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Those who defend capitalism will simply respond to the latest statistics -- which say
that one in eight Americans is poor -- by asserting that these statistics are embellished,
exaggerated, etc. by an anti-capitalist prejudice in the mass media and in the universities.
The top CEOs are now "earning" 430 times the average worker's wage-income. But,
those who defend capitalism will answer by saying that the CEO "earnings" are what the
market has determined. Those who defend capitalism believe that the free market
distributes incomes according to merit, worth, desert, etc.
There are a lot of Americans without health insurance. But the defenders of capitalism
believe that if an American really wants health insurance, then they can get it.
According to the most recent Census Bureau Report, poverty in America has increased.
There has been both a numerical and a percentage increase in poverty. But, of course,
the defenders of capitalism will blame these facts on socialism. The fact that, in the
year 2000, 11.7% of the American population lived below the Federal poverty line is the
fault of American socialism. That, today, 12.7% of the American population lives below
the Federal poverty line is to be blamed on American "liberal communism".
As concerns property rights, and the violation of said rights, the problem with those
who defend capitalism is that they have a very fuzzy notion of property rights, a very
foggy understanding of what constitutes and creates a right of property. The defenders
of capitalism have a tendency to separate property from labor. Their view of what
justifies property is as vague as their view of what explains the market price of a
commodity. Theory is one thing; facts are another.
What is driving the price of oil up today? Supply? How do we know this? Oil supplies
are a secret. Not even the G7 can get the truth about oil supplies and oil reserves from
the OPEC cartel.
What drives up CEO pay? The boards of directors decide CEO pay. Those who defend
capitalism like to ask for the facts. They do not know where to look for the facts; and they
do not know how to look at the facts.
Anarchism and democracy are both compatible and analogous. Each is the cognate
of the other. There are certain professed anarchists and libertarians who know little
or nothing about the history of anarchist and libertarian ideas; and who get all of their
knowledge concerning such ideas from Friedrich von Hayek, Ayn Rand, Murray
Rothbard, Robert Nozick, and David D. Friedman. Although these writers are interesting
and important, they do not constitute or encompass the entire range of anarchist and
libertarian philosophy.
There are those who believe that the world of business, the world of economics, is an
apolitical world, and that this is just the way it ought to be. It is these same people who
believe that authentic capitalism is anarchist; and, who also believe that a genuine
anarchism is apolitical. These people believe that élitism is apolitical, while democracy
is political. And, these people believe that an anarchist arrangement cannot be a
democratic arrangement, and that a democratic form of association must necessarily
be a statist form of government. These people believe that anarchism is not a form of
government.
Now, in one sense, élitism is apolitical; but, in another sense, élitism is very political.
And, anarchist freedom is not freedom from politics, but freedom for politics. In other
words, anarchist freedom is democratic freedom.
I advocate anarchism, because I value individual self-government. I advocate democracy,
because I believe we need collective self-government, if we are going to cooperate and
organize ourselves as a community, living and working together, in dignity, freedom, and
peace.
"If a conference lasts a long time, it must end in peace; no one can keep on defying his
enemies all day."
-- Alfred Duggan |
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Posted by rallen2 on 2008-03-16 12:52:38 | Rating: | Views: 31
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