DentArthurDent
Veteran
Joined: 26 Jul 2008
Age: 60
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,884
Location: Victoria, Australia
25 Feb 2009, 2:36 am
Orwell wrote:
Besides that, communism prevents any of the population from gaining a reasonable standard of living because efficient production is impossible under communism.
“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” -Winston Churchill
“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” -Winston Churchill
First of all I do not think communism is likely, socialism yes. Secondly I am surprised at you for the weakness of this argument, the very idea of socialism is to find the best possible use for resources by removing the profit motive and having resources used on a needs basis. The soviet bloc was really a group of principalities under the emperor. There was corruption on a massive scale, under these conditions it is hardly surprising that efficiency was atrocious.
And as for quoting someone whos only quality was to be a good warmonger
25 Feb 2009, 8:06 pm
DentArthurDent wrote:
First of all I do not think communism is likely, socialism yes. Secondly I am surprised at you for the weakness of this argument, the very idea of socialism is to find the best possible use for resources by removing the profit motive and having resources used on a needs basis. The soviet bloc was really a group of principalities under the emperor. There was corruption on a massive scale, under these conditions it is hardly surprising that efficiency was atrocious.
Right, you're a statist socialist, almost forgot. I'll just pull out the problem of information making a planned economy impossible. Or I could copy Böhm-Bawerk's criticism that Marxism has an inaccurate labor theory of value. Other Austrian School economists demonstrated years ago that in the absence of a market economies have no rational way of allocating resources (the economic calculation debate).
And though it's a tired old cliché, the argument from self-interest does work fairly effectively against socialism. I personally form very strong loyalties towards groups, working harder for a group than I typically will for myself (why this is I have no idea, it seems irrational). Most people do not develop such allegiance to groups and so will not be willing to work for the overall betterment of society than they will for their own benefit.
Quote:
And as for quoting someone whos only quality was to be a good warmonger
Hey, he was also a very witty drunk.
