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The same argument that you applied on Marx... ignores human nature.
i still don't get it. what are we ignoring about human nature? we accept the reality that people will cheat the system. in general the market will weed out the bad eggs, but i'm not silly enough to suggest we'll get them all. only free marketers accept a margin of error.
for instance, we believe that markets will deliver the best healthcare at the lowest cost, to the most people. we believe that if the markets were free there'd be more competition and healthcare would be far cheaper. most who couldn't afford healthcare would be covered by charities, but there would still be people dying because of lack of access or poor care. socialists argue that we are cruel and insensitive because of this. we are at least the only people who are honest. socialist systems don't cover everyone or provide equal access i can assure you
In many posts the Right Wingers accuse others of being 'marxist'.
But have they read any works by Marx? So, how would they know what 'marxism' is?
I can appreciate what you're getting at, but your point carries little weight. How many Left Wingers (or Right Wingers, for that matter) have never read Mein Kampf but are quick to call someone a nazi or fascist? How many economists have actually read the original writings of Adam Smith or John Meynard Keynes?
More directly to the point, the followers of a movement like marxism can actually change the definition of marxism in the way they apply his ideology. It matters less what Carl Marx said and more what 'marxists' have done or failed to do in the name of marxism. The original text was just a template.
I don't really agree with you here. Successful economic systems tend to arise and develop organically. As such, they are not really systems despite our efforts to describe, define, analyze and influence them. They arise from the interaction of humans with humans but not in a planned and organized way. And, I would suggest, that we don't really control them any more than we can control natural weather phenomena. Despite our best efforts, they usually control us.
thank you jaggy! imo, govt attempts to control markets is where most of the problems occur. once again, i'm notg saying that markets are perfect or even fair, but govt intervention makes them worse and less fair
I can appreciate what you're getting at, but your point carries little weight. How many Left Wingers (or Right Wingers, for that matter) have never read Mein Kampf but are quick to call someone a nazi or fascist? How many economists have actually read the original writings of Adam Smith or John Meynard Keynes?
More directly to the point, the followers of a movement like marxism can actually change the definition of marxism in the way they apply his ideology. It matters less what Carl Marx said and more what 'marxists' have done or failed to do in the name of marxism. The original text was just a template.
"How do you tell a Communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin."
In many posts the Right Wingers accuse others of being 'marxist'.
But have they read any works by Marx? So, how would they know what 'marxism' is?
It is somewhat unfortunate that liberals and progressives are often confused with socialists or communists.
I am certainly a liberal progressive, but I don't support socialism and communism at all. I guess most people like me don't. Just like we don't support capitalism on the other end of the spectrum.
Basically, today it boils down to striving for more or less egalitarian living conditions for all of society vs. social Darwinism benefiting only parts of society.
"How do you tell a Communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin."
Ronald Reagan
Which books did Reagan read?
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