What's your opinion of protectionism, understood as a set of economic policies - such as tariffs on imports - whose goal is to shelter the nation-state from globalized competition?
Is it viable policy that actually helps by monkey-wrenching "free trade", or merely a powerless attempt to build some sort of idealized national-capitalism?
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It's suicidal under modern capitalism, because it requires growth and thus globalization. It does not care about the needs of one country.
In socialism it is mostly necessary, but does not mean no trade with the rest of the world.
The argument for protectionism is to try to bring outsourced jobs back to the nation. The problem though is it's only a short-term fix (that may or may not work) to reduce unemployment, and doesn't address the forever increasing cause of unemployment which is technology and automation replacing the need for workers. A commonly promoted Leftist solution is to start providing universal basic income. Afterwards you can slowly begin to nationalize, automate and distribute basic necessities like vegetables.
Oh! You mean neo-merchantilism!
How come we got all those regresive ideas?
Neo Merchanitilims
Neo Feualism
Soon we'll have Neo Slavery … oh wait!
Anyway, the basic mistake is thiking jobs are needed.
Automation reneders jobs obsolete. And trying to delay progress is BS.
bump
It only serves to protect the national super porkies from international porky, just ask Brazil.
Leads to wars since capitalists search other ways to expand their markets
It's a mostly useless term. Protectionism is bourgeois.
Protectionism is what the national bourgeoisie asks for when they feel threatened by the global bourgeoisie.
Protectionism is and always had been fundamental to organized labor, to socialism, and to every ideology which seeks to make of itself a substantial establishment.
Until global revolution is achieved, the only possible way to institute stricter laws and higher standards must always be to quarantine areas with inferior laws and laxer standards.
Once superior areas have been secured and their status firmly elevated, these higher standards can be exported, using existing victories as strongholds from which to conquer exploitative and inhumane enemy regimes.
This works on the local, national, regional, and international level.
Look at these faggots, look at them and laugh.
There is a limit to consumption.
At some point you don't want another iphone.
Unless the adds tell you that you do!
IT'S THE ADDS! SEE?
Trade protectionism is a tool. If used to protect small and medium capitalist enterprises from larger and more powerful global competition, it is irrelevant to the leftist cause. However, it would be almost a necessity to protect a nascent socialist economic system from being drowned out by the global forces of capital.
People who have an iPhone now want one that has greater range, longer battery life, is tougher, cheaper, smaller, more powerful, has more bandwith, does VR, has more content available, etc. And all of those things will require more work, in more new industries, better, faster, cheaper.
There is no limit to consumption, ever, because it is the result of the infinite potential of the human mind, and the infinite strength of our desire to fulfill that potential.
If most people were content to live like we did a thousand years ago, in a humble cabin, wearing roughspun, eating pottage, entertained only by the forest around us, our modern technological base could obviously sustain everyone with 0.0000001% of the population working. But that is contrary to human nature, a sentiment held only by a handful of outliers.
Take your Roman Vomitoriums elsewere! (even if they are a myth).
Consumerism is created by neoliberalism.
The golden line can be passed on as an ideal.
There is a better humanity.
muh iPhones
ever thought about that
Hey man, you're welcome to die on this rock, crawling through the mud as the bloated red sun swallows up what's left. The rest of humanity will be out conquering the universe.
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LOOK AT THIS FOSSIL
LOOK AT IT AND LAUGH
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I am now confused!
Are you pro capitalism or not?
Robotics and space are progress, but are against profits!
I never said I was capitalist, only that transhumanists and anticonsumerists are turboniggers.
But consumerism only exists to move capitalism forward!
(Transhumanism is faggotry though)
Capitalist industrialism is the direct precursor to socialist civilization, and transition to socialism occurs only when it better allows people to pursue the same eternal compulsion which originally led them there.
Gainax is shit.
Triggered?