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QOTD: "Obama appears not to understand that ideology is alive and well and shapes life in profound ways. Societies are based on core ideological principles that cannot be randomly combined according to “what works.”
Economic, political, and social systems are like three-legged stools. The three legs of the capitalist or free enterprise stool are democratic/pluralistic public choice, a non-interventionist state, and a rule of law that protects personal and economic liberty. The three legs of the socialist stool are a one-party state, pervasive intervention in economic affairs, and a lack of a rule of law to guard personal and economic freedom.
The capitalist stool stands higher and is more stable than its socialist counterpart. Centuries of history show that capitalist, free enterprise economies have been able to grow, provide rising living standards, and innovate new technologies, contrary to Karl Marx’s belief they would inevitably collapse. Consider Germany and Korea: At the time of separation, North and South Korea had the same per capita income. Today, the Communist North has the same subsistence income as 65 years earlier, while the capitalist South’s has increased ten-fold with a thriving middle class. When the Berlin wall fell in 1989, curious West German visitors to the elite Wandlitz housing compound were surprised that East Germany’s top leaders did not live much better than they. In fact, their greatest privilege was a store stocked with West German goods within the compound grounds. Even the countries cited by the Left as positive examples of “democratic socialism”—Sweden and Denmark—gained their affluence through a century of free-enterprise growth, and they revert back to first principles when they stray too far from the model..." -- Paul R. Gregory
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