on the other hand, commercial-sized TP works just as well and is readily available. it just won't fit on your nice TP holder. if this is what capitalism failing looks like, I'd say it's not so bad.
I didn’t say it was a failure of capitalism, merely a property. Had it become necessary to do so, yes, I would have either ordered some commercial TP, or bought a bidet.
Now, if you want to talk about how we have zillions of brands of TP, but they’re all made by the same handful of companies (illusion of choice), I might argue that’s a failure mode of capitalism.
sorry, I've seen so many memes lately comparing US grocery stores to soviet bread lines that I read a bit of that sentiment into your comment.
it was a bit unsettling to see how much stuff was out of stock in the first few weeks of the crisis and wonder whether that was going to get better or worse. now the greatest hardship I face is having to settle for my second favorite brand of eggs sometimes. overall, I'm surprised at how resilient our system has turned out to be. despite the federal government totally dropping the ball, the individual states have more or less taken appropriate steps to handle their particular circumstances. I suspect we may be reopening a little early, but only time will tell.
also as an aside, there are certainly some positions that are very unpopular on HN. but if you post stuff like "#ShitYouCantSayOnHN", you will definitely get downvoted.
I've been seeing local or regional brands that the grocery store never used to carry, that apparently are being used to fill gaps in the supply chain. Not inferior substitutes, but things that make me ask why the heck didn't they carry these before? It makes me feel like, although yes, regulating markets can harm them, but there were problems, there must have been corruption, the distribution system wasn't handed down from on high by an invisible hand, etc.
I'm actually surprised there wasn't more supply chain disruption. Cleaning supplies, meat, TP, cold medicine (initially), disinfectants of any sort, canned goods, rice, dry beans, baking supplies, thermometers, masks, and gloves are the major things I noticed had gone "missing." My girlfriend and I could have certainly survived by modifying our diet and, as I mentioned, possibly buying a bidet.
But, we are both fortunate to still have jobs, and places to store a small stockpile of these things. I literally was able to turn a spare closet into a dry pantry by putting a wire shelving unit in there. We still have basically a lifetime supply of rice, and a nice selection of staple canned goods, just in case things go further south. We were not real particular about brands. We have access to Amazon and Costco. We will be fine.
This was nowhere near Soviet bread line status. In the Soviet Union, perhaps you had to stand in line for bread, but, at least there was bread. Here, we let some people go without bread, because they're drug addicts, mentally unstable, or just don't want to have religion pushed on them.
I'm sure this also falls into #ShitYouCantSayOnHN, and I don't care about the downvotes. I know you can't say anything against the free market or capitalism and expect to win any points here. That mildly annoys me, but I'd rather have my gray comment out there for other people to see, and sacrifice a couple of fake internet points to do it. I win enough points back in technical discussions that I'm in no danger of losing my downvoting, flagging, or vouching capabilities, so it literally does not matter to me; I've net gained 12 points just today. I'd rather draw the lightning rod to myself so people can see how rabid free-market capitalists don't even bother to argue a point, instead mashing that down arrow.
People dismiss socialist perspectives here without even comment, which is sad. They don't even give the ideas the consideration that those who claim socialists are all economically illiterate 14 year olds in their mothers' basements do. They ignore that Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, and other prominent intellectuals espouse socialist philosophies.
Honestly, I'd be pleased to get downvotes, if there was any actual discussion, but that's appararently verboten here.
Bread for all? In Soviet Russia they had Holomodor (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor), many non-conforming people died in gulags (where bread was pretty rare).
Soviets could not emigrate, they were prisoners in their own country.
As far as I know Einstein & Hawking political views aren't in line with what Soviet Russia was, nor pretended to be.
> This was nowhere near Soviet bread line status. In the Soviet Union, perhaps you had to stand in line for bread, but, at least there was bread.
Please stop. this is outright demonstrably false by every account.
It's a nice reminder that someone with a lot of intelligence and dare I say talent in one area can be so wrong in another.
But seriously dude, please educate yourself on the history of socialism and how it's totally and completely failed everywhere it was tried from Germany to Colombia to Sweden it's never worked and every attempt has either resulted in a civil war, a world war, or just years of economic pain to walk it back.
The fact that there were a sufficient number of emigrants that they were prevented from leaving by travel prohibitions, walls, barbed wire, minefields and snipers should tell you about living conditions by itself.
The majority of people in every place where media is tightly controlled will believe what parents, teachers, papers and TV tell them. North Koreans have a positive view of Kim Jong Il, mainland Chinese have a positive view of Mao. That doesn't mean that either of them weren't objectively horrible in terms of competent leadership or morality.
You appear to be somehow even more uninformed than they are. In no sense of the word has socialism been "tried" in these countries.
FARC were Marxist guerillas and never came close to seizing power, and social democrats aren't democratic socialists aren't DDR-style socialists.
