>} In any event, it's hard for me to imagine anything more incompatible with
>} extropian principles than the Welfare State.
>
>How about outright socialism?
Is there a difference? <g>
>It's often been said that the New Deal saved capitalism from itself.
>That is a rather debatable statement. But it is less debatable that the
>New Deal may have saved capitalism from what capitalists would consider
>to be worse alternatives. For one thing, it seems to have practically
>killed off socialism as a movement with any real power in America. No,
>random Democrats you don't like don't count.
I don't think the New Deal saved anything. Socialism in America was killed
off by Stalinists who equated liberalism with fascism until Hitler attacked
the Soviet Union; then they hid their Marxist agenda to better support
their new-found friend, FDR.
Technology is what brought an end to the old boom-bust cycle. The pace of
economic progress has quickened. Many more avenues of growth are open.
Networks and PCs have brought more people into the markets, and they can
respond much faster. Today, every downturn is just a near-term investment
opportunity.
As my colleague Bill Frezza says, feel free to redistribute this message --
but not my income.
Ira Brodsky
Datacomm Research Company
Wilmette, Illinois