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Guest Post: The New York Times And Socialism
Submitted by James E. Miller of the Ludwig von Mises Institute of Canada
The New York Times and Socialism
In lieu of the election of Socialist President Francois Hollande and a Socialist Party collision as the majority in France’s Parliament, the New York Times recently asked “what does it mean to be a Socialist these days, anyway?” According to The Grey Lady, socialism today is “certainly nothing radical” and simply meant the “the emancipation of the working class and its transformation into the middle class” during its heyday. Essentially the article categorizes the contemporary socialist as one who is a rigorous defender of the welfare state. The piece quotes French journalist Bernard-Henri Levy as saying “European socialists are essentially like American Democrats.” It even accuses center-right political parties in the West of being quite comfortable with socialism’s accomplishments.
So is the New York Times correct? Is socialism just a boogeyman evoked by the “fringes” to scare the public into questioning the morality and efficiency of the welfare state?
Going by the New York Times definition, socialism is just another word for social democracy. But of course the word socialism never really referred to just welfare entitlements. Properly defined, socialism is a society where the complete means of production and distribution of goods are solely in the hands of the state. It is also a system defined by the absence of private property. According to famed socialist and author Robert Heilbroner
If tradition cannot, and the market system should not, underpin the socialist order, we are left with some form of command as the necessary means for securing its continuance and adaptation. Indeed, that is what planning means…
The factories and stores and farms and shops of a socialist socioeconomic formation must be coordinated…and this coordination must entail obedience to a central plan.
If capitalism and private property are the natural state of free men, socialism is the violent overthrow of liberty. Outlawing of private property and free enterprise is no easy task. It requires a large amount of enforcement to see to it that nobody trades without the state’s permission. And it is because of its oppressive nature that it is only through totalitarian dictatorship can socialism be fully realized. Economist George Reisman explains
In sum, therefore, the requirements merely of enforcing price-control regulations is the adoption of essential features of a totalitarian state, namely, the establishment of the category of “economic crimes,” in which the peaceful pursuit of material self-interest is treated as a criminal offense, and the establishment of a totalitarian police apparatus replete with spies and informers and the power of arbitrary arrest and imprisonment.
Socialism cannot be ruled for very long except by terror. As soon as the terror is relaxed, resentment and hostility logically begin to well up against the rulers.
The New York Times paints socialism as a different picture. The push for “democratic Marxism,” as the paper calls it, was responsible for creating a vibrant middle class with measures such as progressive taxation and a welfare safety net. “Socialism and social democracy today are about a society with more solidarity, more protection of people, more egalitarianism” is how once-student revolt leader, now bureaucrat in the European Parliament Daniel Cohn-Bendit describes it.
No doubt these descriptions make for good political rhetoric. State officials love nothing more than convincing the public they have brought them a standard of living beyond their wildest imagination. Yet these claims are also completely false. Government produces nothing; it can only redistribute using its implicit threat of violence. Welfare transfer payments can’t be provided unless the private sector has produced wealth prior to confiscatory legislation. Just as production must always precede consumption, government can’t rob Peter to pay Paul if Peter doesn’t first have something to steal. No matter how hard they try, politicians can’t create a free lunch. They can only order the citizenry around with the trigger of a gun.
This truth doesn’t fit well with the NYT’s favorable view of socialism. The famously left-leaning newspaper never baulks at the chance to champion the newest scheme in government intervention. Where the paper really misses the mark on actual socialism is the fact that it can’t work and is bound to fail. True worldwide socialism will never create a worker’s paradise; just misery for all.
To proponents of incessant government control and regulation, such a statement is nonsense; even sacrilegious. But in 1922 in his book “Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis,” Ludwig von Mises not only explained why a market economy with private property is superior to socialism, he refuted the socialist doctrine beyond anything the movement could even begin to disprove. Socialists at the time had no answer for Mises’ critique. The same holds true for socialists today.
What was Mises’ devastating theory? It’s actually quite simple. Under a market economy, economic calculation is able to take place as long as there is private property and a pricing system. Since prices act as signals between producers and consumers, they provide the basis for the rational distribution of resources. Producers can’t fulfill the desires of consumers if they can’t calculate input costs and revenue. Without the possibility of profit, what motive is there for producing in the first place? Or as Hans-Herman Hoppe summarizes:
If there is no private property in land and other production factors (everything is owned by one agent), then, by definition, there can also be no market prices for them. Hence, economic calculation, i.e. the comparison, in light of current prices, of anticipated revenue, and expected cost expressed in terms of a common medium of exchange—money— (permitting cardinal accounting operations), is literally impossible. There can be no “economizing” under socialism. Socialism is instead “planned chaos.”
So precise was Mises’ theory that when the Soviet Union finally collapsed, Robert Heilbroner would go on to write in an article for the New Yorker entitled “Reflections: After Communism” that “socialism has been a great tragedy this century” and “no one expected collapse.” After decades of denying Mises’ refutation of socialism, he was finally forced to admit “that Mises was right.”
To the working man, pure socialism only results in a state of destitution. It is by no means the “emancipation of the working class.” It is a system of top-down enforcement where the masses are treated as cogs in need of fine tuning. Socialism gained traction only because leading intellectuals saw it as a possible utopia and did their best to convince the ruling establishment of its merits. “Socialism has never and nowhere been at first a working-class movement” as F.A. Hayek put it. It has always been an economics system favored by those elitists who hoped to find themselves crowned as central planners.
The New York Times article ends by quoting Marc-Oliver Padis, editor of the academic journal Esprit, who asks “Is socialism really more than pragmatism?” The answer is no. Even in its moderated European form, the socialist sees the state as the answer for all of society’s questions. He values violence over peace; compulsory over voluntary, slavery over freedom, and submission over dignity. As long as France continues down the road to socialism, its economic future is in grave danger. Judging by the amount of wealthy businessmen who have begun to flee France in favor of London, it would seem that people in the end generally feel entitled to the sweat of their brow. As Mises never tired of pointing out,
A society that chooses between capitalism and socialism does not choose between two social systems; it chooses between social cooperation and the disintegration of society. Socialism is not an alternative to capitalism; it is an alternative to any system under which men can live as human beings.
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"The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the currency".
~Vladimir Lenin~
History also teaches debauchery of the currency is a good way to destroy a socialist system as well.
"We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us!"
U.S. economic well being these days rests with the U.S. Central Bank playing Central Bank to the World via the Reserve Currency.
We are the biggest counterfeiting racket the world has ever known! Without the reserve currency -- we're just the most indebted nation in world history.
You mean in 1913 you gave all your rights to control and print your own currency to a group of PRIVATE corporations?
