Bryan J. Smith wrote:
<snip>
>
> Which is why socialism/communism always fails on a larger scale. On a
> small scale, socialism/communism works very, very well. People hold
> each other directly accountable. But on a larger scale, ironically
> enough, only money seems to.
>
Not really. One of the first experiments in socialism (not called that)
was when the pilgrims came over. They had a system where all shared
equally in the bounty from the work of all. They quickly found that some
people simply wouldn't contribute adequately to the system and were a
drag on it. They dumped that system. I imagine communes also run into
this from time to time. Works great as long as everyone contributes. But
as soon as people don't, you have to either kick them out or change your
system.
<snip>
>
> And that's the problem today ... politicians (let alone the media) are
> _pushing_rhetoric_! They are _not_ offering solutions!
>
The purpose of a politician is to obtain, increase and hold on to power.
Their behavior is perfectly explained by this. This is the problem
with career politicians who have no accountability other than being
re-elected. If each politician had some measure of their labor by which
they could be thrown out of office (other than by irate or dissatisfied
voters), you'd see that behavior change radically. Unfortunately, no
political system I'm aware of offers this.
-- Paul M. Foster
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