem to believe a critique on capitalism cannot also be a critique oligarchys and money obsessed states.

[@emikke]

It is more about South Koreas's crony capitalism ruled by a handful of families. But that wouldn't be possible without the state, it's a kind of Socialism

[@Sultansekte]

Without the state, there is no one who can legitimize property. Capitalism requires a strong state to maintain oligarchs in power.

[@johanandersen8197]

Well north koreas ideology is stalinist or juche, which has no basis to marxism-leninism or communism

[@mr_carlyon]

This just seems like "cars are not for travel, thay are for racing". Both can be true but you are perposly only focusing on 1 point. Also nk is not communist

[@michaelmcgregor3108]

So, this is a Korean series subtlety warning against communism, but we are construing it as an argument for communism, sounds about right....

[@Adroit1911]

I wouldn't expect a former communist country to really understand capitalism. When even our best capitalist countries our partly socialist

[@whatalaffss]

stalin is squid game final boss

[@Cassieniemann2541]

You disagreeing with the message and small things that point to the opposite message doesn’t change the actual message of the show. If the writer claims that it is a critique of capitalism, it is a critique of capitalism.

[@johnsparks007]

The state was made for man not the man for the state

[@wakaman3295]

Same for private companies

[@Elioc-ed6wr]

The one thing people forget about literary works: This is the ONE time you can legitimately be postmodern and be like "This is in the eye of the beholder." And TBH this is a criticism of trying to implement a communist system; who gets to say what everyone's equal status is? Who calls the shots? The government? You can see how well that turned out in Animal Farm. You can't trust that amount of power to any human, since you'll end up with something like this massive killing frenzy for a big gold prize.

[@RIFLQ]

Is this a Capitalist propaganda?

[@christopherdunstan1708]

Is this a person who does not understand capitalism and watches breadtube.

[@mxdungeon7312]

@@christopherdunstan1708 bruh breadtube does not speak for every anticapitalist

[@lepretara6]

@@christopherdunstan1708 f

[@kevintewey1157]

popularity of capitalism went from 65% down to 50% among the youth

[@rorschach4391]

Many young people also think that men are women and vice versa. So???

[@sonichu2electricboogaloo11]

@@rorschach4391 based

[@geopoonaniluva4141]

Good, capitalism only benefits the elites.

[@sonichu2electricboogaloo11]

@@geopoonaniluva4141 that's just retarded I guess people make businesses prosperous from scratch must do so with noncapitalist ideals and strategies or by state invention

[@BUSeixas11]

@@geopoonaniluva4141 free markets are beneficial to non-elites

[@epicphailure88]

You actually took the scene that most explicitly says that it's actually about capitalism, where the North Korean character is literally asked if South Korea is better than the North, and he flipped it in the most deranged way imaginable. It's amazing.

[@kingjet6129]

Director Hwang Dong-hyuk " I do believe that the overall global economic order is unequal and that around 90% of the people believe that it’s unfair. During the pandemic, poorer countries can’t get their people vaccinated. They’re contracting viruses on the streets and even dying. So I did try to convey a message about modern capitalism "

[@BUSeixas11]

What the hell does the coronavirus have to do with it?

[@RT804]

He lives 200 miles from North Korea. Perhaps he should go check out communism himself.

[@davidtucker9498]

@@BUSeixas11 The hilarious part is, he had a good point, but missed it entirely... What was unequal wasn't the virus, it was rich nations that paid to make the vaccine in the first place. It was that the shutdowns were used, intentionally or otherwise, to extract wealthy from the poor and middle classes and give it to the rich. Not EVERYONE was shut down during the pandemic, only the poor and middle class businesses... Walmart, Amazon, Kroger, all the major chains were allowed to stay open, and they made a KILLING while 75% of businesses in places like New Jersey shut down for good... Furthermore, the shutdown of the economy devastated the dollar. The government INCREASED spending while the economy was halted. Even foreign aid was increased while their own citizens suffered... But the rich have their resources tied up in valuable assets, but the poor and middle class have savings... This means, while the government is printing more and more money, people's savings become worthless, while physical assets remain fixed value. This causes the poor to lose money while the rich maintain their wealth. The global pandemic has been the largest transfer of wealth from the poor and middle classes to the wealthy in human history, and it hasn't slowed down. In fact, according to the World Economic Forum, it is INTENTIONAL, so that they can rebuild society in the way they see fit with the "Great Reset." The coronavirus is at the heart of this, but the creator of Squid Game completely misses what's right in front of his face...

[@ptyleranodon3081]

@Vegan Zombie You sound like you haven't spent much time outside of your own bubble. Capitalism may be our best option, but there is no such thing as a perfect system. South African scientists are in the process of trying to reverse engineer the vaccine right now because the companies that have already developed it (the research of which was funded by our tax dollars btw) are refusing to lift their patents, even temporarily, to allow these other countries to even have a chance of manufacturing it themselves. Yet every time a new variant is inevitably found our health authorities pretend to be surprised (and terrified) and immediately start talking about making our own people buy more tests and pay for more boosters. This is clearly a money grab.

