jasongpeirce
11-03-2015, 08:29 AM
#FeelTheBern with Mises and Jim Morrison
“When a candidate for public office faces the voters he does not face men of sense; he faces a mob of men whose chief distinguishing mark is the fact that they are quite incapable of weighing ideas, or even of comprehending any save the most elemental — men whose whole thinking is done in terms of emotion, and whose dominant emotion is dread of what they cannot understand.” — H.L. Mencken
November 2, 2015—As much of the media has been reporting, Bernie Sanders is promising a major speech on “democratic socialism.” In part, Bernie’s purpose is to educate the American people on the meaning of the term, and distinguish it from “socialism” in order that Americans feel less “nervous” about it (as Bernie recently put it).
Bernie’s supporters argue that Bernie doesn’t necessarily desire government ownership and control over the nation’s means of production and distribution of goods — a common, historical feature of “socialism” — but rather favors more “democratic socialist” interventions such as single-payer healthcare, “free” college, massive federal jobs programs, and guaranteed family leave for American workers.
But really, what’s the difference between “socialism” and “democratic socialism,” when 1) both necessarily require coercion (with the threat of fines and imprisonment for non-compliance); and 2) when both necessarily require coercive intervention into markets, which destroys prices and economic calculation. In this, both “socialism” and “democratic socialism” are anti-freedom and unsustainable.
And this is the problem with Bernie’s “democratic socialism” – in short, the effects are no different than “socialism.” The greater point is that Bernie would add more socialism to the socialism we already have in the U.S., which is the problem in the first place. We might do well to remember what Ludwig von Mises might thunder to all of the candidates from both parties currently running for president (and why): “You’re all a bunch of socialists!”
(In the video clip below: Milton Friedman on Mises’ “You’re all a bunch of socialists!”)
READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE: http://www.voicesofliberty.com/article/feelthebern-mises-jim-morrison/
“When a candidate for public office faces the voters he does not face men of sense; he faces a mob of men whose chief distinguishing mark is the fact that they are quite incapable of weighing ideas, or even of comprehending any save the most elemental — men whose whole thinking is done in terms of emotion, and whose dominant emotion is dread of what they cannot understand.” — H.L. Mencken
November 2, 2015—As much of the media has been reporting, Bernie Sanders is promising a major speech on “democratic socialism.” In part, Bernie’s purpose is to educate the American people on the meaning of the term, and distinguish it from “socialism” in order that Americans feel less “nervous” about it (as Bernie recently put it).
Bernie’s supporters argue that Bernie doesn’t necessarily desire government ownership and control over the nation’s means of production and distribution of goods — a common, historical feature of “socialism” — but rather favors more “democratic socialist” interventions such as single-payer healthcare, “free” college, massive federal jobs programs, and guaranteed family leave for American workers.
But really, what’s the difference between “socialism” and “democratic socialism,” when 1) both necessarily require coercion (with the threat of fines and imprisonment for non-compliance); and 2) when both necessarily require coercive intervention into markets, which destroys prices and economic calculation. In this, both “socialism” and “democratic socialism” are anti-freedom and unsustainable.
And this is the problem with Bernie’s “democratic socialism” – in short, the effects are no different than “socialism.” The greater point is that Bernie would add more socialism to the socialism we already have in the U.S., which is the problem in the first place. We might do well to remember what Ludwig von Mises might thunder to all of the candidates from both parties currently running for president (and why): “You’re all a bunch of socialists!”
(In the video clip below: Milton Friedman on Mises’ “You’re all a bunch of socialists!”)
READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE: http://www.voicesofliberty.com/article/feelthebern-mises-jim-morrison/