Scientists don't want information released to public
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The monopolization is a response to tumultuous economics. If these people weren't so afraid of losing their livelihoods, they would be more cooperative. This is why we need more socialism. Capitalism encourages monopolies and rent seeking.
My guy, socialism would lead to a stagnation of innovation at almost every scientific level. Trust me, I’m a scientist. People rarely do this job or go into this field solely for the love of it, there’s also the pride of having a massive discovery named after you, money, etc. socialism removes all of those incentives. Ever wondered why the USSR’s weapon platforms and technological innovations were leagues behind us here in the capitalist west?
We have plenty of stagnation today. The mass poverty spearheaded by neoliberalism has kept wages low and prevented adoption of robotics and automation. Why have a burger flipping robot when federal minimum wage is still $7.25? Socialism is the way forward. Capitalism was crumbling in the 1930s. What did we adopt to help deal with it? Social Security. Socialism is in the damn name. Unions are very socialist in desire. Plus lots of of other non-capitalist measures were enacted between the 1930s and 1960s that helped make the 50s and 60s so great.
Why was Germany so powerful in World War 2? They had a fierce fighting force and a roaring industry. The core of their engine wasn't capitalism.
Stop swallowing the neoliberal propaganda. USSR was communist which is different from socialism. Nordic Socialism is working out well for Finland and Norway. It's made Sweden rich enough to afford their ridiculous stance on immigration; though that is collapsing due to a lack of nationalism.
We don't have to go whole hog on it. Small measures, like the difference between 1940s USA compared to 1920s USA would make a big difference.
All the examples you gave are of places with ethically and ethnically homogeneous societies that are relatively small. These things would never work in America, nor should they.
Beyond that, trying to split hairs between communism and socialism is like trying to say a single bacteria and a colony of that same bacteria are fundamentally different. They aren’t, it’s a difference in degree not in kind.
The US is rich enough that it pioneered Social Security. If we were to restructure all of the dysgentic welfare programs we have into a Social Security-like UBI that does not discourage work as welfare programs do, we would be much better off. And if some people misspend their UBI and buy crack and die early, all the better.
Even Milton Friedman suggested we could afford a Negative Income Tax in the 1970s, which is functionally very similar to UBI.
What's wrong with rent seeking?
In a sense, this telescope is close to cooperation and socialism since it's taxpayer funded for everyone. It also demonstrates perfectly how socialism will always be exploited to benefit some classes of people more than others. Tumultuous economics are a fact of life. Most people aren't satisfied with their station.
What do you get when you replace half of all of the farmers with combine harvesters? You get World War 1. If you treat people as labor units and they become obsolete, they don't just quietly disappear. We need an economy that serves people, not people that serve an economy.
Why not get rid of corporations, or limit their size and independence? (i.e. no corporate personhood) Also enforce local ownership. Would not immediately solve those problems, but there'd be more of a chance for little guys to compete and start their own farming empires. It would also be much easier to lay blame at the few "robber barons" for buying up all the farmland and replacing farmers with robots. People could go and shame their rich neighbor instead of having to deal with a faceless corporation.
Until we can do small stuff like that there's no need to discuss going all the way to socialism. Doing so only empowers elites and politicians that benefit from promoting a fake revolution among the masses.
the wages of socialism is death