It says "FEDERAL RESERVE NOTE" which is NOT the US of A.
It also says on the note: Now we are successful, in creating a NEW WORLD ORDER.
And yes, they're the same banks that supported Lenin, and indirectly Hitler as well, and now Obama.
Oh did I put those in the same sentence? I'm sorry. (not)
C'mon americans, stop biquering amongst each other about made up labels. The issue is very simple. THEY CONTROL MOST OF YOUR SOCIETY.
"... a Socialist Party collision as the majority in France’s Parliament ..." Freudian slip?
All part of the plan. Confuse the meaning of words like "Socialism" to obscure the true nature, or consequences, of socialism.
Funny how the same people who bitch about "socialism" have no problem with the socialization of PRIVATE losses when a company goes bust.
Just call it what it is, mob rule.
Until there are real consequences for bad behavior - the song remains the same.
Acquire physical assets and trustworthy alliances and sleep well, same as it ever was.
That is ridiculous. You've been around long enough to know that everybody here thinks the banks as well as GM and Chrysler should have gone under. You're just trying to start trouble.
So now you are privy to what everybody "thinks". While I would like to agree with you Dr., Go ask any twenty-something what is meant by "the socialization of private losses" or "fascism" for that matter. I think you will be suprised by the answers you get.
In any case, I do appreciate your optimism but would guess that the readership of ZH is also subject ot the laws of averages. Now what is the "average" intelligence of humanity again? Therein lies the rub.
I have never seen one post that supports the banks. Never , and if you have I'd like to see you back it up with proof. And don't give me anything from MDB or Robo we know they are trolls.
Where do I mention the banks? I am talking about CEOs, management, and shareholders who are all too happy to take profits but then who turn around and ask the taxpayer to pay their creditors when they run the company into the ground.
You support this behavior? The same can be said of the banks who take risks with other people's money and then want bailouts from the taxpayer when those risks blow-up in their face.
You support these banks?!?! Go fuck yourself.
You can't even put a coherent statement together. You're a troll who makes no sense in what you say and we are done here.
You are an idiot who can't answer a simple question; Do you or don't you support taxpayer bailouts of private companies?
Answer the question idiot. Dr., my ass.
No one who supports free markets would support taxpayer bailouts of any private company. Does that answer your question?
The fact that he has to result to name-calling tells me everything I need to know about his intellectual capability.
Hey men, you are fighting well, but you are fooled by stickers. Ownership and control is what define the system. If you own it, but not control = bad. If you share nation's wealth for basic services and rule of law = good. Name it as you wish.
Any time a person or an entity takes something from another person or entity by force is theft. Regardless of what the purpose is for.
So.....
Disarming a murderer is "theft"
Imprisoning horrible people and taking their liberty from them is "theft"
Executing a person is "theft"
Seizing Madoff's assets was "theft"
"Regardless of what the purpose is for." ... nice world there Dr..
He should read Atlas Shrugged and learn the difference between the Dagney Taggarts and the James Taggarts.
what more support for banks can you have when you say "buy gold"? they own it all! buy a car if you want to "take down the banks." preferably Japanese! simply put you all need to "move beyond the rhetoric" of "socialism" and "communism" and start looking at "Americanism." We are LAND people...not gold people. This country has RAILROADS...those were created with CREDIT and "brought the gold to the bank." In the case of the USA "that became a Government bank" in the form of the Fed. And guess what...those railroads are still runnin' folks! Get out of debt...get a job...start imagining a world different from the one you see. It has changed so much if you brought someone from the 1930's to our time they wouldn't even recognize it. ALL based on credit creation..and "and some point in future... repayment." Or in the case of a MASSIVE deflation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=TaFnFrvZ5N0
@Lawsofphysics From a Banker's prospective, "Heads, I win; Tails, you lose." Facism is the symbiotic merger of corporations and government where corporations benefit from government cohersion, and government partakes in the profits derived thereof. It is a system of asymetric Totalitarianism (see: Communism) where the omnipotence of The State is exercised through the proxy of "private" institutions, rather than directly.
That is my answer from someone born during the same year of "Black Monday" event. Oh, ye of little faith! The numbers of my peer group wise to the reality we suffer may out-number those of the generation preceeding us. Whispers of revolution stir. Rarely do such utterances stem from the old.
+1
I think GM and Chrsyler whould have been thrown into bankruptcy. This is why we are supposed to have bankruptcy courts. Everyone then has skin in the game. The bond holders who actually lent money to keep them in business get the biggest say.
GM was put into bankruptcy. Unfortunately the BK courts are a political theft enterprise as well now.
FUCKING FASCISTS!!
Is socialism just a boogeyman evoked by the “fringes” to scare the public into questioning the morality and efficiency of the welfare state?
No, its conversational RED MEAT for a mind preconditioned to respond irrationally to and with certain talking points. Its the word found at the end of the Idiots reverse glossary where people who do not think critically use it as a wedge to stop a conversation.
Never mind what is or is not socialism, it doesn't really matter anymore. What matters is identifying unity and killing it. "Socialism" as a word alone is a tool of the owners to divide us.
Never mind what actual institutions are socialist, that is not the point.
Is socialism just a boogeyman evoked by the “fringes” to scare the public into questioning the morality and efficiency of the welfare state?
"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."
What is the "New York Times"?
i believe it is a front a regurghitation people control machin
for the sheep that believe they have more sophisticated view on the world.
a purveyor of some truth framed within lie upon lie
a captured non journalistic enterprise full like everything else in this world of satanists,many jews,rapists and other freaks going along on the sick ride.
all having to much fun to get off.
This "socialism" of which you speak. It sounds familiar. It sounds almost like what we have today.
and look where we are...
Yeah, those unemployed, they RUINED everything.
All these "isms" are just there to keep your eye OFF the ball...
... while the MSM "intellectuals" keep everyone busy by discussing which one is better.
The real game of all "isms" is to systematically redistribute wealth the from many , to support the few at the top.
The only difference is the degree of openness.
The only "ism" that is worth considering is capitalism, as long as Laws are upheld...
... which is exactly NOT the case today.
But in the end don't lawmakers always write laws which redistribute wealth from productive individuals to the government and its cronies? What is needed is a recognition that sovereignty lies solely with the individual. Natural rights must be recognized, promoted and protected by a voluntary system in which no amalgamation of special interests can claim rights which supersede those of the nonviolent and productive individual.
The only "ism" that is worth considering is republicanism, the only "ism" found in the constitution, and the root from which capitalism grows.
That means jackbooted thugs with various three-letter-acronyms on the backs of their issue-jackets.
I'm wondering when the eye are ess are going to get their very own teams?
