"because nobody's poor in socialist or communist countries."
Sarcasm. Ok, no problem there. So you are saying 'people are still poor in socialist or communist countries, therefore poverty is NOT a byproduct of capitalism.
Notice the OP says "poverty is a byproduct of capitalism." It does not have to be the only possible cause of poverty for it to still be 'a' byproduct. The claim was not that capitalism is the only possible cause of poverty. If that had been the claim, then yes poverty within communism and socialism would disprove the claim. But that claim was never made.
However, I agree with Pia here in that so-called communist and socialist countries still had many of the most harmful elements of capitalism, such as hierarchy, inequality, scarcity, and money. These countries and these forms of socialism/communism have even been more accurately referred to as "State capitalism". This is also a very common false Dichotomy in which people think that capitalism and socialism/communism are the only possible systems.
" Money is how you barter for something someone else has when you don't have anything they want. Money by definition does not create inequality. It is nothing more than a way to make barter work better. Example: I fix fences. Your fence needs fixing. You raise chickens. I am vegan so I don't need chickens or eggs. You are able, because of money, to sell some eggs, give me that money to fix your fence, and I can then use it to buy tofu from someone who doesn't even have a fence."
Its true, money is a means of barter and makes things easier than if you actually had to barter. For instance, if I sell a house to a person who makes toothpicks, I may have to accept trillions of toothpicks in exchange. Transporting the toothpicks is more trouble than its worth, never mind thet that I don't need all of those toothpicks, etc.. So yes, money is progress compared to what came before it. But it also has its own problems
" "Money by definition does not create inequality" By the same token, the lack of money would not create equality. It would just make it harder to do the things money is designed to facilitate."
"There was little or no money in feudal times, and hey, equality abounded.
