Why Socialism Fails.


In a capitalist economy, incentives are of the utmost importance. Market prices, the profit-and-loss system of accounting, and private property rights provide an efficient, interrelated system of incentives to guide and direct economic behavior. Capitalism is based on the theory that incentives matter!

Under socialism, incentives either play a minimal role or are ignored totally. A centrally planned economy without market prices or profits, where property is owned by the state, is a system without an effective incentive mechanism to direct economic activity. By failing to emphasize incentives, socialism is a theory inconsistent with human nature and is therefore doomed to fail. Socialism is based on the theory that incentives don’t matter!

While you called me a "socialist", I never argued for Socialism, I argued neither pure Socialism nor pure Capitalism works, therefore a hybrid system is required.

Pure Capitalism leads to monopolies and monarchies, Buffet's, Koch's, Gates', Adelson's, Walton's, etc., power and wealth pooled at the top with very little "trickling down" to the rest of the population. Further, with the existence of these uber-wealthy individuals and multi-national corporations, there is no such thing as a "free market". It's a myth as grand as Santa Claus.

Want to know who the biggest beneficiaries of welfare are in this country? The wealthy. When the biggest private employer in the nation (Walmart, by far) pays poverty wages to full time employees while earning billions in profit per year, who do you think makes up the difference so those people can actually eat and survive, let alone be good American consumers? We do. Same with McDonald's, Burger King, etc.

The 6 Walton heirs are worth as much as the bottom 30% of Americans. That's approximately 100 million people.

And regardless of who or what caused the Great Recession, banks received tens of billions of our dollars because of bad business practices which they used to buy other, more financially troubled institutions, and they are doing better than ever while America still suffers from unemployment and stagnant middle class wages. In fact, banks are doing so good they gave themselves approximately $90 billion in bonuses for a job well done in 2013 while not one banker has been arrested. It's a joke.

Even after Jamie Dimon loses another $6.2 billion dollars, he's not in (frank)ing jail?

Exxon, the largest corporation in the world who was setting quarterly profit record after quarterly profit record (billions every 3 months or so) doesn't pay any taxes. Are you (frank)ing kidding me? Not only do they not pay taxes, they get subsidies from the government. And they get to drill on public land, pollute the air and water while having their own special section in the tax code.

Sure sounds like a "free market" to me.

So I'll tell you what, I don't know what the answer is, but I know for a fact what we've got going on right now ain't working for anybody but the politicians and their rich owners.

- MBFlyerfan

Most entertaining 2 minutes of my life.

While you called me a "socialist", I never argued for Socialism, I argued neither pure Socialism nor pure Capitalism works, therefore a hybrid system is required.

Pure Capitalism leads to monopolies and monarchies, Buffet's, Koch's, Gates', Adelson's, Walton's, etc., power and wealth pooled at the top with very little "trickling down" to the rest of the population. Further, with the existence of these uber-wealthy individuals and multi-national corporations, there is no such thing as a "free market". It's a myth as grand as Santa Claus.

Want to know who the biggest beneficiaries of welfare are in this country? The wealthy. When the biggest private employer in the nation (Walmart, by far) pays poverty wages to full time employees while earning billions in profit per year, who do you think makes up the difference so those people can actually eat and survive, let alone be good American consumers? We do. Same with McDonald's, Burger King, etc.

The 6 Walton heirs are worth as much as the bottom 30% of Americans. That's approximately 100 million people.

And regardless of who or what caused the Great Recession, banks received tens of billions of our dollars because of bad business practices which they used to buy other, more financially troubled institutions, and they are doing better than ever while America still suffers from unemployment and stagnant middle class wages. In fact, banks are doing so good they gave themselves approximately $90 billion in bonuses for a job well done in 2013 while not one banker has been arrested. It's a joke.

Even after Jamie Dimon loses another $6.2 billion dollars, he's not in (frank)ing jail?

Exxon, the largest corporation in the world who was setting quarterly profit record after quarterly profit record (billions every 3 months or so) doesn't pay any taxes. Are you (frank)ing kidding me? Not only do they not pay taxes, they get subsidies from the government. And they get to drill on public land, pollute the air and water while having their own special section in the tax code.

Sure sounds like a "free market" to me.

So I'll tell you what, I don't know what the answer is, but I know for a fact what we've got going on right now ain't working for anybody but the politicians and their rich owners.
- wolfhounds

Least entertaining 2 minutes of myh life.