- Ned
These days it seems to mean being a FASCIST -- govt (state) workers get pensions for life and above average wages. If you're not party of the state - you get bled dry!
"Fascism is capitalism in decay"
~Vladimir Lenin~
Communism, Socialism, and Fascism all work wonderfully until they run out of Capitalist money.
You better define "money" first. Guess what? When there are no energy sources or essential commodites readily available nothing works.
Did you have a fucking point? Why not simply say that the capital and resource mis-allocation and mal-investment continues.
"isms" are created to divide the sheep and allow power and control to be maintained, are you a sheep or just causing trouble?
Imperialism is highest stage of kapitalism. V. I. Lenin / aka Uljanov ( Oilman)
Can I wipe my ass with Zero Hedge? No. It's just electrons. Therefore the NYT has more value.
"Socialism is the doctrine that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that his life and his work do not belong to him, but belong to society, that the only justification for his existence is his service to society, and that societ may despose of him in any way it pleases for the sake of whatever it deems to be its own tribal, collective good."
- Ayn Rand "For the New Intellectual", FNI, 48; pb43.
What is in a mind, that one would want to allow themselves to be subjugate to this type of controlled tyranny?
answer: One who has no identity and is absent of any critical thinking skills. The new dependent parasitic, leech infested American image. A terrible feature of liberal and Main Stream Media influence over the years.
The NY Times can stick their Socialisitic, so called sophisticated intellectual alternate Utopian reality up their ass!!!!!!!!
The Human Evasion by Celia Green.
http://www.theabsolute.net/minefield/humevas.html
Chapter 4.
Well, the whole book really...and her other books.
BTW, in her books, when she says the word "sane" she means all the "normal" society loving/supporting persons.
In other words, the duped or truly dangerous persons.
"It has been seen that the object of a sane upbringing is increasingly to direct all emotion towards objects which involve other people. Now basically the situation of being finite is an infinitely frustrating one, which would be expected to arouse sensations of desperation and aggression -- as indeed it may sometimes be seen to do in very young children. I am aware that I must be careful, in using the word aggression, to state that I do not mean aggression directed towards people. What I mean is an impersonal drive directed against reality -- it is difficult to give examples but it may be presumed that geniuses who are at all worthy of the name preserve a small degree of this.
However, since all emotion must be directed towards people, it is obvious that the only form of aggression which a sane person can understand is aggression against people, which is probably better described as sadism or cruelty.
Now it is obvious that the open expression of cruelty towards other people would have a destructive effect upon society, apart from being unprofitable to the human evasion in other ways. So the usual way in which aggression is displaced onto other people is in the form of a desire that they should be limited. This, after all, is very logical. If the true source of your anger is that you are limited yourself, and you wish to displace this anger onto some other person, what could be more natural than that you should wish them to be limited as well.
This desire is usually expressed in the form of a desire for social justice, in one form or another. ('In this life you have to learn that you can't have it all your own way.' 'Well he can't expect to be treated as an exception for ever.' 'It's time he learnt to accept his limitations.' 'Don't you think you should try to think more what other people want? We all have to do things we don't like.' 'Why should they have all the advantages.')
This means that society is not only the chief source of compensation to a sane person, but his chief instrument of revenge against other people. It is useless to point out that there is no need to revenge himself upon them. If he were ever to admit that they were not responsible for his finite predicament, he would have to direct his hatred against the finite predicament itself, and this would be frustrating. It is this frustration that the human evasion exists to evade."
http://capitalismmagazine.com/2002/08/franciscos-money-speech
Some heads are gonna roll
I'd give you a +1,000 if Tyler would have that button, for the Franciscos-Money-Speech.
Franciscos Money Speech is the difference between the takers and the makers, between Obama and the rest of us.
“So you think that money is the root of all evil?” said Francisco d’Anconia. “Have you ever asked what is the root of money?"
"Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil?"
Thanks KK, I will add it to my library.
g.r.u.n.t
Since from early on it was always just a few guys in the village who ended up owning most of the goats. Fucking one percenters!
Once shepherding became monetized, it went downhill from there.
Fuck you Bob, you have absolutely no idea what your talking about! Those that were talented in creating genuine wealth in product design and creation made life easier for those of their tribe giving them an example of what can be done by innovation and creativity. Those that were lazy asses and terrified of physical reality, whom deemed themselves as intellectual superiors, to those that were productive, had a desire to steal from them what they had not earned. Rather than think for themselves and produce they figured ways to con their fellows into believing they could create regulations, taxes and laws to rip them off, as per the current state of affairs in Europe and now America. Their motives are perverted and criminal, that's why their society economically is whirling into a cesspool of debt oblivion.
"Those that were lazy asses and terrified of physical reality...."
Bang. there it is. Terror of the *ultimate* reality is more like it.
http://www.theabsolute.net/minefield/humevas.html
"If the true source of your anger is that you are limited yourself, and you wish to displace this anger onto some other person, what could be more natural than that you should wish them to be limited as well."
Celia Green. Read her book. It's all in there.
Please provide documentation to back up your guesswork if that's at all possible.
PS -- I love getting down votes when my entire post is merely a request for documentation. You gotta love people who are convinced that they are right and you are wrong but have absolutely no basis for making such a determination. Carry on, oh clueless ones.
"Since from early on it was always just a few guys in the village who ended up owning most of the goats."
Those revolting peasants said that about our first monarch too!
Then we killed them....
The direct result of appointing "leaders"! When will the apes ever learn!?!?!
From early on, lack of education and general ignorance meant that lesser apes were easily conned into giving up their wealth to a warlord who claimed to be a god - and they allowed themselves to be guided by a fraudulent witch doctor who - in league with the warlord - promoted the worship of that warlord as a god (in return for being given a free castle, errr monastery, by the warlord and being permitted to also tax, errr tithe, the dumb apes).
Even today, the various priests are still whipping up hysteria, among their various communities of dumb apes, to get the government to go to war against another tribe of dumb apes. They even charge a fee for holding quaint ceremonies for each of the dead apes!
Things haven't changed. It's just that now "government" is the god.
If Socialism can only be realized when the intellectual development of all the people permits it, then we shall not see Socialism for at least five hundred years.
Vladimir Lenin
So I guess that he was waiting for everyone to get stupider. Interesting plan and one with very low time preference, especially for a Communist dictator.
thus the need to eliminate the "intellectuals" in this form of government...
There are many Socialists and Communists on NYT's staff.
... they live in confusion.
THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT CREATE JOBS. SOCIALISM DOES NOT WORK.
How many courics is that thing?
1963 Communist Goals
The communist goals were entered into the Congressional record by Albert Herlong, Jr. (a Floridian who served in Congress from 1949-69).
