So the implication is that both the free market and socialism will impoverish us so we might as well go socialist?
The current economic crisis has been used to batter capitalism with the claim that free markets have failed. But the cause was not freedom but a tangle of government interventions in the no-longer-free market – the Fed, Fannie Mae, Freddy Mac, the FHA, the Community Reinvestment Act, etc., etc.
What we should be doing is not passing more laws, but repealing them, to give us a TRULY free market, not the Frankensteinian patchwork of waning freedoms and growing controls we have today.
Stop subsidizing farmers, stop subsidizing the oil companies, stop subsidizing ranchers and anyone who extracts minerals from federal lands. Stop giving tax breaks to companies who move operations off shore, stop subsidizing tobacco farmers, stop subsidizing the NYSE. Remove all tariffs from imported steel and other products. We haven’t had a free market since WWII. If you want less government then start by getting the government out of our personal lives so we can decide who we want to marry and whether to have or not have children.
ENG8INE is right on…what free market?
But I think a little socialism wouldn’t be too bad for us. We’ve gone so far in the “free market/capitalism” direction that it’s toxic. We need some balance.
Back in the “good old days” when we funded a hospital or a park or a school you didn’t hear pathetic cries of “socialism!”, people just considered it the proper work of government.
We still have many libertarians in denial. The current financial crisis was caused by insufficient or unenforced regulation of the financial industry. Remember, libertarianism is one step from anarchy.
Possum Pete almost 15 years ago
Right on the money! Those liberal bastages are going to ruin our economy and leave us all homeless. Way to go Liberals!
pschearer Premium Member almost 15 years ago
So the implication is that both the free market and socialism will impoverish us so we might as well go socialist?
The current economic crisis has been used to batter capitalism with the claim that free markets have failed. But the cause was not freedom but a tangle of government interventions in the no-longer-free market – the Fed, Fannie Mae, Freddy Mac, the FHA, the Community Reinvestment Act, etc., etc.
What we should be doing is not passing more laws, but repealing them, to give us a TRULY free market, not the Frankensteinian patchwork of waning freedoms and growing controls we have today.
FireMedic almost 15 years ago
Stop subsidizing farmers, stop subsidizing the oil companies, stop subsidizing ranchers and anyone who extracts minerals from federal lands. Stop giving tax breaks to companies who move operations off shore, stop subsidizing tobacco farmers, stop subsidizing the NYSE. Remove all tariffs from imported steel and other products. We haven’t had a free market since WWII. If you want less government then start by getting the government out of our personal lives so we can decide who we want to marry and whether to have or not have children.
luckyjean22 almost 15 years ago
ENG8INE is right on…what free market? But I think a little socialism wouldn’t be too bad for us. We’ve gone so far in the “free market/capitalism” direction that it’s toxic. We need some balance. Back in the “good old days” when we funded a hospital or a park or a school you didn’t hear pathetic cries of “socialism!”, people just considered it the proper work of government.
FireMedic almost 15 years ago
Funny that no one considers a tax supported free public education system to be socialism.
SmokyStover almost 15 years ago
We still have many libertarians in denial. The current financial crisis was caused by insufficient or unenforced regulation of the financial industry. Remember, libertarianism is one step from anarchy.
Charles Brobst Premium Member almost 15 years ago
Europe is doing awfully well and they don’t have a free market. They are better off than we are, because of Democratic Socialism.
3hourtour Premium Member almost 15 years ago
…the republican led congress spent and spent and spent and then lambasted about too much taxes…let’s get another pic-a-nic basket boo boo…