CDR: Re: Fwd: Re: anarchism = socialism

[Tim May]

At 1:27 PM -0500 10/5/00, Sean Roach wrote:
>
>
>That second quote about sacrificing for the herd was closer to the 
>mark.  Substitute "could" for "should", "stupid" for "moral", and 
>"popular" for "right".
>
>And you have to admit, if tomorrow I gave all my worldly goods to 
>the community at large, they would hail me a "good man" for at least 
>the evening...while they snickered behind my back.

The issue is not what others claim is moral, the issue is that some 
(you, in my view, based on your 'beautiful sentiment" comment) think 
it _is_ moral.

My point was to disabuse you of the notion that socialism is somehow 
"beautiful, but impractical."

There are many reasons--economic, psychological, cultural--why 
socialism is deeply flawed and not at all "beautiful."

Look, we've discussed this many times over the years with people who 
show up here and repeat the blither about how socialism is a 
wonderful idea if only it can be made to work. It just ain't so. Read 
the archives for past arguments. Review the early history of the 
Jamestown Colony and what "to each according to his needs" did to 
them, practically and psychologically. Think deeply about the 
game-theoretic implications of having socialized reward systems.


--Tim May
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