1) US acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war
2) US willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war
3) Develop the illusion that total disarmament by the US would be a demonstration of "moral strength"
4) Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
5) Extension of long term loans to Russia and Soviet Satellites
6) Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination
7) Grant recognition of Red China, and admission of Red China to the UN.
8) Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the Germany question by free elections under supervision of the UN
9) Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the US has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress
10) Allow all Soviet Satellites individual representation in the UN
11) Promote the UN as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the UN as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo)
12) Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party
13) Do away with loyalty oaths
14) Continue giving Russia access to the US Patent Office
15) Capture one or both of the political parties in the US
16) Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions, by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17) Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for Socialism, and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers associations. Put the party line in text books.
18) Gain control of all student newspapers
19) Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.
20) Infiltrate the press. Get control of book review assignments, editorial writing, policy-making positions.
21) Gain control of key positions in radio, TV & motion pictures.
22) Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all form of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings", substitute shapeless, awkward, and meaningless forms.
23) Control art critics and directors of art museums. " Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art".
24) Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.
25) Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography, and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio and TV.
26) Present Homosexuality, degeneracy, and promiscuity as "normal, natural, and healthy".
27) Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity, which does not need a "religious crutch"
28) Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the grounds that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state"
29) Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
30) Discredit the American founding fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man".
31) Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of "the big picture:" Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
32) Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture - - education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
33) Eliminate all laws or procedures, which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
34) Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
35) Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI
36) Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
37) Infiltrate and gain control of big business
38) Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand or treat.
39) Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.
40) Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
41) Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42) Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special interest groups should rise up and make a "united force" to solve economic, political, or social problems.
43) Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
44) Internationalize the Panama Canal.
45) Repeal the Connally Reservation so the US can not prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike.
It is so much easier to let other people take care of you until they don't. Of course they keep taking your money.
Every one of these historical jack-booted regimes (Mao, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini) started as a "socialist" political movement in order to appeal to the lowest common denominator in the street. Today, its the same thing. It is acutely real and altogether embarrassing to point out that the emerging "socialism" foot soldiers under the democratic party banner (City Year, SEIU, Occupy - Whateveryougot, are being lead or managed by a cadre of mega wealthy liberal big city intellectuals with their hands on some drug laundering money, union dues and now Quantitative Easing.
Considering there is no real capacity to "(re)create middle class jobs" except to redefine your emerging career of coffee barista or sign spinner as yeoman's work, the global race to the bottom is leaving an American landscape of angry peasantry who know how to shoot. Registering their guns at this point is only going to make it worse. The traditional political elite (Romney and his "corporations are people" campaign is no different) are going to get blow back from these last years of lies built upon deceit.
Just like the aforementioned regimes, each one eventually had to find a scapegoat to mobilize the masses and otherwise stay in power. Somehow taking a page from the Southern Poverty Law Center to brand Joe Six-pack as Al Qaeda is not gong to fly. Nobody believes the NYT or CNN anymore. Might as well read Pravda and China Daily. The soldiers in the field sure don't and you can't except them to round up American insurgents on the orders of their money worshiping overlords sitting in their idling limousines.
Obama will get another 4 years. Sadly, his political handlers in Chicago will make the decision that Obama is a better martyr and use this domestic terrorism excuse to try to hoodwink the country. The problem is a nation of hunters with no jobs or prospects makes for some eventual payback. Payback's a bitch.
But everyone of these 'jack-booted' regimes - bolshevics, hitler, Mao -were setup an financed by City of L and wall strasse on behalf of the cabal owning them. Read more about history. There are tools, means and goals...
Don't follow the logic here. Seems to me to be ieological bloviating. The post correctly states that socialism is defined as state ownershp of production and a command system rather than a market system. What has that got to do with either France or the Scandanavian countries that are more "socialistic" than France. Or the UK, which has "socialized medicine"? This is confounding the definition of socialism with what is actually best characterized as social democracy.
Moreover, "welfare" has come to mean "hand out," whereas in poltical science "welfare" as applied to states means the general welfare, as in the preamble to the US Constitution. Search on "general welfare clause." A general welfare clause is found in many constitutions, including that of the US.
I get that people don't like certain policies, but arguing based on economics that any deviation from laissez-faire necessarily ldeas to state ownership of the means of procudution and command economy is illogical. There are no laissea-faire devloped economies in the world today. We have mixed economies with varying ratios of public to private.
You must hate Kool Aid.
;-
"We have mixed economies with varying ratios of public to private."
Very true and I can't wait to be told more frequently and arbitrarily what ratio I can and can't have for my efforts. I especially like to be told that by companies that own part of the government and media.
Thanks, I actually considered for a moment making a response to the article but decided it would make no difference. Sometimes you read something and you realize they are living in a totally different universe. The normally accepted rules of physics, logic and critical thought simply no longer apply when they are living in their own special little Twilight Zone. So I just wrote it off as insanity and decided not to waste my time. Hats off to you for making an attempt to bring a touch of reality into their world.
Although my guess is the author might benefit from a visit to Somalia but it probably wouldn't help. He is too far gone.
I like socialism because it makes it easier not to think since someone can do it for me. Also I don't like choices; having choices hurts my head and leaves me confused. I also feel better being told what I like because I usually only like what other people like first.
It is clear to me also that Rock and Roll and Rap music are devil music as they promote social commentary and free expression and socialism will not have that! Bright lights and loud noises also confuse me. The amazing music that resulted from socialism lives as an example of one of its greatest feats (I will find links to the socialist megabands when I find them). One can really say all art is socialist because it's provided to the masses but unfortunately it can not all be viewed or heard because some is disturbing to see and hear and it would not be good for citizens to witness so they must be protected by banning much of it.
Really though the best part of socialism is seeing how the best socialists, those elite socialists, actually get to have more socialism than everyone else beause they deserve it more than others as they are higher educated and smarter about how socialsim works and must have proper nutrition, housing and control in order to guide the majority. I would gladly give up my daily allowance of vitamin C just to be in the same room as the great leaders of this wonderous governmental and philosophical belssing to humanity.
Thank you, Barry. You got my vote!
I thought socialists are people who use twitter and Facebook.
Facebook and Twitter are Marxist / Socialist piles of website "company" garbage.
Lol, so was Jesus Christ then and the Christian church, the first social network after the Jews.
The reason the Jews resisted so well, inspite of being kicked around all over Europe, was that they stayed on the same VALUE page, of ethnic networking; whereas the West discarded the Universal church, discarded the Reform, went to secular Laity in nation states who colonised the world, then to democracy and now to kleptocratic Oligarchy.
SOme disaster trail there...if we look back on this History!
