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Bruce Bartlett is the contrarian that liberals love to quote. But in doing so they only expose their own disingenousness and partisan hackery, because they would not agree with 10% of what he says.
It makes sense. People congregate towards socialism because it hasn't existed for just over 20 years in a major power like Eastern Europe and Russia. Just over a generation, long enough for people to either forget the horrors of a planned economy or to get nostalgic about how they envision it was like.
The "horrors" of Eastern Europe had nothing to do with a planned economy, but an oppressive and violent government. Also, technology has come a long way in the past 20 years. Economic planning today would be much more efficient than it was 20 years ago because of the advances in computing and forecasting technology.
Also, technology has come a long way in the past 20 years. Economic planning today would be much more efficient than it was 20 years ago because of the advances in computing and forecasting technology.
Oh God, I thought I heard it all! This is a new one indeed.
"This time it's different, because we have 'puters!"
I think a lot of folks have trouble understanding shades of gray. It's either all capitalism, or all socialism, no in between. You are either the USA, or communist USSR. When Obama was campaigning, all you heard was "oh now we'll be the USSA if he wins!" Not realizing that our country has already employed socialist policies for decades. This is where education comes in, but that's way too much work to actually learn, when the latest reality show is about to come on...
Or how about mocking "change"? Palin did it, Hank Williams Jr. recently did it, I'm sure many others too. We need so much change in our govt, it should be painfully obvious to anyone. Yet the idea is mocked. Sad.
I think a lot of folks have trouble understanding shades of gray. It's either all capitalism, or all socialism, no in between. You are either the USA, or communist USSR. When Obama was campaigning, all you heard was "oh now we'll be the USSA if he wins!" Not realizing that our country has already employed socialist policies for decades. This is where education comes in, but that's way too much work to actually learn, when the latest reality show is about to come on...
Or how about mocking "change"? Palin did it, Hank Williams Jr. recently did it, I'm sure many others too. We need so much change in our govt, it should be painfully obvious to anyone. Yet the idea is mocked. Sad.
I agree. There have been some pretty non-free socialist societies and plenty of free capitalist ones.
However, I was using freedom and liberty in an economic sense. Yes, I stand by the statement that socialism = economic liberty and capitalism = economic bondage (for all but the elite few).
You're failing to acknowledge that the US was the most prosperous nation for a very long period of time. As such, more people were emigrating here than any other country. So capitalism isnt just good to the rich.
Also, there is socialism in every country. There is not true free market capitalism anywhere the world. The US is actually more socalist with regards to some aspecst of society than those coutries you listed.
Usually the socialists are smart enough to keep their insane theories of "it'll work this time because (insert reason here)".
It is, however, Pavlovian to hear a socialist immediately deny that the USSR and Eastern Europe adopted such a system when one mentions it, usually with some sort of BS about how Marxism and socialism are very different philosophies.
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