5 ms·

Pray tell, why would far-right conservatives smear Adam Smith as a socialist? The guy practically wrote the free trade bible.

tesseract 18y ago
For one thing, he supported progressive taxation, which is what all the Joe the Plumber smears were about.
kalvin 18y ago
For the last month of the campaign, McCain's campaign attacked progressive taxation as redistributionist "socialism"... the OP is saying that Adam Smith supported progressive taxation, so that's why conservatives "would" smear Adam Smith. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_tax http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_tax "The necessaries of life occasion the great expense of the poor. They find it difficult to get food, and the greater part of their little revenue is spent in getting it. The luxuries and vanities of life occasion the principal expense of the rich, and a magnificent house embellishes and sets off to the best advantage all the other luxuries and vanities which they possess. A tax upon house-rents, therefore, would in general fall heaviest upon the rich; and in this sort of inequality there would not, perhaps, be anything very unreasonable. It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion.[16]"
- thomasmallen 18y ago
  Thanks, that was insightful. Then again, there is the possibility of a progressive sales tax, which is more in line with the conservative (not necessarily Republican) ethic that, if citizens are taxed, they should be taxed equally, proportional to their income or consumption.
alecco 18y ago
Because they are not really into free trade? And because he looked up more into moral and ethics than economy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_Moral_Sentiments http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_Moral_Sentiments US far-right conservatives are anything but Adam Smith. They are more like the conservative lords Adam Smith was revolting against. US far-right is closer to the Victorian, or even Feudal system (saving the distance of centuries!) Note by US far-right I mean people like Richard "Dick" Cheney, Bill O'Reilly, Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Nixon, and George W. Bush. For them talking about moral or equal oportunities means socialist, commie, or something else. http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/item_single.php?item_id=37&item=biography http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/item_single.php?item_id=37&... "[...] Although both Smith and Quesnay criticised the mercantilists belief in state interference with foreign trade and capital flows as a way of augmenting national wealth [...]" It will take many years to undo this US government's deeds in the world. And as it starts affectig the interests of this powerful groups there will be a dirty smear campaign like we've never seen before.

tesseract 18y ago

For one thing, he supported progressive taxation, which is what all the Joe the Plumber smears were about.

kalvin 18y ago

For the last month of the campaign, McCain's campaign attacked progressive taxation as redistributionist "socialism"... the OP is saying that Adam Smith supported progressive taxation, so that's why conservatives "would" smear Adam Smith. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_tax http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_tax "The necessaries of life occasion the great expense of the poor. They find it difficult to get food, and the greater part of their little revenue is spent in getting it. The luxuries and vanities of life occasion the principal expense of the rich, and a magnificent house embellishes and sets off to the best advantage all the other luxuries and vanities which they possess. A tax upon house-rents, therefore, would in general fall heaviest upon the rich; and in this sort of inequality there would not, perhaps, be anything very unreasonable. It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion.[16]"

thomasmallen 18y ago
Thanks, that was insightful. Then again, there is the possibility of a progressive sales tax, which is more in line with the conservative (not necessarily Republican) ethic that, if citizens are taxed, they should be taxed equally, proportional to their income or consumption.

alecco 18y ago

Because they are not really into free trade? And because he looked up more into moral and ethics than economy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_Moral_Sentiments http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_Moral_Sentiments US far-right conservatives are anything but Adam Smith. They are more like the conservative lords Adam Smith was revolting against. US far-right is closer to the Victorian, or even Feudal system (saving the distance of centuries!) Note by US far-right I mean people like Richard "Dick" Cheney, Bill O'Reilly, Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Nixon, and George W. Bush. For them talking about moral or equal oportunities means socialist, commie, or something else. http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/item_single.php?item_id=37&item=biography http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/item_single.php?item_id=37&... "[...] Although both Smith and Quesnay criticised the mercantilists belief in state interference with foreign trade and capital flows as a way of augmenting national wealth [...]" It will take many years to undo this US government's deeds in the world. And as it starts affectig the interests of this powerful groups there will be a dirty smear campaign like we've never seen before.