LETTER TO THE EDITOR / CAPITALISM, SOCIALISM and DEMOCRACY
Roger C. Kostmayer
Labels cause more problems than solutions, and are often used politically as accusatory weapons or cartoons of their adversaries. Capitalism and socialism per se, are neither all good nor all bad, and most economies and governments today are a mix of the two.
Simplistically, capitalism implies private owners, motivated by profit, are in control – rather than the state. Thus, private enterprise and (theoretically) competition would rule. Socialism is also an economic and political system, but it says control by the community as a whole is the answer – rather than by the unrestrained economic markets. Most importantly, we need to remember American democracy combines capitalist and socialist features but its guiding principle is government of, by and for the people. Historically big business, big labor and big government balanced and checked each other to prevent giving any one of them too much power.
Some argue the best way to grow our economic pie is with basic capitalism, but the best way to allocate the slices fairly is basic socialism. Regardless of the eclectic mix of the two at any given time, ideological solutions should be judged only by how effectively they serve the common good – not by how effective they are as political ammunition.
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Seems most of today’s citizens want the socialistic way of life simply because they are lazy useless eaters and want some putz to work and sweat for both. This is not the way humanity was designed to advance to the next level of development. Abolishing all freebees, charities, useless eaters, and anyone who produces nothing substantial would delete 90% of the world’s population and get humanity back to the realism. Socialism is like the ant colony that lost its workers. One queen and thousands of useless drones making more baby ants and doing nothing to get food or maintaining the mound.
The paradox is that while we, in the west, believe in free markets and the concept that all ideas are equal in the marketplace of ideas, we simultaneously lend credence to salvation by following an elusive religious and economic truth: We are all equal in the eyes of God.
The confusion creates friction, as the contradition between reality and ideals compel what is worst in us: greed and baseless idealism.
In real terms, there is only one political philosophy: producers vs. leeches; the haves and have nots; the owners and the slaves.