Whereas the Jews can laff and say we stayed on that same page and learned to get rich as weil.
Eat your hearts out Goys, you are now our toys!
Zuckerberg is just resuscitating an old meme that the Jews proved worked!
In fact he is starting his OWN new tribe and making money as well. Smart kid!
While you sulk around chasing past ghosts from the western closet. Knocking on wood! Latter day Danny Kaye.
Un grain de folie (1954) - Plot Summary
The government shall never try to create a Utopia. The only thing that will result is failure.
The USA is a sad place to live. Quasi Communist Acting Like Garbage Pile. The middle class are all equally screwed garbage slave workers. The rich and poor (The Police State / Government Workers Included) do not work for a damn thing yet reap all the benefits by exploiting the middle class workers and exercising all loopholes. Racism against white males is the norm, with Affirmative action being the most important ideology. Laziness is the national pastime at work and at play, giving rise to the consumer as the true American. A true crime infested drug terminal, with Politicians who sell out to the highest bidder. Corruption runs rampant in this nation disgraced by greed. The constitution has been ripped to shreds by a bunch of communists disguised as politcians who couldn't get themselves out of a wet paper bag, who play to the tune of above the law bankers and lobbyists or whoever has campaign money. Meet DC, giving new meanings to the word Democrazy.
Long article ...but...Bottom line:
Do I still get my Free SNAP and EBT cards, my Free section 8 house, my free cell phone, Free medical care and Free $3,000 toward my 'thingamajig'??
Yes the 3k for your Chinese thingamajig will be in the mail. Just check Obama in the booth.
The more they fuck up the country the more tax breaks, stimulus and free money you'll get.
Its a win win.
Hey Tyler, pandering to the base again? LOL...
This thread is nothing but an echo chamber of schmucks who cannot tell the diffence between fascism, communism or any ism for that matter....
But in all fairness, they have every reason to be pissed off at what has transpired in this country....
Flak - Enlighten us.
In 10 words or less define each of the following and give an example political leader who exercised each.
Marxism / Communsim
Socialism
Facism
I'll nibble:
M/C: Never happened, one of closest was immediately following the 1917 revolution, but the power of the local Soviets was superceded by Lenin et al.... Now, if you had phrased it Marxist/Lennist, the anwser would have been different... (BTW, Communism don't work for much the same reason as Libertarianism, both posit the deniial of basic human behaviour)
Socialism: Hell, any prime minister of a Scandanavian country in the latter half of the 20th century...
Fascim: Mussolini, Juan Peron, Franco.... (I gave you three, do I get bonus points? I will give you that Peron was not an advocate of pure fascism like Mussolini)
Extra Bonus:
Despotism: Stalin, Kim Jong Il...
Anarchism: Somalia.... by definition there is no leader...
If you want a pithy and terse defination, do your own research....
I'll give you a bonus for the despotism and anarchism. You seem to be well informed on leaders of political ideologys.
What are your thoughts on the current government of the USA. Is it a democracy or not?
I can answer that. We are a failupcracy morphing into failupbankruptocracy...
It's a Madison Avenue democracy, Mad Men writing the copy. Our democracy is real in the same sense "reality tv" is real . . . only within the artificial confines of the medium/show.
Would "free markets" (which for Mises types means unregulated ones) have prevented Libor-rigging? Do we rely on self regulation, like the CFTC and CME, who allowed ponzi schemes and theft? Ideals are one thing. Then unintended consequences step in.
The best system is a blend of socialism and capitalism, where private interests are preventing from becoming so large and powerful they become parasites on our economy and elected representatives aren't allowed to benefit from ties to private industry.
IMO, the ideal is a "small is beautiful" approach to private industry, where tough regulation and high taxes are imposed on corporations over a threshold size. An economy made up of many small businesses wouldn't have the monopoly and lobbying power that big corporate interests have today.
You are mightily confused, boy! How can you describe "government creation and oversight" as "self regulation"!?!
The CFTC was created by, and is overseen by, your [corrupt and incompetent] elected representatives in the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT:
The SEC was also created by, and is overseen by, your [corrupt and incompetent] elected representatives in the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT:
That's not self regulation, boy. That's Central Regulation by a [corrupt and incompetent] FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!!
Back to you......
Well the CME certainly wasn't keeping track of Customer Segregated Funds statements tieing out at PFGBest , were they?
The CME is an exchange, not a regulator. Their incompetence and corruption is "regulated" by the CFTC and the SEC (ie. your Federal Government and taxpayer dollars at work, "regulating" as best as Central Planners can).
Point the blame in the right direction.
So NFA is the self regulatory body for the futures industry (substitute "NFA" for "CFTC" in my original comment, the equivalent of a grammatical error), CME regulates its own exchange.
"PFG’s Wasendorf Sr. was on the National Futures Association’s Futures Commission Merchant Advisory Committee, with a term set to expire in February 2015, according to John Person, president of NationalFutures.com. The NFA is the futures industry’s self-regulatory body.
“I see a major conflict of interest,” Person said. “Because Russ was on the committee that set the rules, he knew how to get around them.”...
“Regulation for the commodities markets has always been a joke, a pretense to assure investors that the ... gamblers who populate the futures’s exchanges are upstanding citizens,” said Steven Evanson, chief executive officer at Evanson Asset Management, who traded futures around two decades ago."
http://articles.marketwatch.com/2012-07-13/markets/32649960_1_futures-broker-mf-global-holdings-commodity-futures-trading-commission
Oh, and here is a link to the CME's regulatory oversight:
http://www.cmegroup.com/market-regulation/
back to you, Ace...
The CFTC is a government agency. How is that "self-regulation"?
read the rest of the responses before you ask a question that's already been answered.
substitute NFA for CFTC. my bad.
Where the paper really misses the mark on actual socialism is the fact that it can’t work and is bound to fail. True worldwide socialism will never create a worker’s paradise; just misery for all.
This is not quite true and here's why. Do you think the elite in a socialistic state live like the masses? No. The 80/20 rule will prevail. The people that rise to power in capitalism will rise to power in a socialistic society, but the problem is in socalism the state has total power and control. They will still live like kings and a vast majority will live like surfs. The state will not recognise any of your rights. The state will not fear and when there is no fear, all sorts of atrocities will happen. Obviously, this cycle is destined to repeat itself time and time again. The founders of this country clearly understood this and stated the people rule this country and spelled it out in the Bill of Rights. [\rant]
Distraction from a NYT backed President and a failure of the Democrat Party (not the Democratic Party, as they call themselves).
While the President goes I,I,I,I,I,I,I,I,I,I,I,I,I, ME,ME,ME,ME,ME,ME,ME,ME, and the Democrat socialist party implements the plan to control the:
Please do not waste energy and time with the hot points of the Left used to divert attention.
