> > 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.
There are going to be people who are a drag on the system whether
you're capitalist, socialist, or an anarcho-syndichist commune that
ratifies all decisions of the weekly executive officers in a special
biweekly meeting.
It's interesting how, when countries like Norway and Canada are
brought up, people bash them as being socialist. But then those same
people explain how socialism never works on a large scale. Those
countries don't seem to be failing; in fact, they seem to be doing
better than the US in many areas. So which is it?
> > 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.
Agreed.
-- Tcsh: Now with higher FPS! http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/shouldbefree.html
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