A portal to Corporacratic America (RAR!)

[Starglider]

This sounds more communism with a vague capitalist theme than an ultracapitalist dystopia as presented in most fiction. The defining characteristic of late 20th / early 21st century capitalism is short-term thinking and disregard for externalities. No current companies would bother with raising generations of workers or expending effort on manipulating the birth rate because the ROI on that is decades. The assumption is just that there will always be more workers once you've run the ones you have into the ground - via immigration (on abusive terms) where required. More advanced recycling, really, when it has to be hugely subsidised in the real world?

You should lean harder into the absurdities of capitalism specifically. Like having to maintain and juggle subscriptions to 83 separate lifestyle services and 163 separate credit agreements, just to maintain basic standard of living and stay ahead of stealth price escalation. The average citizen having 13 tort lawsuits in progress at any one time, all managed by automated legal software with contingent fees that have been aggregated and financialised into Lawsuit-Backed Securities.

[K. A. Pital]

Like having to maintain and juggle subscriptions to 83 separate lifestyle services and 163 separate credit agreements

IMO that's not really related to periphery capitalism, only to core capitalism which has a relatively high concentration of capital per inhabitant and is also heavily parasitic. Perhaps you haven't seen much outside the First World and only have experience of a sheltered First World life, so that to you it seems that separate "subscriptions" and "credit agreements" are a defining feature of capitalism?

I see it just as a feature of late capitalism with Asian characteristics (company is father, company is mother, high tech but low life, exceptionally long working hours and days, but immense social pressure to have and raise children, to the point where companies would arrange the marriages of employees). Not entirely impossible in America, too - for example Mexico works the longest hours in the world (suffice to say 48 hours are rarely enforced) and has some of the worst paid leave conditions, too - 10 days per year. On par with Japan - and nobody takes them anyway for fear of losing their job. So like, combining the worst of the worst you could have company towns and crazy hours, and yet also people being afraid of being fired and dumped to become lumpens, unlike Asian technofeudalism where employment is usually a lifetime arrangement.

Also that's just somewhat based on latest news like this, I guess:
https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/poli ... s-2272887/

[K. A. Pital]

So I guess the closest counterpart would be something like a larger, more technically advanced mix of US and Mexico: above-replacement birth rate, coupled with horrendous working conditions, exceptionally long hours and no paid vacation or formal one impossible to take, but with the caveat that technology corporations replace the drug cartels and are a de-facto government, although a de-jure minimal government still exists for the sake of war and protecting property from competing imperialist nations.

Seems pretty realistic and very capitalistic. In fact I think in a few decades we would be actually looking at something like this (maybe not so horrendously dystopian) forming in the USA.

In regards to the OP... USA would probably establish relations or even a transdimensional alliance with its corporate counterpart. I have no idea as to what the real USA should do with a vision of it's grim future, hahaha.

[Solauren]

You should lean harder into the absurdities of capitalism specifically. Like having to maintain and juggle subscriptions to 83 separate lifestyle services and 163 separate credit agreements, just to maintain basic standard of living and stay ahead of stealth price escalation. The average citizen having 13 tort lawsuits in progress at any one time, all managed by automated legal software with contingent fees that have been aggregated and financialised into Lawsuit-Backed Securities.

That sounds like more like the absurdities of rampant consumerism.

[Cykeisme]

Wasn't clear from the wording, just checking.. which side of the 5:1 exchange ratio is corporate scrip, and which side is dollars?

Considering the corporations basically choose the politicians in government positions at every level (including executive and legislative) by controlling which candidate the workers vote for, I'm assuming the corporations don't actually end up paying much taxes, if any?

[Zor]

Wasn't clear from the wording, just checking.. which side of the 5:1 exchange ratio is corporate scrip, and which side is dollars?

Considering the corporations basically choose the politicians in government positions at every level (including executive and legislative) by controlling which candidate the workers vote for, I'm assuming the corporations don't actually end up paying much taxes, if any?

In general five units of scrip that could get you five dollars worth of goods from a company store can also be redeemed for one US Dollar acceptable. In a few locations the exchange rate is lower or higher.

The corporations do contribute to the US government so it can do the functions required from it, as do private citizens. The tax rate is rather low with a lot of exemptions.

Zor