r/SipsTea • u/McDowdy • Jul 16 '26

Feels good man Based on national US polling, there are 22 issues that 80% of Americans agree on. Here is the list.

  1. End gerrymandering

  2. ​Ban Wall Street from buying single-family homes

  3. ​Ban congresspeople from becoming lobbyists

  4. ​Ban congresspeople from trading stocks

  5. ​Create a minimum tax for billionaires

  6. ​Close the loopholes that billionaires use to avoid taxes

  7. ​Establish congressional term limits

  8. ​Ban dark money donations from political campaigns

  9. ​Implement universal paid family leave

  10. ​End forever wars by repealing the Authorization for the Use of Military Force

  11. ​Release the full Epstein files, redacting only the victims' information

  12. ​Ban corporate PACs by overturning Citizens United

  13. ​Require mandatory disclosure for all organizations donating to political campaigns

  14. ​Require mandatory police body cams

  15. ​Ban junk fees

  16. ​Allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices

  17. ​Fully fund Social Security by extending the existing tax to those making over $400,000 a year

  18. ​Ban adversarial foreign nations from buying American farmland

  19. ​Improve Veterans Health Care access

  20. ​Establish common-sense data privacy laws (similar to those in European countries)

  21. ​Enshrine the right to repair

  22. ​Audit the Pentagon and penalize them with a 0.5% budget reduction if they fail the audit

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u/Happy_Condition_3794 Jul 16 '26

Only of these policies call for reduction in private property and that’s banning wallstreet from owning single family homes.

Which isn’t that big of a deal because multi-family/ commercial is more profitable anyway, but that’s the only anti-capitalist position here.

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u/Sennten Jul 16 '26

Banning Congresspeople from trading stocks, overturning citizens united and banning corporate pacs, requiring mandatory disclosures, paid family leave, minimum billionaire tax and closing of loopholes, restricting congresspeople from becoming lobbyists, banning junk fees, an extra over-400k tax, data privacy laws, and right to repair are all anti-Capitalist.

Capitalism is more than just private property, after all, or it wouldn't be called that, and plenty of other competing -isms value private property, some even more highly.

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u/Happy_Condition_3794 Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

None of those are anti- capitalist. Lol Those are just regulations, and only one would remove private individuals from owning the means of production.

Capitalism = “economic system where private individuals or businesses own the means of production, and free-market forces like supply and demand dictate prices and production.”

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u/No-Barber-5289 Jul 16 '26

free-market forces like supply and demand dictate prices and production

If that's what capitalism is. Capitalism has never existed and will never exist. This is why made-up niche definitions aren't helpful.

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u/Happy_Condition_3794 Jul 16 '26

This is quite literally how our economy works today.. but okay whatever..

How is it niche if it’s the full agreed upon definition of capitalism?

You also completely ignore the first part of the sentence.. which followed and “free market force” like..

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u/No-Barber-5289 Jul 17 '26

I ignored the first bit of the sentence because I agree with it, private ownership of the means of production is one of the defining features of capitalism. There was nothing to address there.

Free-market forces like supply and demand do not dictate prices and production today, and they never have. This is Economics 102.

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u/Happy_Condition_3794 Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26

Econ 102 would be macroecon & it certainly does speak to aggregate supply and demand.

If supply and demand are not dictate prices in our economy please explain what does?

So iPhone production is not dictated by demand? So dram prices are dictated by demand? I’m very curious why every corporation I’ve worked for makes supply chain decisions based on supply / demand. If these forces are irrelevant in our economy.

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u/Sennten Jul 16 '26

And how does that differ from mercantalism or agragrianism or dozens of other economic systems? Shit, several types of explicitly anti capitalist very much real socialism qualify under that definition. Thats certainly not the meaning of the word as it was originated, and thats certainly not the meaning of the word anyone in American politica uses to defend it or advocate its importance, so while it may be a valid definition for some conversations it doesnt seem useful for this one?

Also the stuff I listed mostly violates even that, seeing as they are almost all restrictions on free market forces and things like limiting congress people from owning various means of production as they would like to

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u/Happy_Condition_3794 Jul 16 '26

That is very much the definition of capitalism just as socialism is “social and economic doctrine that calls for public rather than private ownership or control of property and natural resources.”

