• Ech@lemmy.ca
    11·
    1 day ago

    I don’t think the episode in question really disagrees with Marcus here. He himself points to numerous situations where bailouts were unquestionably bad and only served to bolster capitalists, and those are the situations most people are familiar with on the topic of bailouts. Those are the bailouts that the episode is critiquing. And in the episode, the very community value intended to be saved/preserved is wiped out by capitalist motives. I don’t see how that supports the idea that it’s “propaganda” for capitalism. If anything, it’s pointing out the risks of it.

    Taken in context of the entire show, which returns again and again to how important and unappreciated a good government is, how meaningful community effort is, it’s clear that there was no underhanded intention with this one episode. As for Ron being claimed to be the “right” one in the end, I can’t think of any other time his outlandish adherence to his “free market” beliefs was portrayed seriously. I don’t see why that would change here.

    • solo@piefed.socialEnglish
      2·
      1 day ago

      As for Ron being claimed to be the “right” one in the end, I can’t think of any other time his outlandish adherence to his “free market” beliefs was portrayed seriously.

      It seems to me that towards the end of this vid, this is clarified. I haven’t seen this show so I don’t have an opinion, just saying.

      • Ech@lemmy.ca
        3·
        23 hours ago

        Those things are what make Ron a good person despite his libertarianism. The show goes to great lengths to make it’s characters likeable, but the characters are also often wrong about things. Ron is generally wrong when he’s clinging to capitalist nonsense like this (among other things), but when it’s about duty, friendship, and responsibility, Ron is a great example of how to be a decent person. Tbh, thinking about it, Ron is probably more of an anarchist than a libertarian. He doesn’t trust the government or corporations, and is much more comfortable living in the middle of the woods than he is in a “free market”.

        In short, just because the character has good traits doesn’t mean they’re the one intended to be “right” in an episode. Ron is great, but he’s wrong a lot. That’s just part of the show (which I highly recommend. Start with season 2 if you do. Season 1 isn’t terrible, but it’s a rough start for the series).

  • Kairos@lemmy.today
    9·
    1 day ago

    There was a video I saw a while back (from Climate Town?) titled ~“How climate propaganda makes its way into TV shows”. I don’t remember a lot of it but I came away with the opinion of:

    Real people hold these bad opinions, characters can be wrong in a fictional series. Ron Swanson is a satirical character too.

  • A_norny_mousse@piefed.zipEnglish
    3·
    1 day ago

    “These are all words that have very different meaning depending on if you’re talking to Karl Marx or Ayn Rand”

    🤣

    I’d add to that that these words also have very different meaning to people who profess to be Marxists (or critics thereof) without really understanding his message, probably just going by whatever the Soviet Union used to do.

    I was never under the illusion that TV shows are not a (at least partial) reflection of the capitalist system they’re a product of. Not sure I’d use the term “propaganda” though, but let’s see what sort of point the guy is gearing up to. I’m 5min in now.