We have an upcoming election that should be used to replace the corrupt and anti-American destructive forces in D.C. and at the State level.
If this change can be made, the highly toxic agencies of EPA, and HLS and other agencies can be redirected to function to the betterment of the USA instead of covert agencies that are a cancer upon America.
Look at our Socialist recovery. We still haven't recovered from Clinton's "Homeownership is a right!" acts and Obama's growth of the welfare state. NO MONEY VELOCITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://confoundedinterest.wordpress.com/2012/07/13/lockhart-thinks-more-qe-will-be-needed-as-more-people-go-on-the-dole-disability-and-food-stamps-than-become-employed/
It is hard not to laugh out loud at someone that calls the NYT a left leaning publication. Maybe the author doesn't realize it was sold to some serious hard liners that pimped torture and never ending war in their editorial pages. This guy as a fuhrer stuck up his ass that he won't remove.
Every reasonably successful country is a social democracy. Must piss the author off greatly. He makes neocons look like pussies.
It is not nice to lie. But when you promise to deliver “all the news that’s fit to print,” as the New York Times does, what can one deduce except that the Grey Lady is a liar.
The three major stories of this decade do not appear in the pages of the NYTimes. They are:
Number One: the full scope of spectacular government corruption from the outright purchase of hundreds of congressmen, the incredible favor-purchasing of a president and the ties to the private owners of the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
Number Two: the full impact of the manipulation of government statistics, markets, and media by officers of the political establishment and, again, the owners of the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
Number Three: the scandalous and tragic usurpation of America’s foreign policy in the Middle East and around the world for the benefit of a foreign power, Israel, and its ties to, guess what, the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
Why would the New York Times pretend to be the nation’s “paper of record” when these stories are in most part completely ignored? Answer: It is the Zionists’ paper of record and it, itself, has ties to guess what, the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
So when the New York Times says we are all socialists now, what it means is, just pick up your shovel, get to work, pay your taxes and keep your mouth shut.
It’s not necessary to detail all the word games associated with free markets, liberty, capitalism, socialism, fascism, cronyism, et cetera; there are only two positions – whether we are free to make the decisions which affect ourselves and our families or whether we are serfs. It is clear the New York Times is trying, and has been trying for years, to lie us into serfdom.
NYT is, for the most part, a neolib propaganda rag. They favor the Democratics, one of the duopoly parties we are stuck with.
If you can filter the propaganda, they do have some good stories, and Dealbook keeps up to date on financial fraud.
It doesn't matter who they favour ... the real problem is that they favour the system.
Nobody with an IQ greater than their shoe size should be waving pom-poms for any elected official under the current system!!!
Get rid of the Federal Government ... or just wait for the Federal Government to get rid of you! The time for a decision one way or the other is now very short.....
... or just wait for time to get rid of the New York Times.
In five years max, it'll be gone.
Is this in our future: “Can you imagine lying in bed on a Sunday morning with the love of your life, a cup of tea and a bacon sandwich, and all you had to read was the Socialist Worker? “ --Derek Jameson, editor, Daily Express, 1979.
Translation: Under the tyranny that results from the transition of Welfare State to Communism to Police State, there would no longer be a place for the giant Sunday edition of the New York Times.
Except we are moving away from being a welfare state, as the elites would have it. Austerity will force third world living conditions upon many and worker drone status to the lucky job holders, while the elites live large. The police state will keep the sheeple in line.
We know what is going on. Any perspective may be used to view it.
The people that have access to print a countries currency buy the politicians and gain control of the largest corporations. They then moved all the jobs from the US to China and Mexico and make even more money and gain more power. To counter the decline in middle class America and in Europe they got their member banks to fraudulent drive the price of housing up around the world. For a period of time they reaped tremendous rewards and in 2008 they began to collapse the developed economies and establish an elite class of people (Mostly Whities with a few tokens thrown in) to take over the world. In London they have passed laws that makes it illegal to prosecute bankers for any crimes. In the US they've built up a huge infrastructure of TSA, DHS and CIA with which to attack and kill the US population (the US has a constitution and that little set of rules takes more than another law to overcome.) And, they also transformed the US military from protecting the US citizens to act as the military of NATO, the world's ruling elite. They have transformed the US military into murders--mercenaries for the same bankers that print the developed countries money.
Socialism? WTF ya talking about. When the President works with elites from other foreign governments to take over the country that he is president of is not socialism. Anyhow that is where we are. And, without the FEDS setting off a series of nukes, a pandemic or WWIII centered in the US they are going to lose.
What we have now if Fuckedupism and it is getting ready to explode.
Beautiful day at the beach this morning.
Yow. Hey, the NYT is a piece of shit, certainly, but this guy has completely misdefined "socialism" before the end of his third paragraph.
Properly defined, socialism is a society where the complete means of production and distribution of goods are solely in the hands of the state. It is also a system defined by the absence of private property.
Has he ever heard of communism? Can there be no distinction between socialism and communism?
Shit like this has to be an attempt to make readers stupider. It really isn't necessary, as there's already plenty enough of stupid to go around.
“That which is called Socialism, Marx named the first, or the lower, phase of Communism.” – V.I. Lenin
And, as Joseph Stalin said in "Leninism 1" in 1926: "The temporary victory of Socialism in one country alone is possible, but its lasting victory in one country alone is impossible: that demands the victory of the revolution in other lands as well.”
Put another way by William E. von Ketteler: "Slavery comes to life again: the state an assemblage of slaves without personal liberty -- that is Socialism."
According to Marx, fascism is ALSO a "first or lower phase" of Communism. His description of it aligns pretty well with the current state of the US.
But you wouldn't know that, would you?
As John T. Flynn states, “Fascism is Fabian socialism plus the inevitable dictator.”
The 2009 Web version of “Keynes at Harvard: Economic Deception as a Political Credo” by Zygmund Dobbs in VII FASCISM—KEYNESISM—SOCIALISM ties it all together.
Says Dobbs:
“An amazing development of Keynesian theories is the fact that fascist governments found it easy to borrow them. This fact has been publicly acknowledged by Fascist forces.
“Mussolini personally set his approval and signature over a book which proclaims: ‘Fascism entirely agrees with Mr. Maynard Keynes, despite the latter’s prominent position as a Liberal. In fact, Mr. Keynes’ excellent little book, The End of Laissez-Faire (l926) might, so far as it goes, serve as a useful introduction to fascist economics. There is scarcely anything to object to in it and there is much to applaud.’
