(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . It Doesn't Matter What You Call an Economic System [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-24 How is it that socialist systems so often mimic capitalist ones? And vice versa? I don’t think it’s going out on a limb to suggest that economic systems in most countries today, perhaps with the exception of extreme fascist and backward ones, are not without elements of both socialism and capitalism. This may seem like a rather unimportant, even trite, observation, but it actually has critical implications for those of us who are political activists and sincerely committed to pushing our country in a progressive and humanitarian direction. What is most important is not to necessarily argue for one system or another. Having theoretical arguments about what kind of system is best has its place, but not as an organizing concept. People are best organized around common self-interest issues that they can understand. Most people dislike or even despise politics. Why, because we have the same problems today that we had a hundred years ago. What Prevents Change? A choice between the two should not go along with promoting the legislation. The dominant wealthy interests in America have taken over most major media outlets, television stations, movies studios, the internet and radio. What this means is that most people are going to get news and information from their perspective. What’s worse, there is no way the listener can be sure he/she isn’t being deceived, lied to, or not told things that they should be told. Much media is aimed at distraction and entertainment, and in many ways not that different from the public Roman games, which were basically entertainment as brutal and murderous as they were. For example, I was listening earlier this month to Super Bowl picks by the “experts.” Most agreed that the team that did the best job of vamping on the other team’s quarterback or knocking him out of action would win the game. But his time no quarterback kos’ occurred. This is also the bruising nature of class politics. With both sides seeing any piece of legislation or new law very differently, things can get even more contentious around legislation of a broad social nature. Ones that help large numbers of citizens. These are socially targeted programs, like social security, attacked often by the right wing as being socialist or communist. There is also little doubt the government always has had strong ties to the wealthier classes, with a strong tendency to see our present and future well-being exclusively through such a lens. Social Reforms are not Socialism but . . . This ignores many laws, legislation and policies which have decidedly socialist tendencies. Let me list just a few of the more important ones: Taxation on a sliding scale according to income , is a socialist, wealth sharing reform, despite going in the wrong direction lately. , is a socialist, wealth sharing reform, despite going in the wrong direction lately. Social Security , with all it’s flaws and inadequacies was dramatically expanded in 1935 because capitalism was in severe crisis and lacked any way to address horrible national conditions. , with all it’s flaws and inadequacies was dramatically expanded in 1935 because capitalism was in severe crisis and lacked any way to address horrible national conditions. Unemployment Insurance , which was also a response to the massive unemployment created by the Great Depression. , which was also a response to the massive unemployment created by the Great Depression. Laws passed to protect the civil rights of blacks, women, gays and other groups were passed as a response to mass struggle and as such are social reforms. of blacks, women, gays and other groups were passed as a response to mass struggle and as such are social reforms. The Housing/Bank/Auto bail outs of 2008 , which amounted to socialist aid and a bail out from rank-and-file taxpayers to the Capitalist Classes! This one cost an estimated 22 trillion dollars. There have been many bail outs in capitalist history. , which amounted to socialist aid and a bail out from rank-and-file taxpayers to the Capitalist Classes! This one cost an estimated There have been many bail outs in capitalist history. Civil Rights and Voters Rights legislation were also passed in response to mass struggle and as such must be considered a social reform. were also passed in response to mass struggle and as such must be considered a social reform. Child Labor Laws ended notorious child labor industrial practices, a decidedly social measure, which is unfortunately violated today in many instances. ended notorious child labor industrial practices, a decidedly social measure, which is unfortunately violated today in many instances. The need for Federal Aid to Farmers has been historically necessary, if controversial, due to the inherent instability of both weather and capitalist market fluctuations, and as such should be considered a social reform. The Need for Reform Points to a System’s Flaws I could name more but I think you get the idea. The need for and existence of these reforms demonstrates that the social conditions and imbalances created by capitalism often require a social response. The arguments of privatizing everything versus socializing all means of production and private property have not fared well historically. Both extremes have given birth to fascistic/authoritarian conditions in a number of nations, Germany and Russia in particular. Neither has capitalism avoiding periodic crashes that require massive government bail outs, the last being in 2008, typically snatched from taxpayer revenue. The Way Forward In reality, capitalism requires huge periodic ball outs by the taxpayers because of the imbalances it creates. While they sometimes serve a purpose, even the terms left and right can be misused and confuse people and amount to attaching a label to people that is often inaccurate. I’m old enough to remember how the term liberal came to be used and misused. At some point it was used to describe some Democrats and even a few Republicans. It still means different things to different people, as in this 60s song by Phil Ochs. While I believe that the future direction of the world must compromise between the two systems, the road to progress rests much more on the socialist side. The emergence again of a global fascist trend in many of the advanced capitalist countries is something that at present the world cannot afford the consequences of. BTW, I consider Russia a long ago failed socialist state under the Bolsheviks and Stalin now under authoritarian capitalist rule under Putin’s iron grip. It is wise to remember the horrible results of past fascist states like the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Cambodia and Japan. There is more than one road that leads to fascism, the two most common denominators being authoritarian rule and the absence/suspension of democracy. It is what is being sought by our own fascists today. Neutralizing Redbaiting Redbaiting is as American as apple pie. Redbaiting, fear and hate mongering are often the main barriers to building progressive movements. We need to struggle for what is needed and what is missing. Not over a name attached to the legislation. And perhaps most of all, we must struggle to preserve what’s left of democracy and the right to vote and even fight to expand it. It’s the only check on the wealthier classes from having complete domination of our government. Control of information is also the goal of tyrants along with keeping the real truth away from us and for themselves. And promoting a divided, dumbed-down, paranoid and ignorant electorate as much as possible. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/24/2152231/-It-Doesn-t-Matter-What-You-Call-an-Economic-System Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/