[@becominghero9754]

@@davidtucker9498 This is such a well thought out analysis.

[@kingarabsspring9419]

Communism? The director of Squid Games said in a recent interview that he had talked about capitalism, a problem common to the world

[@nirvanachile24]

Watch the video, then comment.

[@fakemoth1068]

This video was horrible. You know if you don’t like the message of a show you don’t have to watch it right? You don’t have to convince yourself that the message somehow agrees with you. The message of squid game is directly and purposefully about capitalism, and if you don’t like it just turn it off

[@elgatochurro]

She legit just said the middle class don't work... WTF

[@TheSpaniard]

"Capitalism is bad!" says the artist getting rich from capitalism.

[@Noctem_pasa]

“You criticise the system yet you live in it, curious”

[@almalone3282]

I mean if you don't like your job you leave. If you don't like your bf/gf you leave. If you don't like your country you leave. It's the healthiest thing to do

[@Noctem_pasa]

@@almalone3282 with the exception of the relationship, it’s not exactly a luxury anyone can afford

[@almalone3282]

@@Noctem_pasa if North Koreans with nothing but spare clothes and 20 bucks can do it anyone can

[@lifestyle7272]

This is a South Korean survival drama South Korea is a representative democracy in Asia This is a story about capitalism that people around the world can relate to

[@RT804]

Maybe it's something college graduates with shitty liberal arts degrees believe they can relate to. Although they do have a point. Most everyone in the show puts themselves in a bad situation through their own poor life decisions.

[@echonuim]

Really goes to show that interpretation is all about perspective. Can't wait to see people get mad when people analyze the show from a libertarian stand point.

[@jonaskoelker]

Chernobyl was really a critique of capitalism, from a certain perspective. /s I mean I'm bullshitting when I say that, but I'm sure someone somewhere will have the ingenuity to come up with a contrived perspective that'll allow them to see it that way.

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

It honestly sounds like the creator just said that because he knew useful idiots in the media, blog writers, and twitter socialists would eat it up, helping his show get talked about even more. Hopefully that at least, it's such a blatantly stupid claim. Or perhaps he's actually quietly showing how in capitalist economies, writers will jump at the opportunity to write stupidity about the economic system of even their own success while getting more clicks and revenue for their writing! Vey meda! 4D chess! (Lol)

[@countcampula]

Thank God we're in a mixed economy. Also Korea is run by 5 monopolies and poor people have no way out, it's very much about unregulated markets

[@HollowKey-vy9bv]

2 hours ago, you still alive? actually we are in fact not in a mixed economy, there is no socialism and capitalism together

[@countcampula]

@HollowKey-vy9bv Might want to check again, we're not a capitalist country(or world). Our market is extremely regulated and companies get bailed out, these aren't capitalist ideologies. Neither are price ceilings. Of course they can exist together, hence the term "mixed economy." 🤪

[@Pioneer_DE]

@@countcampula A mixed economy is still capitalism.

[@henrylootens6578]

​@Pioneer_DE i dont understand how people think big government/regulation = socialism. It's a very uninformed statement.

[@RomanBelios]

@@Pioneer_DENot capitalism but democracy.

[@dr.fjoer_the_crazy_scienti5841]

...... The maker of this series literally told.... its Anti Capitalism aka Critique of CAPITALISM 🤦‍♂️ Not Communism 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@aguyonasiteontheinternet]

not directly saying that you might be wrong, but are you seriously going to take everyone’s words as fact? the creator of a series can say whatever they want, but the product speaks for itself.

[@dr.fjoer_the_crazy_scienti5841]

@@aguyonasiteontheinternet I swear that he said that the whole story (Long before Series was made) was Anti Capitalistic?

[@micahaalders9840]

Watching this show carries the death penalty in North Korea. Kim doesn't want the people to wake up to what they're living in.

[@Sky-Of-Amethyst]

