There has been a break from blog posts recently
due to teaching responsibilities and travel,
but there has been an interesting Facebook
discussion on the meaning of “socialism.”
There is confusion about what this word
should mean. Regardless of what you think
about Scandinavian economies or about
the former Soviet Union, it should be
clear that these are very different
economic systems and it is not very
helpful to use the same term for
both of them. There would be advantages
and disadvantages if the U.S adopted
policies similar to those in Sweden
or Norway, but it is hard to see
why advocates of those policies would
choose to use the same term (socialism)
that applies to the brutal inefficient
totalitarian state that was the
former Soviet Union.
There has sometimes
been an unfortunate tendency in the U.S.
for opponents of a particular government
policy to label it “socialist” and then
think that because they oppose socialism
that settles the issue. Although
labels are helpful if they are clear,
a label is not a substitute for clear
thinking. Whether you are inclined
to support or oppose “socialism” it is
important that policy questions be
evaluated with careful analysis and
not simplistic labels.
……………..
–Douglas Downing
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https://www.facebook.com/DouglasADowningSPU/?ref=profile
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