6 Comments
User's avatar
тна Return to thread
Elle Griffin's avatar

The federal reserve regulates the economy. But the economy is still run by privately owned businesses (not government owned businesses). We do not have socialism in America.

Expand full comment
Will Shetterly's avatar

No, we do not have socialism. We have a system that results in 26 countries having more social mobility than the US. The Fed oversees it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socioeconomic_mobility_in_the_United_States

Expand full comment
Elle Griffin's avatar

ThereтАЩs no doubt our system needs fixing. But every economy that was owned by the government, rather than private ownership, was socialist. And it didnтАЩt work out. They all switched to capitalist means of production over time.

Expand full comment
Will Shetterly's avatar

There are people who insist China is capitalist now, though I'm not one. Are you advocating their model? It has certainly done wonders in raising the standard of living of its citizens.

Expand full comment
Elle Griffin's avatar

No, IтАЩm not advocating for their model. Though I think capitalism has been much better for their people than socialism was!

Expand full comment
Will Shetterly's avatar

Cuban life expectancy under Batista was below the US's. Cubans live longer than Americans now. Chinese advances are astonishing. Russia went from essentially 18th century technology under the Czars to beating the US into space. Spain's governing socialist party is doing interesting things. I'd say the record is mixed, and Orwell, a democratic socialist, identified the problem with the failures: it's authoritarianism, not socialism.

Expand full comment