Zero Powers wrote:
>
> >From: "J. R. Molloy" <jr@shasta.com>
>
> >I entirely agree, and thank you for pointing that out. In contrast to
> >capitalism, one might consider the educational benefits of socialism,
> >especially famous socialist teachers such as Stalin, who taught 30,000,000
> >people how to die, or National Socialist Adolph Hitler who graduated tens
> >of
> >millions in his special education classes. Then there was the Maoist brand
> >of
> >socialist education that taught many more millions of students how to
> >starve
> >to death..
> >
> >Responsible and intelligent people should always remember the lessons that
> >socialism teaches.
>
> I don't think anyone here is advocating socialism. I certainly am not. But
> there are alternatives other than unregulated markets on one hand and
> totalitarian socialist regimes on the other. Though die hard libertarians
> will disagree, free enterprise mixed with a spoonful of socially responsible
> regulation can go a long way.
Why slaughter the productive cow when you can chain her and hitch her
teats up for milking, eh? What makes you think the cow prefers, or
thrives best under, either alternative? I'm sure there were some slave
laborers under Speer who thought they were getting a better deal than
those already in the ditch. Why, they should even be grateful for the
opportunity to serve in a socially responsible, regulated way.
>
> Unrestrained capitalism (think early industrial US) leads to huge
> discrepancies in the distribution of wealth, which leads to social unrest
> (think the early labor movement) and even upheaval (think French
> Revolution).
This is a misrepresentation. The French Revolution (and all revolutions,
generally) arise from the upper class members in power who conflict
violently with middle and upper class members who are not in power. The
masses are generally pawns in the political game of the factions.
Whoever offers the most largesse from the public purse generally wins,
unless the opposition posesses superior generalship in the field.
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