“Keynes’ book, End of Laissez-Faire, was his most pronounced and clear cut advocacy of socialism. This Keynes work was not only enthusiastically embraced by Fascism but was listed as required reading by the League for Industrial Democracy and the Rand School of Social Science in the United States (both Fabian socialist). Harvard economic and sociological courses have repeatedly used the End of Laissez-Faire as required reading for undergraduates…
“The same collectivist formula fits both fascism and socialism. In his brilliant work, The Road Ahead, John T. Flynn states, . . . ‘the line between fascism and Fabian socialism is very thin. Fabian socialism is the dream. Fascism is Fabian socialism plus the inevitable dictator.’”
http://www.keynesatharvard.org/book/KeynesatHarvard-ch07.html
Have you ever had a thought of your own, or are you some kind of web-bot?
If you're an actual person, it really doesn't say much for your courage that you live here in what you perceive to be a communistic socialistic totalitarian dictatorship ruled over by a Zionist Kenyan Muslim, and rather than doing anything about it, you copy/paste nonsense on the Internet.
Something's wrong with that picture.
I buy you books and I buy you books and all you do is eat the covers off of them.
You don't really take Veritas and "Zygmund Dobbs" seriously, do you? I mean, it's fine if you do, but shit's about as intellectually significant as Abbie Hoffman.
I'll check out your cherished texts when I hear your rebuttal to this: http://www.noi.org/statements/transcript_011201.htm
The French believe their own hype .... they sprinkle chic fairy dust on everything they touch with their magic wand .... they can't seem to make Socialism look like Haute Mierd, however ! (Mierd is shit in French isn't it ?) Monedas 1929 Comedy Jihad Bring In The Clowns
Mierd is what comes out of your brain and it ain't french by a long stretch. Its weird how mierd can be smeared all over ZH.
The French for shit is merde.
Hi James,
Firstly, I just wanted to say that this is a well written article.
However, in my view it is falsely premised.
If you simply distill political ideology into two camps, ie, communism and anarchy, big state, no state, and assign that label to any shade in between then you can build an argument against any political theory.
Words like socialism and liberalism have different meanings in the USA to elsewhere. during the cold war the terms communist and socialist were interchangable. Using valid arguments against communism for socialism would be like me using valid arguments against anarchy for capitalism. I could argue that absolute capitalism should would have zero regulation, zero law, no control whatsoever. But i would be wrong to do so.
Good read nonetheless.
Tell that to the 100 million+ dead under the iron fist of Socialism's class genocide; maybe they'll feel better.
Stephane Courtois and his fellow historians demonstrate that Communists/Socialists kill their own with ruthless efficiency: 25 million (some say 65 million) in Russia during the Bolshevik and Stalinist eras, perhaps 65 million in China under the socialist fist of Mao Zedong, 2 million in Cambodia, millions more in Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. (The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression)
And the political killings continue to this day, totaling into the millions under our U.S. Socialist-directed Israeli foreign policy, along with our Israeli socialist-style assassination policy adopted by our Zionist-controlled president of the United States..
But you are making no distinction between socialism and communism. Saying they are the same just doesn't make it so.
Yes, Stalin was a monster. Yes communism is everything described in the article.
I'm not a socialist or a big fan of it but I can make a distinction between european socialist parties and communism.
When i read replies like yours it just makes me think you are a fanatic, I'm sure you are not, but that is the impression
Obviously, in the minds of some people, there is a difference between communism and socialism. But it is the ingredient that both forms share with each other that makes all the other comparisons immaterial. That ingredient is that both communism and socialism defer to the dominance of the State, and to the power or powers that control the State, be it Mao or the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
Lenin knew that the terms socialism and communism were interchangeable because the Marxist plan for tyrannical control of nations called for the two-step model - first, social change, equality, workers’ paradise, etc., and then dominant state control in the hands of The Party (Lenin). In other words, socialism and communism are just two wings of the same bird.
The big difference between communism and socialism is that socialism can, and does, operate within a democratic framework, therefore the full extremity of communism is never realised
Right. Socialist democracies all over the world are looking healthier every day. No tipping point will ever be reached. Control will be imposed and maintained for the benefit of all. Our worthy leaders will ensure that this will always be the case.
From where I'm standing all governments, regardless of whether they are socialist or not, are in the shit.
So, what is your point ?
Socialist democracy are in the shit because they are socialist but non socialist democracies are in the shit because.....................(fill in the blank for me)
How about this one. All governments are in the shit because of an under-regulated fraud, masquerading as capitalism not socialism which has bankrupted the entire system.
Are you going to tell me that that is the fault of socialists ??
Indeed they are not.
You seem to fall for slogans and -isms easily JR. As if murder in the name of some ideal or belief system is a condemnation of that word and not the actual act of killing. Words over acts/deeds. I see it differently.
Take a good look at a couple of Scandinavian countries' relative success with a combination of State capitalism and socialist leaning policy.
The Scandinavians much as the German nations and the entire Far East have benefited from the American taxpayers’ financial support for the largest military machine the world has ever seen.
Obviously, this military might is used to protect the banker-controlled empire but, at the same time, it allows for socialism in other parts of the world to appear to be successful.
And following World War II and the contest between Soviet-sponsored Communism and American military power, the spread of Communism not only was stopped but its failure led to the breakup of the Soviet bloc. Without stopping Stalin, Scandinavia and all of Germany would have been quickly enveloped into the Soviet empire.
I am enamored by words? No. If you recall, my point is that the primary difference between political systems throughout the world are the systems controlled by the State or those controlled at least in part by the citizens, regardless of what they call themselves, democracies, a workers’ paradise, communism, socialism, cronyism... One hundred plus million deaths are not WORDS; they’re not isms!
There are a million words to describe the differences between China and the U.S., but there’s only one difference: who controls it. In China the individual has no power; here, in the U.S., the individual has some power. Call it whatever you want; that’s the difference.
"in the U.S., the individual has some power."
:-)
lenin killed anything and anyone that walked in his shadow, period!
Von Misses, misses both sides of his brain.
It is wise to remember that the "iron curtain" death strip that divided freedom in the West from slavery in the East -- manned by guns and search lights, watchdogs and rolled barbed wire and cement -- was put there to keep people in, not out. It is wise to remember that America's problem is peoples from "emerging" Third World communist-style economies pushing to get in, not out.
People move where the consumption is done.
As US citizen economics means centralization of consumption...
People do not move to Saudi Arabia for freedom, truth and justice.
They do not either when they move to a US citizen nation.
Do you want fries with that?
