Quote:
Originally Posted by Beninho
I think that’s a fair question given your clear favouriting of socialism over anything conservative (the two aren’t at all comparable)
|
That sentence does not make any sense to me, expect for the part where they aren't comparable things. If they're not comparable, how can I meaningfully favor one over the other?
I'm going to try give an honest and serious answer to your question.
Finland is among the most socialist countries in the world (and generally considered a really great place to live). Same with Canada. They are also both decisively capitalist societies.
So I already live in a socialist society and in a capitalist society.
That's the shortest, straightest answer to you question I can come up with. But of course it's not a real answer. I can't give you a short, straight and meaningful answer.
It's not just that you use the words in a way which I would call "incorrect" (sorry), it's also that I'm not sure if there is a way to use the words socialism and capitalism in a way that would successfully transfer what I think to you. We not only use the words differently, we seem to use those words to discuss different topics altogether.
(I also suspect you're conflating capitalism with a market economy in your question, and socialism with a planned economy. (BTW the latter isn't the only theoretically possible form of a non - capitalist economy. Moderns radical socialist tend to have rather different ideas.)
Finland and Canada are examples of (relatively) socialist countries with market economies. They are also examples that capitalism and socialism can coexist perfectly well in a society. Just like liberalism and conservatism always coexist in a society. )
The closest thing to a meaningful answer I can think of is this:
I don't want to live a in society with absolutely no socialism. I also can't imagine how a free modern society would function without a market economy, and I can't imagine how a market economy would work with absolutely no capitalism. (The closest thing I can think of is old school Star Trek, but " I'd probably like to live in Star Trek" isn't what I'd consider a serious answer to your question.
(Of course the limits of my imagination doesn't mean such a society couldn't exist, but it does make the question of whether I'd like to live in such a society unanswerable for me right now.).
Or in other words:
I believe that to maximize personal freedom and wellbeing on a population level (examples of values I see as more important than what economic system we have), any society remotely like ours needs to find the right balance of socialist and capitalist ideas (and also the right balance for a lot of other things). And that we're currently off balance and have both too much capitalism (meaning for example that having a lot of money gives you disproportionate amount of control over a lot more than just what you own) and not enough socialism (meaning for example that a lot of people don't get proper compensation for the benefit they bring to the society).
I also think my thinking is typical for a modern "socialist", even if I'm more verbose than most. I'm sure I've met a self-identifying socialist that wants to literally end capitalism altogether, but it's rare enough that I can't remember that ever happening.
People who want to literally end capitalism generally call themselves anarchists these days (And not all anarchists want that. Anarchism is a much bigger tent than people realize.)
(And again, please try to remember that we have different meanings for the words "capitalism" and "socialism", and that's why my answer becomes a bit of a mess.
I'm not trying to be obtuse, this is actually how I think.