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"held out the promise of an efficient state-led economy that would uplift the downtrodden Black majority. And for a while, it did." There it is, the perpetuall

"held out the promise of an efficient state-led economy that would uplift the downtrodden Black majority. And for a while, it did." There it is, the perpetually-available deal offered by all politicians: give us power and we will fix problem X (or maybe all problems). Maybe intentions are good and the power is used to alleviate problem X. But soon those interested in solving X are replaced by those interested in the power. And then the people are left with at least as many problems as before, but they've already given up the power and won't get it back.

slavboj 3y ago
Sounds like a pretty good argument that South Africa's previous regime should not have given up power.
- benj111 3y ago
  Is it? Are you suggesting apartheid should have continued?
  - dotancohen 3y ago
    Sounds to me that he is arguing that sometimes, in fact, exchanging power for solving a problem is a worthy trade-off.
- chmod600 3y ago
  The people could have a new government without buying into promises about "an efficient state-led economy".
- nine_k 3y ago
  The previous South African regime was somewhat economically liberal, and that was good, But it was very politically oppressing based on race, and that was bad. Now it has reversed: the current regime is not racially oppressing, which is good, but it's not economically liberal, and the results are sad. Not nearly as bad as in Zimbabwe, but still could be much better. So far, a properly run free market has been showing the best results of all approaches tried by humanity. Any attempts at controlling economy against its laws ended up in really poor results. The market works best under self-governing regimes, like republics and constitutional monarchies, where the law is equal for everyone, and is enforced. It still performs reasonably well in visibly authoritarian conditions, like (prewar) Russia, Turkey, or Xi's China, where some amount of rule of law remains, and corruption does not run rampant. But the less efficiently run is the state (and efficiency correlates heavily with democratic regimes), the more the market deteriorates, and with it, does all economic prosperity. This only makes governmental inefficiency felt more heavily, the more prominent the corruption becomes, and the vicious circle continues. AFAICT this is what is happening in South Africa for last few years.

slavboj 3y ago

Sounds like a pretty good argument that South Africa's previous regime should not have given up power.

benj111 3y ago
Is it? Are you suggesting apartheid should have continued?
- dotancohen 3y ago
  Sounds to me that he is arguing that sometimes, in fact, exchanging power for solving a problem is a worthy trade-off.
chmod600 3y ago
The people could have a new government without buying into promises about "an efficient state-led economy".
nine_k 3y ago
The previous South African regime was somewhat economically liberal, and that was good, But it was very politically oppressing based on race, and that was bad. Now it has reversed: the current regime is not racially oppressing, which is good, but it's not economically liberal, and the results are sad. Not nearly as bad as in Zimbabwe, but still could be much better. So far, a properly run free market has been showing the best results of all approaches tried by humanity. Any attempts at controlling economy against its laws ended up in really poor results. The market works best under self-governing regimes, like republics and constitutional monarchies, where the law is equal for everyone, and is enforced. It still performs reasonably well in visibly authoritarian conditions, like (prewar) Russia, Turkey, or Xi's China, where some amount of rule of law remains, and corruption does not run rampant. But the less efficiently run is the state (and efficiency correlates heavily with democratic regimes), the more the market deteriorates, and with it, does all economic prosperity. This only makes governmental inefficiency felt more heavily, the more prominent the corruption becomes, and the vicious circle continues. AFAICT this is what is happening in South Africa for last few years.