Reply #22: Start here... [View All]

[TreasonousBastard]

for some basic definitions:

http://www.turnleft.com/glossary.html

What anyone throwing these terms around has to realize is that they are all theoretical and have little to do with the real world. Every society since the dawn of history has had elements of each of them, and simply choosing one of them as an economic basis would never work.

My personal view is that there are some things the state does very well and some things private capital does very well. There are also a few things either one can do well. The only argument I see is figuring out which is which.

Strictly speaking, Soviet Communism was socialism, not communism, and we see how well that worked. On the other hand, certain sectors of the economy, such as electrical generation, roadbuilding, healthcare, some transportation, and much commodity production, such as coal mining, some farming, could, or have been, well done by governemnts.

Today, many alleged socialists, like me, don't talk all that much about the means of production, but about the "social" aspects of socialism-- more about social justice. Let's start with socialized medicine, low-income housing...