Because Democratic Socialism is a stepping stone to Dictatorial Socialism. It's just a matter of degree. The distinction you are trying to make is a difference without meaning. In Democratic Socialism, people vote to have their freedoms taken away. In a Dictatorial Socialism, they have their freedom taken away by one person or a small cabal of leaders. What difference does that make? Your freedoms are being taken away.
In addition, politics and economics are inextricable. It's like trying to separate heads from tails on a coin. They are all part of the coin. Socialism is a political system, because it involves the government forcibly taking something from one group to give to another. In Capitalism, the government is limited to enforcing the property rights of free individuals, as well as ensuring fraud is kept to a minimum. Socialism ends up being the most fraudulent system, because people eventually realize that there is no meritocracy in Socialism, so it does not pay to work hard. Rather, Socialism encourages a system of favors. So being connected is more important. Being connected is Political in nature. Socialism is a Political Economic model. No denying that.
As far as Keynes being a genius along the lines of Einstein, nope. However, there is no denying Keynes was a very smart man, although his book is almost unreadable. He was also something else. He was very politically astute. He cultivated political relationships and sold his idea that spending money was the way out of recessions. This was an easy sell to politicians, because that's what gets politicians elected.
Hayek, an economist of the Austrian School persuasion, was also a very smart man. He won the Nobel Prize. He just wasn't as politically connected. The rest is history. |
