Bertster7 wrote:
It's not an alternative...
Obviously the best system is a blend of socialism and capitalism (which is why virtually every sensible country has adopted a system along those lines). I just don't think anywhere is currently doing it quite right. There's a few places around Europe that are doing pretty well on that balance.
Nice job on completely avoiding the original point about their finances being available to the public....
It is absolutely an either/or kind of thing. Mixed economies are bastard stepchildren and nothing good comes of them.
As soon as you attach socialist programs into a free market environment it acts as a giant anchor to productivity, efficiency and desire. You end up with the free market side pulling an ever increasing load behind it.
Basically what Social Democrats figured out was that Socialism itself lacks a 'carrot on a stick' to motivate people. They realized the only tool they had, guilt, was easily overcome by the human 'sins' (for lack of a better word) of greed, lust, gluttony, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. How do you keep a glutton from eating more than his share? Punish him? How do you keep a greedy man from taking more than his share? Punish him? Lots of punishment going around. So what they've strived to do is harness those 'sins' to pull the cart of socialism for them. They work to enslave the labor of some for the 'common good'. The problem with all of this is that you end up with less and less people willing to work. They see more personal benefit from living off of government welfare and 'enjoying themselves' than in seeking work. You end up with more and more people being carried by less and less people. It's a system that can not last.
You look at those European countries and see a near Utopia where the two have come together in harmony. I see high unemployment rates, high crime rates, high taxation, almost zero innovation and very little if any people bothering to form new companies to get ahead. What's the point when you'll just pay more taxes? Let someone else start the business and provide jobs. The worst part is that those being pulled along don't even care that they've enslaved those with more money than themselves. Somehow you're entitled to the fruits of their labor just because you were born. What happens when they throw up their hands and decide they've had enough? What happens when they, the producers decide to go on strike instead of some pissant laborer who's more than willing to kidnap his boss because he doesn't want to lose his job. Some great system you've got over there.
I respect Socialists for their beliefs. I definitely respect those who believe in the free market. Who I have zero respect for are people who believe that a mixed economy is a real solution. Mixed economies are doomed from the very start because they take the worst aspects of both sides and strive to make them work together.
This is long and rambling, it's late, I'm tired, but I hope I got some semblance of my point across.
