Moved from D1 forum

[kandrathe]

Too bad for the people who live in the food deserts.

Yeah, well I prefer to look at these things from a global, not a personal perspective. That is my whole point. Who are we to say a system works, or 'is the best' if we have a few billion people below the poverty line and not much less having trouble finding something to eat?

So, you have a choice then. And, remember that any system of normal individuals over time will become corrupted to favor the "powerful" of the moment. Are you in favor of a non-competitive system that restricts freedom, and imposes order such that everyone gets an equal share? Or, are you in favor of a competitive system that depends upon freedom, and appeals to everyone to give away what they can spare to those who have less.

In the first case you need to rely on the incorruptibility of those wielding the power, and in the second you need to rely on the hearts of the masses being soft enough to give aid where it is needed. The first tends to impose order through the direct power of authoritarianism, while the second moderates the power through a legal framework, and representative democracy. Wherever communistic central planning has been attempted, it has been done through totalitarian means. So far, no democracy has chosen communism. Even in socialistic democracy, what begins with idealism strays into corruption pretty quickly.

As Deebye so wisely pointed out early into the debate, there is the middle road. Allow maximum freedom through Capitalism and Democracy, but establish protections for services or the "frail" in our society such that the "State" broadly taxes the populace to provide (where needed) basic needs, such as food, housing, clothing, education, and even a maintenance level of health care. But, again, it is easily corrupted by representatives tweaking the formulas. You end up with a system where not enough people contribute enough tax to pay for too many people consuming too many benefits. Important questions are "Who should be taxed and at what rate?" And, "Who should qualify for what services, and for how long?" Just consider education. It shows how the whole system goes off track quickly. How can we expect to give away a "world class" education to every child through a State bureaucracy? The best we can expect is that it be adequate. And, the same applies toward the other things the State hands out. Everyone wants(expects) a steak, but through a central bureaucracy we can guarantee that everyone gets warm oatmeal.

You know where I stand. I don't want central planners with too much power, and I fear in the US we've strayed too far in allowing our federal commissars control over our economy. No, I don't trust Tim Geitner, or our central banking system. We are probably at a point where we need to peg the value of a dollar to commodity index.