[quote=harvey][quote=no_such_reality]That’s because today we actually are more socialist than capitalist.[/quote]
That’s not remotely accurate, using even the most contrived metrics and the loosest definition of socialism.
By any economic measure: investment, employment, GDP, whatever — the US economy is overwhelmingly capitalist.[/quote]
Socialism isn’t just an economic system though; it is about sharing (more) equally. Meritocracy came out of socialist ideals. The guy who runs that hedge fund so successfully, or manages that restaurant got there through being good at what he does. Often, those success are enabled by technology, another socialist principal. Marx was all for it if it gave people more leisure time. Public parks, libraries, the right to vote came about from the notion of sharing and equality. Socialism is everywhere. The current debate is not about socialism vs capitalism—except perhaps in school-boy debating forums. It is on a more micro level. So while Mr Saunders may rant on about corporate power and Pickerty about inequality (both relevant BTW), the western world is struggling to repair itself from a damaging recession. The damage wasn’t confined just to the financial or material, it overturned what we had taken as an axiom; that markets self-regulate and are always right. If you follow this debate, you will see that it is not socialists bashing capitalists, but former free market capitalists scratching their heads, and followers of Keynes debating austerity vs more debt. Neither welfare, nor healthcare, nor corporatism and profit are no under threat. The problem is always whether we can bail out the water fast enough while we search for the leak. Whether we list to the left or the right is a side show.
