I was thinking last night about all these people throwing terms like fascist and socialist around, and thinking about one of my favorite high school teachers, who calmly and rationally explained the difference between political (or governance) systems and economic systems. Economic systems simply define different ways to apply capital goods and their products. Different systems serve different applications better or worse. We used to have a largely capitalist transportation system in medieval Europe, with petty nobles (thugs, actually) charging fees (at the end of a sharp pike--whence turnpike) to use their road or river. Turned out it was more efficient to make roads and river ways the property of the people as a whole, using general taxes to pay for them and letting travelers use them for free. That is communism. So are fire and police departments and public schools. The post office is a socialist system, where the government-like entity owns the goods and sells them to the public. Air traffic control is kind of a blend of the two systems. Democracy, monarchy, oligarchy, dictatorship -- these are broad-stroke descriptions of the way people are governed. There are many, many difference nuances within these, although its always seemed to me that the more concentrated power is I. A governmental system, the more it resembles other restrictive governments, whatever one calls them. On the other hand, and especially at the local level, we can see a pretty broad spectrum of democracy styles win the United States. None of these economic systems, in and of itself, is necessarily linked to any particular political system. Capitalism, for example, does NOT equal democracy. A wise people will choose which economic system is best applied to various common problems. And will guard fiercely against the persistent and universal tendency of individuals and cliques and cabals to try to take the reins of power. There was nothing special about Nazi Germany or Fascist Italy against which the US has somehow been inoculated.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 17:25:02 +0000
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