/lit/ - Literature

>he doesn't understand basic bourgeois economics

>>19755565
Even anglos abandonned the free market with recent american trade wars and brexit since China is ultra protectionist.

>>19755565
don't worry, i've actually read him so i know he's just an edgy humorist and i don't take anything he says seriously. thanks for your concern, though.

>>19755565
I bet you wrote your bullshit and thought you sounded really smart. You think that more progress is what the world actually needs? Think again faggot.

>>19755582
>You think that more progress is what the world actually needs?

Yes

>>19755594
You will never be a woman.

>>19755565
So many threads about this guy and I have no interest in his novels based on their blurbs. They sound so mundane with basic themes.

Free trade is a liberal fantasy

>>19755565
>Bro just let your industry leave your country, it's good for the economy
>Bro just let capitalists put you against 3rd world workers, it's good for the economy
>Bro just let the borders open, it's good for the economy.
What if the economy isn't the end goal of humanity, what if living in a country with a strong culture, a sentiment of fraternity and belonging more important than having a shit load of money. Besides, this is all false, western countries could 100% function in a closed loop, with the exception perhaps of energy. But that can be exchanged for services.

>>19755565
>In fact it will harm every single nation with the existence of inefficiency, monopoly, and higher import price and higher consumer price.
You say this, yet virtually every country that industrialized or developed a new major-industry did so with state-sponsorship. Look at what works, not what you're told.

>>19755565
faggot. Look what happened to western manufacturing. Low wages, inflated housing prices, inflation overall, lower quality consumer goods, reliance on third-world people.

>>19755674
NO NO NO SHUT IT DOWN

>>19755674
Then you just get economically depressed by everyone else who forms trade agreements for goods while your quality of life slowly declines. Autarkist types don't seem to get that the global economy doesn't go away because you stop looking at it.

>>19755914
>quality of life
Might actually improve. Unless you are a utilitarian eho thinks numbers going up=goodness

But yeah, the poor children will just have to settle for wooden toys and less phones.

>>19755565
Go away neolib

Some of us want our countries to be recognizable to our children, and not just globohomo bugman dystopias. And we don't mind some inefficiency

>>19756015
>his notion of resource scarcity is either food or luxury goods
This is why I don't post in these threads. You don't have the frame of reference for how far we can fall. You would think after the global supply chain bulging people would get a better picture.

>>19756044
Fall to where? What could possibly be so bad with protectionism?

>>19756044
Maybe you should consider that the failures of the hyper-efficient global supply chain actually make an argument *for* national self sufficiency and less reliance on international trade. Anyways, >>19755674 is absolutely right. There is more to life than finance and the economy. So long as the economy is functioning at a certain base level, making it more 'efficient' does nothing to increase happiness and meaning.

>>19755565
"Basic economics" is utilitarian brainrot. There are more values than just maximizing efficiency and minimizing prices. Stable communities, national pride, steady employment; these are all values enhanced by protectionism which should be valued enough to put up with a slightly higher cost of living.

>>19756110
All constituent parts for machinery for manufacturing and goods increases have a global market element, with many coming from natural resource mines owned by other countries. The needs are diverse, manufacturing plastics and pharmaceuticals that can cause huge ripple effects when they're disrupted. It isn't as simple as "well I can't have a smartphone." It would be more like, "I can't have a type of medical implant."
>>19756125
It's not just numbers going up. International trade increases the number of goods that are available in aggregate so that scarcity is much less of an issue. "Base level" for national self-sufficiency is way lower than you think.

>>19755580
His novels seems so cynical but also boring.
I'll rather read something uplifting like the Bible.

>>19756173
I guess people will just have to take responsibility for their health again, alternatives be devised, and imperialism to be more direct. You mentioned trade agreements which could very well off-set certain scarcity for certain countries.