Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Harry Magdoff on market socialism

[Jim Devine]

Justin wrote:
>But the argument is general, and it is confirmed by all kinds of planning 
>experiences, capitalist (think of the Pentagon!), monopologtsic, as well 
>as state socialist.

actually, the Pentagon does a very good job at planning, to serve the 
military and the arms manufacturers. We may think of $500 toilet seats as 
"waste," but they aren't waste from the perspective of the folks who run 
the Pentagon. Rather, they are PR embarrassments, requiring better "spin."

And the Pentagon is very efficient at waging war, isn't it? In the last 
war, if I remember correctly, no US citizens died. That's an infinite "kill 
ratio," Robert MacNamara's wet dream! (The kill ratio would be an obvious 
measure of efficiency from a military perspective.)

Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] &  http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine