Thanks, Louis. This article is typical Madrick: vivid presentation of evidence for a radical conclusion, then retreat to a liberal version of capitalism.
For example, "Both government research and entrepreneurial capital are necessary conditions for the advance of commercial innovation." No. A socialist government could easily set broad prerequisites for entrants who want to commercialize an area of research, select some of them by lottery, and finance them through a state bank. Just like venture capital projects, many would fail, and the individuals move on. The successful businesses would be firms in a socialist economy. The individuals would get glory, a comfortable life, and a prominent place in the economy -- but there is no need for a fleck of capitalist profit and no need to let types like Bill Gates amass $50 billion, proceeding to finance the destruction of public education across the United States. Just because the post-Stalin Soviet Union was exhausted by the sacrifices of World War Two and was led to failure by a clown like Khrushchev and a bureaucrat like Brezhnev, Madrick's implicit axiom that socialism cannot be dynamic is false. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
