runrussellrun wrote: ↑Fri Mar 04, 2022 11:05 am
Peter Brown wrote: ↑Fri Mar 04, 2022 9:14 am
Brooklyn wrote: ↑Fri Mar 04, 2022 9:05 am
RedFromMI wrote: ↑Fri Mar 04, 2022 6:59 am
Even the original Adam Smith book on capitalism speaks about the need to reign in the excesses possible. Perhaps PB skipped that part.
True. Smith was said to be what was called a "moral philosopher" who wrote about inequality and injustices:
For those who love socialism, I always suggest a one month trial in Venezuela to experience it firsthand.
Meanwhile try to reflect on these two Winston Churchill quotes about capitalism and socialism to understand why America has been the most successful capitalist country in history:
Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy.
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of Socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
Truth.
to some, zero percent loans, anti trust protection and no bid contracts, so much more......are considered "socialism"
this guy had a HUGE problem with all of our Governments, picking, winners and losers ?
Peter, do you consider zero competition, like "no bid" contracts, to be "socialism" ?
If not, what form of "government" or economy, do we have, when members of Congress, own stocks in companies they are voting on, to get a bid ?
I still think you are a fake account, drumming up fake outrage. An educated adult, one that critically thinks, should be able to answer my questions.
To me, a company that has 85%, or more, of it's revenue source coming from government contract work, IS socialism.
monopolies are socialism
anti trust protection is socialism
What "bidding" process did the tRump administration use for covid stuff, like the worldOmeter and "dashboard" .
How did the dashboard end up in private hands? Thru bidding
Hmmm, so many questions, not enough time, so let me condense my thoughts and you can extrapolate my answers.
- First. You’re focused on the wrong inputs. Whether a company gets 85%+ of its revenue from government is not de facto socialism; who owns the company is the determinant of socialism.
- Socialism forbids the age-old right of private property. In The Communist Manifesto Marx said, “The theory of the communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.” He knew that depriving individuals of this basic freedom would not be easy and that dictatorship by the proletariat — and violence — would be required. However, the abolition of private property was necessary, Marx argued, because it is the central cause of the perennial clash between the classes. But private property is not just any right; it is integral to civilization. The reason half of Baltimore looks like a bombed-out war zone is the decrepit townhouses aren’t owned by anyone…plus the government can’t guarantee the required safety to new owners and their probable contractors. So, it’s thunderdome in Charm City, while the ruling class hides behind gates, private security, and the burbs…
- Socialism insists that human nature is malleable, not constant. Karl Marx’s attitude toward human nature flowed from thinkers like John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who challenged the traditional idea of a fixed human nature bestowed by God. Sensible humans reject this sadistic version of humanity, that government can alter human needs, values, and desires. Humans have a desire to be free and happy, to have families and achievement. These are constant conditions of the human spirit.
- Socialism has never worked anywhere. Socialism in all its forms — Marxism-Leninism in the Soviet Union, Maoism in China, “state socialism” in India, “democratic socialism” in Sweden, National Socialism in Nazi Germany — has never come close to realizing the classless ideal of Karl Marx. Instead, socialists have been forced to adopt a wide range of capitalist measures, including private ownership of railroads and airlines (United Kingdom), special economic zones (China), and open markets and foreign investment (Sweden).
Mikhail Gorbachev took over a bankrupt Soviet Union in 1985 and desperately tried to resuscitate “socialism” (i.e., communism) through perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness). He failed abjectly.
Deng Xiaoping abandoned the rigid excesses of Maoist thought and adopted a form of communism with “Chinese characteristics” that was more capitalist than socialist in several ways.
Sweden is often described as a “socialist” country, but is not and never has been socialist. It is a social democracy in which the means of production are owned primarily by private individuals. Signifying aspects of the Swedish economy make it sadly far freer than the United States.
- Socialism depends upon dictatorship to attain and remain in power. Without exception, every socialist leader from Vladimir Lenin to Fidel Castro promised to initiate basic political freedoms such as free elections, a free press, and free assembly. None fulfilled those promises. Instead, they did what Justin Trudeau did last week, they actively suppressed speech, press, and assembly. Socialism’s failure to deliver on its promises of bread, peace, and land to the people is confirmed by the repeated, open resistance of dissidents.
- Socialism is responsible for the deaths of more than 100 million victims. If you were asked how many Jews died in the Holocaust, you would probably respond, “Six million.” But if you were asked, “How many victims of communism have there been?” You would probably hesitate and respond — “Five million? Twenty million? Fifty million?” Few of us would know the right answer: at least 100 million men, women, and children, more than all the deaths of all the major wars of the 20thcentury. Communism committed the great crime of the last century.
The reality of socialism is it’s a pseudo-religion grounded in pseudo-science and enforced by political tyranny. It must be met with resistance whenever it pops it’s ugly head up. It’s no coincidence that those most opposed to socialism are those who have escaped its ghastly existence.
