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I have been reading the works of the great social reformer Henry George. A socialist literate in political economy, he advocated a land value tax, which does no

I have been reading the works of the great social reformer Henry George. A socialist literate in political economy, he advocated a land value tax, which does not distort economic incentives as land cannot be produced. I see many angry youths, even very intelligent angry youths entranced by neo-Marxism, which seems to consider any concrete policy proposal as “logocentric”. I stumbled across a Marxist YouTube channel, PhilosophyTube, whose solution to the housing crisis was to outlaw the housing market and distribute the houses to democratic committees. Things like incentives for production, supply and demand, the many pathologies of democracy, the sense people have that they ought to be able to express their choice as individuals, public choice theory, and the fact that no given unit of housing is fungible were presumably too logocentric to address. I have seen the Marxist movie before and where it leads is not pretty. I would urge people who think egalitarianism is important to read George. The space of political economy is much larger than either left or right would have you believe. There are forms of wealth distribution that do not decrease economic efficiency, such as said land value tax. Harberger taxes are another such policy.

api 7y ago
I must second George. His whole idea of taxing things humans do not produce instead of labor, etc. is remarkably rational. Both Marxism and fascism have made a comeback in a big way. Neither offer any solutions that will lead anywhere other than dystopia.
pizzazzaro 7y ago
As silly as it sounds? Marx wrote very little about government. The most promising moves towards collective autonomy in the 21st Century are about abolishing politics as we know it, and engaging directly. From Chiapas Mexico, the EZLN is expanding. Rojava is convalescing into a functioning federation of semi-autonomous collectives coordinating defense against ISIL. And any economist who bothers to actually examine the subject sees that worker co-ops make unimaginable things possible. Worker Ownership of the means of production - thats the game. Having Government as a MiddleMan didnt work out well - there's plenty of other options on the deep Left. It did produce shorter work weeks than we have in the US today, but freedom overall suffered. But compared to what we have now? Freedom is a lie when you cant afford it under Capitalism. Even the freedom to achieve gainful employment is just another pipe dream to too many. You're gonna wanna let us in before we burn it down just to survive. It isnt up to me - Im not the one with power here. And that's another off topic discussion - the conflation of power with Freedom... You think your Market System works so well? If you think Marxism is some kind of disease, rehabilitate us Lefties with paychecks capable of raising Families and paying down debt. Train me, and I'll earn it. Remember that poverty sets trainees back weeks at a time - the deeper the poverty, the worse it gets. But if you want the most loyal employees ever, you'll invest that time anyway. That's the only way you can stop the wave thats coming. The American Dream was a Deal - and Ive put blood, sweat, tears, even smiles while missing funerals into holding up my end of the bargain. Meanwhile, I've never worked anywhere in the US that wasnt the proverbial Russian Nail Factory, and still been repeatedly homeless with a full time job. You know nothing of how we live. Quit pretending you do to our faces, and then pretending we're all useless, lazy junkies when you're among your "friends".
pizzazzaro 7y ago
Oh, and as for "logocentric" being a problem - Imagine a world where the money to even have a seat at the table of politics is denied to you. No matter how much you rant and rave, no matter the depth of expertise brought to bear on the issue, Some freaking Moron with Money buys ads that get the general populace whipped up into taking that side against their own interests. Now imagine there not being a party that even pretends to care about the issues that matter most. One pretends to care, generally, but the other seems happier to blame the victim. And then, when you and everyone you know have screamed for change, the sympathetic-branded party acknowledges it! To offer token effort, "incrimental" change that just gets rolled back even harder in 4 years. The "liberals" forget it was even an issue at all unless we flood them with more cries for mercy. Nobody batts an eye that life is harder for an increasingly invisible majority of citizens. The game marches on. And nothing of value has been been permanently gained in the last 30 years without a judge setting precedent... Precedent that a Trump-appointed judge will maneuver to deliberately overturn. Bernie is the Sensible Centrist. He's last call for the Democrats to be relevant. Trump is Repugnicans' death throes. Anyone else? Will just be similarly irrelevant, if not outright malicious.

api 7y ago

I must second George. His whole idea of taxing things humans do not produce instead of labor, etc. is remarkably rational. Both Marxism and fascism have made a comeback in a big way. Neither offer any solutions that will lead anywhere other than dystopia.

pizzazzaro 7y ago

As silly as it sounds? Marx wrote very little about government. The most promising moves towards collective autonomy in the 21st Century are about abolishing politics as we know it, and engaging directly. From Chiapas Mexico, the EZLN is expanding. Rojava is convalescing into a functioning federation of semi-autonomous collectives coordinating defense against ISIL. And any economist who bothers to actually examine the subject sees that worker co-ops make unimaginable things possible. Worker Ownership of the means of production - thats the game. Having Government as a MiddleMan didnt work out well - there's plenty of other options on the deep Left. It did produce shorter work weeks than we have in the US today, but freedom overall suffered. But compared to what we have now? Freedom is a lie when you cant afford it under Capitalism. Even the freedom to achieve gainful employment is just another pipe dream to too many. You're gonna wanna let us in before we burn it down just to survive. It isnt up to me - Im not the one with power here. And that's another off topic discussion - the conflation of power with Freedom... You think your Market System works so well? If you think Marxism is some kind of disease, rehabilitate us Lefties with paychecks capable of raising Families and paying down debt. Train me, and I'll earn it. Remember that poverty sets trainees back weeks at a time - the deeper the poverty, the worse it gets. But if you want the most loyal employees ever, you'll invest that time anyway. That's the only way you can stop the wave thats coming. The American Dream was a Deal - and Ive put blood, sweat, tears, even smiles while missing funerals into holding up my end of the bargain. Meanwhile, I've never worked anywhere in the US that wasnt the proverbial Russian Nail Factory, and still been repeatedly homeless with a full time job. You know nothing of how we live. Quit pretending you do to our faces, and then pretending we're all useless, lazy junkies when you're among your "friends".

pizzazzaro 7y ago

Oh, and as for "logocentric" being a problem - Imagine a world where the money to even have a seat at the table of politics is denied to you. No matter how much you rant and rave, no matter the depth of expertise brought to bear on the issue, Some freaking Moron with Money buys ads that get the general populace whipped up into taking that side against their own interests. Now imagine there not being a party that even pretends to care about the issues that matter most. One pretends to care, generally, but the other seems happier to blame the victim. And then, when you and everyone you know have screamed for change, the sympathetic-branded party acknowledges it! To offer token effort, "incrimental" change that just gets rolled back even harder in 4 years. The "liberals" forget it was even an issue at all unless we flood them with more cries for mercy. Nobody batts an eye that life is harder for an increasingly invisible majority of citizens. The game marches on. And nothing of value has been been permanently gained in the last 30 years without a judge setting precedent... Precedent that a Trump-appointed judge will maneuver to deliberately overturn. Bernie is the Sensible Centrist. He's last call for the Democrats to be relevant. Trump is Repugnicans' death throes. Anyone else? Will just be similarly irrelevant, if not outright malicious.