AI
Tuesday, September 25, 2018 6:51:26 AM
gunballs, Conservatives Can’t Decide If Nordic Socialism Is a Totalitarian Nightmare or Actually Capitalist
"That is kind of what I hear. i would like to hear an articulated and consistent vision for a healthy capitalism."
I think the Nordics are doing a pretty good job on that. Have always felt some mix and
match is the best way to fly, and the Nordic people seem to be doing that pretty well.
By Eric Levitz
@EricLevitz
Looking for a Swede deal? Photo: Ramberg/Getty Images/iStockphoto
A specter is haunting the American right — the specter of social democracy. The Democratic Party’s top presidential prospects appear to have all forgotten the words “George McGovern,” and remembered American liberals’ long-forsaken ambitions to establish nationalized health insurance, a job guarantee, universal child care, and worker representation on corporate boards. Meanwhile, blue America’s rank-and-file voters are turning red: For the first time in modern history, Democrats approve of “socialism” more than they do “capitalism.” A self-avowed socialist has become one of the most popular politicians in America, while another just knocked off a high-ranking House Democrat. A sizable portion of the American public wants what the Scandinavians are having.
And conservatives are having a hard time figuring out why they shouldn’t
[...]
For a while, Republicans could ignore these harrowing indications that there was, in fact, “an alternative.” But the revival of a movement for “democratic socialism” in the U.S. — led by a popular senator who cites the Nordics as his North Star — has forced the right’s thought leaders to explain why, precisely, Americans can’t have nice (Danish) things.
Thus far, the right has come up with two distinct — and utterly contradictory — answers.
Response No. 1: Nordic economic policies are a totalitarian nightmare.
[That's the YIKES! COLLECTIVISM!! YIKES!!! SOCIALISM!!!! version.]
[...]
Option No. 2: Nordic economic policies are actually capitalist.
Some conservatives are willing to acknowledge the existence of Scandinavia. In fact, the right’s most agile thinkers are even willing to concede the Nordic model’s success — they just insist on (bizarrely) claiming that success as a vindication of their ideology.
The libertarian Cato Institute tweeted out its version of this argument Tuesday evening.
[...]
(Denmark is also home to many state-owned enterprises, albeit fewer than some of its neighbors.)
So: The economic success of the Nordic countries is actually a testament to the vitality of free-market capitalism — because free-market capitalism is (apparently) totally compatible with giant welfare states, nearly universal private-sector unionization, and state-owned oil, telecoms, and financial services companies.
All this leaves us with two possible conclusions. Either the right’s argument against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s brand of “democratic socialism” (which presently involves far less state ownership and worker control than Nordic social democracy) is a purely semantic one — or else, the collectivists have already taken the Cato Institute captive.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/08/democratic-socialism-nordic-model-conservatives-social-democracy-scandinavia.html
That one's the longest of these by far. Now consider
Why Nordic “Socialism” Won’t Work In The U.S.
To further viewpoint diversity, we present a conservative guest columnist…
by Ben Shapiro
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is not actually by Ben Shapiro. Though it might as well be ..
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/08/nordic-socialism-context-key-policies-will-not-work-in-the-us/
I've included that first link as it should be read - it's short.
Lastly, to the importance of facts in considering the relative worth of differing opinions.
Why We Take “Sides”
You have to present the truth as you see it, and the facts lead us to leftism…
by Nathan J. Robinson
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/09/why-we-take-sides
I think the facts suggest the biggest problem in America is on the right. The unprecedented obstructionism
practiced by the GOP since Obama's inauguration day surely stands pretty clearly in testament to that.
"That is kind of what I hear. i would like to hear an articulated and consistent vision for a healthy capitalism."
I think the Nordics are doing a pretty good job on that. Have always felt some mix and
match is the best way to fly, and the Nordic people seem to be doing that pretty well.
By Eric Levitz
@EricLevitz
Looking for a Swede deal? Photo: Ramberg/Getty Images/iStockphoto
A specter is haunting the American right — the specter of social democracy. The Democratic Party’s top presidential prospects appear to have all forgotten the words “George McGovern,” and remembered American liberals’ long-forsaken ambitions to establish nationalized health insurance, a job guarantee, universal child care, and worker representation on corporate boards. Meanwhile, blue America’s rank-and-file voters are turning red: For the first time in modern history, Democrats approve of “socialism” more than they do “capitalism.” A self-avowed socialist has become one of the most popular politicians in America, while another just knocked off a high-ranking House Democrat. A sizable portion of the American public wants what the Scandinavians are having.
And conservatives are having a hard time figuring out why they shouldn’t
[...]
For a while, Republicans could ignore these harrowing indications that there was, in fact, “an alternative.” But the revival of a movement for “democratic socialism” in the U.S. — led by a popular senator who cites the Nordics as his North Star — has forced the right’s thought leaders to explain why, precisely, Americans can’t have nice (Danish) things.
Thus far, the right has come up with two distinct — and utterly contradictory — answers.
Response No. 1: Nordic economic policies are a totalitarian nightmare.
[That's the YIKES! COLLECTIVISM!! YIKES!!! SOCIALISM!!!! version.]
[...]
Option No. 2: Nordic economic policies are actually capitalist.
Some conservatives are willing to acknowledge the existence of Scandinavia. In fact, the right’s most agile thinkers are even willing to concede the Nordic model’s success — they just insist on (bizarrely) claiming that success as a vindication of their ideology.
The libertarian Cato Institute tweeted out its version of this argument Tuesday evening.
[...]
(Denmark is also home to many state-owned enterprises, albeit fewer than some of its neighbors.)
So: The economic success of the Nordic countries is actually a testament to the vitality of free-market capitalism — because free-market capitalism is (apparently) totally compatible with giant welfare states, nearly universal private-sector unionization, and state-owned oil, telecoms, and financial services companies.
All this leaves us with two possible conclusions. Either the right’s argument against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s brand of “democratic socialism” (which presently involves far less state ownership and worker control than Nordic social democracy) is a purely semantic one — or else, the collectivists have already taken the Cato Institute captive.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/08/democratic-socialism-nordic-model-conservatives-social-democracy-scandinavia.html
That one's the longest of these by far. Now consider
Why Nordic “Socialism” Won’t Work In The U.S.
To further viewpoint diversity, we present a conservative guest columnist…
by Ben Shapiro
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is not actually by Ben Shapiro. Though it might as well be ..
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/08/nordic-socialism-context-key-policies-will-not-work-in-the-us/
I've included that first link as it should be read - it's short.
Lastly, to the importance of facts in considering the relative worth of differing opinions.
Why We Take “Sides”
You have to present the truth as you see it, and the facts lead us to leftism…
by Nathan J. Robinson
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/09/why-we-take-sides
I think the facts suggest the biggest problem in America is on the right. The unprecedented obstructionism
practiced by the GOP since Obama's inauguration day surely stands pretty clearly in testament to that.
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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