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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alex MG who wrote (136495)	8/29/2013 4:47:59 PM
From: RetiredNow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

Oh hello, Alex. Here's how wikipedia defines Socialism as an economic system: A socialist economic system consists of a system of production and distribution organised to directly satisfy economic demands and human needs, so that goods and services are produced directly for use instead of for private profit driven by the accumulation of capital.[5] Accounting is based on physical quantities, a common physical magnitude, or a direct measure of labour-timein place of financial calculation.[6][7] Distribution is based on the principle to each according to his contribution. Marxist theory holds that the development of the socialist mode of productionwill give rise to a communist society, in which classes and the state are no longer present, there is access abundance to final goods, and thus distribution is based on to each according to his need. en.wikipedia.org To add to the above, I would say the following: In history, Socialism has been implemented by state ownership of the means of production and distribution, and state mandates on the pricing of goods and services. In all historical examples of Socialism where the state has set prices in this manner, it has resulted in a shortage of those goods and a black market to compensate. The most recent ludicrous example of this was the price setting in Venezuela that lead to shortages of toilet paper. In a regulated free market, when supply disruptions cause shortages versus demand for a good, prices rise until supply and demand are brought back into equilibrium. This usually means as prices rise, production rises to eventually meet demand, bringing prices back down to the equilibrium state. Over time, as competition gets more fierce, prices continue to go down, benefitting the consumer. We've seen this with the fierce competition in the Smart Phone space. In Socialism, prices don't come down naturally, because the competition is not there. So the state must force prices down to what's affordable, and in doing so, they create two major distortions. First, since market forces aren't banished, people simply will stop selling what they can't make a profit on, which leads to shortages and a black market of those goods. Second, the state must have a robust policing system to enforce unnatural pricing mechanisms, which leads to increasingly draconian state surveillance and police apparati. This is why Socialism tends to slide towards an enablement of police states like Nazi Germany, Communist Russia, and Communist Cuba and Venezuela. Free markets tend to lead to a Democratization of economies and strong property rights, which leads to a Democratization of the governments that are chartered to nurture and protect those free market economies. That is how our country was born, as a revolution against economic tyranny by monarchial England. Remember, "No taxation, without representation"? History should always be our guide. Socialism and Communism are failed economic ideologies. Capitalism has been a resounding success in building and sustaining the wealth of nations, as well as enabling a more Democratic government, respectful of property right, which are the very foundation of individual liberties.