We’re hearing it already -- Republicans plan to make the 2020 election a “referendum on socialism.”
This obsession with socialism is ridiculous and misleading -- harmful in that it diverts attention from the real issue, the role of government under capitalism.
The real problem is that capitalism is not working for all people. The challenge is to make capitalism work for all people.
Capitalism vs. Socialism is a false choice.
On one extreme, there is pure capitalism -- all resources privately owned, all goods and services, including education, privately produced via the profit motive, and all decisions made through the private sector. We do not have pure capitalism, and we wouldn’t want it if we had it.
On the other extreme, there is pure socialism -- all resources publicly owned, and all economic decisions made by the public sector -- a planned economy. That doesn’t work either.
The objective is to make capitalism work.
Making capitalism work for all citizens is a matter of public policy. This involves government.
For example, we need government to provide goods and services that are not produced in sufficient amount by the private sector—such as education and infrastructure—and to make sure that all people have access to medical care.
We need government to provide and enforce regulations to provide for health, safety, and environmental protection, and much else. Such regulation should not be denigrated as “socialism.”
We must resist the false choice of capitalism vs. socialism. The legitimate debate is about the role of government under capitalism, to make it work.
There is plenty of room for legitimate debate on this matter.
Let us not allow politicians and the media to detract us with the false choice of “capitalism vs. socialism.” The challenge is to make capitalism work for all people.
I’m John Waelti, and that’s my perspective.