I think you're completely missing the point of why people say that this show is a capitalist critique. I will do my best to help make it clear. The critique on capitalism that Squid Games brings to light is specifically about the stigmatization of failure And how our society measures success through the acquiring of capital (And why that is bad) So first of all, we need to understand the society that capitalism creates. Or before that, we have to admit that society exists in the first place. Society in this case being a group of people with a shared Culture. Culture being the material and immaterial things that we believe in and value. Capitalism is a part of culture and creates culture, and this effects the society that we exist in. It creates ideas of how we should behave and what we should value. Capitalism creates a culture of hyper individualism, selfishness, and greed. It does this because of how it measures success. It measures success based on how much capital you gain. Capital in the sense of the definition used in this video. This also means that the only way to truly succeed is through owning a business and actively trying to acquire more capital. To gain all the commodities of status, fancy cars, big mansions, loads of money. If you do not acquire lots of capital, you're a failure. If you fail to succeed in the society and culture we live in, your stigmatized as a failure and no one will help you. Everything is up to you. If you rely on others, you are cheating. You are sapping off of other people's work. Your success is not your own, but rather it is the ability of the other. This is the society that the characters in the show exist in. These are the ideas that they believe. These are the ideas that exist in the real world. This idea of success and failure is awful. This hyper individualism is awful. And that's what this show demonstrates. All of the characters are deemed failures by the society that they live in. They all personally failed. They couldn't exist in the society they lived in and failed; thus, they are unworthy of any sympathy. They, having no other alternative, are forced into this shady game show to try and live up to the idea of success. To gain capital. And they pay with their lives. Their humanity is removed from them. Their singular and only life is removed from them. All to have the chance to be considered a Success by the society they live in And this is the culture that Capitalism creates. Since it is about the Private ownership of the means of production. Since it is about a hyper individualist idea of success. Which leads to these people being stigmatized and forced to the bottom of society with no help from anyone else. And finally leads them to be desperate because they are still chasing an idea of success. to gain capital. (Oh and you can totally start your own business or whatever. These characters could've changed their life around and finally become "Productive members of society". But that's a lot easier said than done!! This requires a lot of money to buy the initial capital (Something they obviously don't have), focus, motivation, support, self reflection to learn from mistakes, self awareness to understand them selves (Where they do good and bad), knowledge about how business works, among many other things. And on top of this, not everyone wants to live their life this way!!) Socialism on the other hand recognizes the absurdity of being hyper individualistic. The absurdity of thinking that success is measured purely by capital gained and that we should not help each other out. The goal of socialism is not to help the individual themselves succeed. It is to help People in General succeed. Yes, even the ones who don't succeed at first. People would not be deemed worthy because they conformed to the capitalist society they exist in, they would be deemed worthy because they are human beings to begin with. And we should all be doing our best to help every human we can. Cooperation and Self Development, both for ourselves and for others. Failure should not be punished. And it should not be punished to the extent of dehumanization. Socialism wants to create a culture where the idea of success is not measured by how much capital you gain, but rather by how fulfilling your life is. We want to give all human beings the ability to live a life that is fulfilling to them. Not be forced into a capitalist system. By making the means of production worker owned, people gain autonomy over their labour. They aren't forced to listen to demands of the few who own the capital that they use, because they are now the owners of that capital too. They are also allowed to fail because their life isn't solely up to them. They have others in their life to help them learn from their mistakes and to eventually succeed where they personally want to succeed. They are treated as human beings with their own human life. Shit happens. This doesn't disqualify people from their humanity. This creates a culture of cooperation and selflessness. Because we aren't so hung up on personal success and the damning of being a failure. This is the critique on capitalism that Squid Games brings to light. It is specifically about the stigmatization of failure And how our society measures success through the acquiring of capital (And why that is bad)

[@meatrealwishes]

Under pressure, the writer said his critiquing of capitalism was a bit ambiguous. I am interested in knowing why he thinks these contestants with severe financial issues were actually greedy. 1:44 Consequence faced by a distributor of squid game in North Korea.

[@eventhisidistaken]

This video is so good, it doesn't have a single dislike.

[@RockiesCanada]

Y'all have a lot of negative comments for 1 minute after a 9 minute video has been released

[@capitalismnfreedom3084]

Most of them haven’t even watched the video in its entirety 😂

[@13Yeared]

@@capitalismnfreedom3084 Most of them haven’t even watched the video lol

[@landobro6746]

Any critique of capitalism I've heard is always someone who doesn't understand what it is.

[@killeraptor]

What is capitalism then?

[@lollymanna]

What is capitalism my dear?

[@ragingfred]

When the only tool you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail. When you spend your life centred around "capitalism is bad" everything looks like "a metaphor for 'capitalism is bad'"

[@ReicHHere]

Whats good about good writing and a good story is that it can resonate with people of different views and values. Most westerners sees its about capitalism/communism but for the guy who wrote the screenplay its directly tied to S.Korea's current rising debt issues

[@philg4678]

wow I wish more people would see this as a push against communism. In truth, capitalism provides more people options and more freedom.

[@babla69420]

More like options to the 1% and their children who manipulate imaginary mode of transaction and hoard up the labour surplus of those who run the civilisation with hard work

[@TheRealFollower]

Lol. If North Koreans saw the beginning of squid games they would not be able to relate because it would be a paradise.

[@ciarantierney7558]

So the guys who made this video know more about the writer's intentions than the writer of 'Squid Game' himself? Nah. It's about inequality, hopelessness, and greed.

[@KenzoConez72]

No he just knows that the show speaks more about communism and authoritarianism than it does about capitalism. Watch the video.

[@IncredibleMD]

No one's denying that the author intended to write a critique of capitalism. They're saying he did an atrocious job.

[@kevintewey1157]

Even in capitalist Australia down payment for your home is only two-and-a-half to 5% it is actually 10 times that in the United States

[@snehashispanda4808]

Authoritarianianism is not same as communism.

[@TheDraco175]

They decommodification of land in nowhere in the plot of Squid Game. Nice try bucko.