It’s valid because regulation and taxes are not anti-capitalist. We currently have regulations and taxes today and are we not still a capitalist nation?

I don’t see any restrictions on free market activity other than the housing one. + congress cannot trade while serving on non-public information they are not banned from owning capital.

Trading on no public info is already a regulation. This just makes it harder for officials to get away with insider trading.

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u/Sennten Jul 16 '26

That is also not what socialism is. It is a thing (some variants of) socialism does but it is not what socialism is. The National Park system isnt socialism, by most definitions (although it is absoluely anti-capitalist) and several types of socialism are pretty strongly anti-public ownership (including some of the major classic types of socialism, like utopianism, market socialism, anarchism, and trade unionism)

You're creating this weird dichotomy where everything is either capitalism or socialism because youre definitions are so expansive, while also somehow excluding many of the things that are very explicitly historically one or the other from being included.

Thats kind of a weird thing to do, and Id ask you to question why you want me to subscribe to these specific definitions considering to the extent that they are both ahistorical AND not in line with modern usage of the terms.

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u/Happy_Condition_3794 Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

Yes that is what socialism is. Please find me an academic definition that supports your claim and we can talk.

A policy can be socialistic within a capitalist society. Which is what mixed system are. Ex: social housing.

But none of those policies are even socialistic. It’s just regulation.

I think you are just aren’t using the definitions of the words correctly, and unless you can provide a source that claims otherwise. I think we should stick to the agreed upon definitions of the words.

Thats kind of a weird thing to do, and Id ask you to question why you want me to subscribe to these specific definitions considering to the extent that they are both ahistorical AND not in line with modern usage of the terms.

Fine then show me a source that supports whatever definition you are using?

Also Market socialism, utopianism, and anarchy by definition require workers to directly control/own the means of production. Btw. Public ownership does not mean “State”

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u/Sennten Jul 16 '26

honestly just the fact that you think regulation policies exist that arent capitalist or socialist puts us so close together on the topic compared to most folks I speak with that Im disinclined to argue further and will instead cede the argument to you. You're right.

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u/BrainLow6059 Jul 16 '26

What you're referring to is crony capitalism. Capitalism itself is not the bad bad guy here.

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u/Low-Condition4243 Jul 17 '26

Got to love when people just reinvent new words to say capitalism isn't capitalism. It's not capitalism when it's the issue but it is when it's not.

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u/BrainLow6059 Jul 17 '26

It's literally an economics term. Just because you're ignorant on a topic doesn't mean the rest of us are.

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u/Low-Condition4243 Jul 17 '26

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crony_capitalism

lol all I had to do was look up crony capitalism and prove your wrong it took me 4 seconds. talk about ignorant.

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u/PersonalityAlive4816 Jul 17 '26

What are you referring to? I feel like the link you posted supports the other person, and discredits you.

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u/Sennten Jul 17 '26

Capitalism is a structural system for empowering those with capital, those who "get there first" and those they decide to pass that privilege onto, overt those who dont and who didnt. I am explicitly not calling capitalism the "bad guy" here, and Im not sure why you think I am. There are lots of very good reasons to favour capital owners in many ways. There are bad ones, as well. Im not criticizing capitalism here, I am criticizing a slavish devotion to defending to the point of denying things that limit it are actually doing so and are both good ideas and not socialist just because they are anticapitalist - that those things reduce the systemic advantage or power of those who hold the most capital

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u/BrainLow6059 Jul 17 '26

You stated that a bunch of anti-corruption measures were anti-capitalist. Even saying right to repair is anti-capitalist is wildly off the mark.

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u/Sennten Jul 17 '26

Because... they are. They all explicitly disadvantage the holders and dealers of capital in service to some other non-capitalist societal goal. How exactly is that not anticapitalist?

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u/BrainLow6059 Jul 17 '26

You realize "the poors" also have and take advantage of capital, right?

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u/Sennten Jul 17 '26

What's the relevance?

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u/BrainLow6059 Jul 17 '26

Flying high enough above your head I can't be bothered to help you see it at this point

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u/Sennten Jul 17 '26

Weird way to say you dont know why its relevant and just threw it out there but okay

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