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| Capitalism: A Debate |
R. A.:
The problem with ideological capitalists is their limited vision of the alternatives: either
capitalism with laissez-faire free markets, or capitalism wih government-regulated
markets.
Ronald Reagan once said: "Free enterprise is a rough and competitive game. It is a hell of a
lot better than a government monopoly." A state monopoly of capital, or a class monopoly of capital are not the only choices.
Democratic socialists believe that these two narrow alternatives are not the only options.
Socialists believe that the demands, and the pressures of the free market make free
exchange between individual persons and independent commonwealths less than fully
free. There are, after all, the needs of capital; and these needs out-weigh and over-rule the
needs of people. Private profits overshadow the needs of people. Freedom to exploit others
precludes fairness. And, human beings are forced to sell their labor power as just another
separate commodity for profiteering commercial markets. There is freedom of markets,
and there is freedom of exchange, but these are not the very same thing. You can praise
free exchange, even though you condemn free markets. There is free enterprise
demanding private profits, and there is free enterprise meeting and satisfying human
needs. There is consumer demand, pecuniary demand; and there is human need. There is a
freedom which comes from cooperation, and there is a freedom which comes from
competition. There is government monopoly, and there is community ownership. There is
state-monopoly capitalism, and there is social proprietorship of capital. There are more
choices than the ideological capitalists would like for us to imagine.
C. D.:
The socialist´s conception of freedom is exactly what is lacking in the free market today. In
Denmark capitalism has brought capitalisation, which really is pretty much the same as
monopoly.
R. A.:
Can you tell us what you believe to be the difference between a capitalist conception of
freedom, and a socialist conception of freedom?
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Posted by rallen2 on 2009-11-04 13:17:05 | Rating: | Views: 16
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