Socialists believe in their religion with more fanaticism .... than our Bible thumpers believe in their harmless miracles .... so who are the real hicks ? When Socialism finally arrives in Arkansas and is embraced by the Clintons .... the jump the shark moment has occurred ! Monedas 1929 Comedy Jihad The Fonz In Comparison Is A Von Mises Capitalist ! Happy days are here again ! http://trololololololololololo.com
My favorite song lyrics.
Deeply moving.
So whom does Von Misses attract to this forum: the bunker crowd from the Strumfront.
Properly defined, socialism is a society where the complete means of production and distribution of goods are solely in the hands of the state.
This is not a proper definition. First, Miller is actually refering to just one branch of socialism (Marxist-Leninist), and he doesn't define that branch correctly. The correct definition of that branch also includes "...governed by a workers' party." There are other kinds of socialisms, such as anarchism.
The article goes on to lionize Mises' prediction of communism's collapse. Of course, Mises gave no date for that prediction, so if communism didn't collapse until the year 4355 A.D., Mises would be just as right.
Oddly enough, Mises didn't predict capitalism's collapse, but it happened anyway in 2008.
The "Capitalist Camel" was loaded with "Socialist Straw" for almost 100 years (1913 FRB) .... and had a "Broke Back" moment ! That was not a failure of Capitalism .... just the opposite ! Monedas 1929 Comedy Jihad Where Is My Capitalist Equivalent To North Korea ?
“The Labour Party Marxists see the consequences of their own folly all around them and call it the collapse of capitalism.” --John Akass' comment on the hypocrisy of Britain’s Labor Party
Socialist Syria is edging out Socialist North Korea as the most xenophobic place on earth ! They are tied for last place in the "Immigrant Magnet" rankings along with Zaire, Cuba and Venezuela ! Monedas 1929 Comedy Jihad Popularity Hilarity LOL I had to stop and hear Hillary opine on Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Socialism .... what an exclusive club !
I would have given a 6 to this one!
The leader of Mongolia is wildly pro Reagan .... that must gall the fuck out of the Russkies and the Chinks ?
NYT - Zionist international MOUTHPIECE for The EVIL EMPIRE.
Market economy- psuedo-intellectual gibberish to distract the weak minded from the IMPERIAL welfare state of Corporate MAFIA syndicates.
I'm not anti Zionist .... but the confused, patchwork of Socialist interest groups called the Democrat party is slavishly pro Israel .... they are also pro Muslim terrorist .... the only thing that defines them is Socialism and hatred of American capitalism .... what little they've left for us ! Look how LBJ bent over and grabbed his ankles when the USS Liberty was attacked ?
Pro muslim terrorist? How can you say that with the way the duopoly uses the War on Terrorism to strip us of our civil liberties (Patriot Act, NDAA, ongoing "state of emergency")?
As far as the Democratic side of the Duopoly being pro Israel, I've never seen anything different out of the Republican half, certainly not out of Romney. So the neocons and neolibs both support the military industrial complex.
It seems you have these sound bites floating around in your head that...just flow out sometimes...with no rhyme or reason.
The only guiding principle of the Democrat party is to get power .... say anything, cheat, steal, lie ! There is some overlap of the two parties .... like two sine waves (bell curves) out of phase ! The Republicans tend to be more Libertarian .... would they were more Libertarian .... Hell yes ! We don't live in a perfect world .... but we can still dream of moving towards a more perfect union ?
Yeah, the propaganda the Republicans produce will convince those who have lost critical thinking skills that they are more Libertarian. But it will be Libertarianism in name only, with the Patriot Act and NDAA imposing authoritarian control and corporate interests elevated over individuals.
The rhetoric around these two terms, capitalism and socialism, does little to guide us as a society. Much of the rhetoric is religious in nature, held as an item of faith, more magical thinking than anything else.
No 'capital' exists outside of the state that defines its very existence, yet many here seem to think if the state has power over property, that makes our economic system socialist.
We desparately need new terms to discuss how to structure our economy because it's clear that all the capitalist, socialist, Keynesian, Austrian notions continually vomited upon us are woefully inadequate.
Very true, and the truth bending Socialists refer to hard line Communists as "Conservatives" .... when it serves their mantra !
The question is not what system works because democracy is the clear winner. THe question is how to get all the people who agree on certain ideas in the same place. This is the hard thing to accomplish. The USA has been grappling with this problem for centuries ever since the two party system was introduced. In a democratic system there are also losers, but supposedly or supposed to be Utilitarian, because more people agree than disagree. The goal is to maximize the amount of people who are satisfied. Because lets face it. It would impossible to get a homgenous group of people who all agree on everything together, who have been represented by a small group of representatives. Maybe I am wrong.
That's the problem: capitalism and private property is NOT the natural state of mankind. Thus the whole article is suspect because the core beliefs of the article are wrong.
Mankind is a communal animal. We are born to live in tribes and share our resources. This worship of capitalism is ideology and nothing more. It is a temporary state of man that won't surivive. What's more, it has only been around for a couple centuries.
It takes a village .... how quaint ! We don't want to live like animals .... we want to be free and relate to each other as sovereign, divine creations .... with dignity and maximum freedom .... no need to celebrate our communal necessities nor our bathroom secrets ! 200 years .... yeah, individual freedom is a new concept since we crawled out of the primordial mud of busy body do gooder tyrants !
Better than submitting to the corporate masters who have effectively disenfranchised the sheeple. The elevation of self interest and greed lead to gaming and monopoly power, with the elite pulling all the strings.
Make all churches and charities and unions and political parties pay the corporate tax rate .... to not do so forces me to subsidize involuntarily their coffers .... where's the nobility in that ! Their subsidy profits are much greater than corporations earned profits ! Monedas 1929 Comedy Jihad If Everyone Had To Pay Taxes .... Taxes Would Be Lower For The Rest Of Us !
I have no clue what you are talking about. What planet are you on? Are you a robot or something?
Capitalism has been alive and well in free socities for millenia. Ancient Athens for example was a capitalist state as was Rome, although Rome did take on the guise of a welfare state when it started its bread and circuses policy. And we all know where that led to.
The commons has been alive for millions of years. It was only a couple hundred years ago that it was taken from us by the powerful.
The best and most rewarding parts of our society involve sharing and getting involved in our communities. It's a complete misunderstanding of what community and commons is to think that this is somehow anti-liberty. And it is a misunderstanding of both the human condition and liberty to think that we don't need a community.
One of the reasons American society is sick and dying is this mindless embrace of property rights above all else.
With enough rules, enough prohibitions, the utopian socialist models will work. It's just going to take some Time to transmute hundreds of millions of free-willing indivuduals into predictable inert masses.
Resistance is Fertile.
I'm not socialist but hey, "hundreds of millions of free-willing indivuduals", right now in this Planet? PLIZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!