From: David Buchanan (DBuchanan@ClassicalRadio.org)
Date: Sun Mar 09 2003 - 17:19:10 GMT
Steve asked:
DMB, would I be correct to interpret your definition of socialism as
"intellectually guided society"? I wonder if you and Platt mean the same
thing when you use the term "socialism." To what extent should the
government regulate economics?
DMB says:
Right. Pirsig's definition of Communism and Socialism, "programs for the
intellectual control over society", is precisely what changed my mind. To my
parents, friends and the devout conservative political science teacher I had
in college, Communism and Socialism were dirty words. To them, these words
mean little more than "tyranny". But thanks to Pirsig and others I now
understand that these ideologies were and are intended to address the moral
objections to capitalism, namely that it is exploitive and sometimes even
cruel. And this moral objection determines the extent to which the economy
should be regulated. Rights and freedoms have to trump money. Do I think the
government should take control of key industries or anything like that?
Absolutely not. Nobody is smart enough to do such a thing well. To cite
concrete examples, I think the New Deal was a good deal. Canada, France and
the Netherlands have it about right.
Do Platt and I have different ideas about what constitutes socialism.
Clearly. I think we even have different idea about conservatism.
Platt said:
The MOQ hasn't changed my conservative political views in the least.
Rather, it has confirmed the indispensable values of political liberty and
individual freedom which allow for responses to DQ to bear fruit.
Oxford Companion defines liberalism:
"Liberalism is distinguished by the importance it attaches to the civil and
political rights of individuals. Liberals demand a substantial realm of
personal freedom - including freedom of conscience, speech, association,
occupation and more recently, sexuality - which the state should not intrude
upon, except to protect others from harm."
And defines the New Right:
Vague label for a cluster of political doctrines emerging from conservatism
and contrasting with it in their demand for political change. New Right
thinkeres believe that political decline can be arrested only by encouraging
individual initiatives and competition. This requires a reduction in the
welfare provision and redistributive taxation which characterizedsocialism.
The resulting emphasis on the minimal state distinguishes the New Right form
Fascism and pushes some toward libertarianism. however, the New Right
embraces nationalism, sometimes based, like its individualism, on a form of
social Darwinism.
I think the latter pretty well describes today's Republican party and
Platt's views.
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