Would a socialist approach be better to resolve the financial crisis than what bourgeoisie governments do?
What would a socialist approach to the financial crisis look like? Emergency measures would be taken to transform the great banks, hedge funds, insurance companies and financial houses into public utilities. They would be placed under the democratic control of the working class, with safeguards for the savings of small depositors. Their resources would be used for productive and socially useful purposes and to alleviate the suffering of the population.
Trillions of dollars would be allocated to rebuild the infrastructure, provide new and high-quality housing, improve education, provide universal health care and access to higher education, and clean up the environment. Everyone would be guaranteed a job and a decent wage. The workweek would be reduced, with no loss in pay, and wages would be fully indexed to account for inflation.
The tax burden would be shifted from the working class to the richest 10 percent of the population.
There would be a full and public investigation into the activities of the banks and financial firms and the books of all major corporations would be opened to public inspection.
The wealth of financial industry executives and large stockholders would be appropriated, and they, along with their servants among the political elite, would face criminal investigation for the plundering of the economy that has led to the current crisis.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/oct2008/soci-o15.shtml
What do you think?
wrong dukemak
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AjJDKWVllHE0lnV7KC7GHoMjzKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20081223115702AAwqrQt
Sounds wonderful BUT the "rugged individualism" has effectively isolated people from eachother and everyone is afraid they would be "paying for someone else" who in their mind doesn’t deserve it because they are….aliens from outer space or something, not fellow human beings or fellow American citizens.
July 17th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Oh yes, the ruling elites govern only for themselves.
References :
July 17th, 2010 at 9:06 pm
I think that a certain segment of the population fears the word socialism as much as they fear the word Muslim. Fear it, but don’t really know what it means.
Sounds good though.
References :
July 17th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Its been tried before – USSR, Cuba, Nicaragua – can you spell failure ???
References :
July 17th, 2010 at 9:49 pm
Sounds wonderful BUT the "rugged individualism" has effectively isolated people from eachother and everyone is afraid they would be "paying for someone else" who in their mind doesn’t deserve it because they are….aliens from outer space or something, not fellow human beings or fellow American citizens.
References :
July 17th, 2010 at 10:18 pm
How unfair of you, to exclude cons from your question by using big words. Shame on you!
References :
July 17th, 2010 at 10:39 pm
Uh Oh; the righties aren’t going to like this question. Socialism; the way several other countries whose standards of living are a lot higher than the U..S’s, is an approach for the Hitleresque. I prefer unmitigated capitalism
References :
July 17th, 2010 at 11:01 pm
and skittle crapping unicorns will fly around.. isnt life great in fantasy world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQN3M7m5Bvw&feature=player_embedded
References :
July 17th, 2010 at 11:45 pm
No.
People would be working for the government then instead of government working for the people. That is the definition of slavery.
References :
July 18th, 2010 at 12:11 am
The best solution comrade.
Among the the majority there is no political will to do this however. The people are completely under their control.
We need a catalyst to create the will to hold the real criminals accountable for their crimes against humanity.
They have alienated people from humanity itself.
An unorganized protest is obviously rendered moot, we must harm them where they are most vulnerable right now, I know you know where that is.
References :
July 18th, 2010 at 12:32 am
No. We don’t want another Mussolini running the country.
References :
July 18th, 2010 at 1:00 am
It is the best approach, but this administration has failed to act when there was actual support for this
References :
July 18th, 2010 at 1:34 am
I don’t think a socialist aproach is the best aproach, but it’s what we’re stuck with. The largest insurance company in the nation has been Nationalized, the government is stepping in and taking ownership states in the largest banks, dictating to the auto industry, and so forth.
Sure, that’s only leaning towards socialism, rather than the full-blown worker’s paradise you probably have in mind, with state ownership of everything and everyone, but it’s only a matter of degree. These sorts of socialist policies have been prettymuch the norm since the ‘New’ Deal, and aren’t likely to be abandoned – indeed, the answer to the failure of socialist policies is always more extreme socialist policies.
Look at the things you’re calling for:
Infrastructure: publically funded since the New Deal, and before.
Housing: we’ve had public housing projects for generations – long enough that the very phrase ‘the projects’ has become synonymous with ’slum.’
Education: We have one of the most expensive, least effective systems of public education in the world.
Health Care: Medicare is already flirting with insolvency due to balooning costs.
Higher Education: State & Community colleges all over the place, scholarships, grants, & student loans.
Environment: Why do you think so many jobs go to China or other countries – lax environmental and worker protection.
Gauranteed Job & Wage: We’ve had minimum wage laws for a long time, too. You’re not gauranteed a job, yet, but you can collect UI – for over a year in some states.
Work Week reduced: Check, from 96 hours (six 16 hour days, in a dimly lit factory) at the height of the industrial revolution, to 40, today.
Tax burden shifted to the rich: Yep, we’ve had progressive income tax rates for generations. They don’t help much, since the rich just move thier income-generating activities offshore if the rate gets too high and they can’t evade them any other way, which is why the trend since the Reagan years has been towards lower marginal (while still progressive) tax rates.
References :
July 18th, 2010 at 2:20 am
When National Socialists own the means of production and the assets then there is no wealthy 10%. All slaves of the omnipotent state are equally poor.
Although you are quiet correct about the need for criminal prosecutions.
References :
July 18th, 2010 at 2:32 am
I’m not going to attempt an answer because there are so many Socialist governments inc the US working on exactly these problems right now and I can’t know to what sort of level of Socialism you are referring or perhaps even Communism.
However re democracy and ‘working classes,’ you might want to do a little practical research into actual leaders that unions and working class Socialist political parties outside the US where they are banned unless affiliated w. the Mob have elected as their leaders. I’m pretty certain that a higher % of ‘the people’ get something a bit closer to what they want if everyone votes including the Socialists w/in a framework of left to right parties that all accept each others rights to exist.
If you shift the tax burden from 90% of the population to 10% you need to take 9 times as much money off each of them just to break even and then they leave the country so you need to figure in the costs of v. tall walls into your figures and subtract any benefits of free trade…
References :