3 ms·
Why do so many people think the alternative to our current system is to be Venezuela? Economic policies form a spectrum of trade-offs, balancing needs and prio
by randomsearch 9y ago
Why do so many people think the alternative to our current system is to be Venezuela?
Economic policies form a spectrum of trade-offs, balancing needs and priorities of different socioeconomic groups and legal entities.
It seems to me that people are either (a) brainwashed into thinking that way so that they accept massive inequality as the inevitable cost of avoiding economic collapse and misery, or (b) using such an argument disingenuously to support their own advantage or emotional attachment to a particular worldview.
Whatever the reason, it makes the speaker look silly and stifles serious debate.
The real question is “how do we make things better?” The free market policies of the last few decades have made plenty of things worse. Let’s try to improve the state of some of those things.
- surfmike 9y agoTo flip the question: Why do people blame capitalism as if it’s not possible to have another system but maintain capitalism? Capitalism doesn’t imply lack of a social safety net or regulations. Even its most classic proponent Adam Smith saw a role for the state in providing public goods and regulating industry.
- mistermann 9y ago> Why do so many people think the alternative to our current system is to be Venezuela? Of course that's not the inevitable alternative, but if you have no understanding of what capitalism is and is not, as seems to be the case with Ms. Arden (and 95% of the rest of the people on this planet), that's where you can end up before you know it.