Socialism

A friend of mine with very different political views pointed out this video advocating socialism as a point on which we could agree.  I believe that we should adopt a purer form of capitalism.  He thinks that my views are against the working man.  On the other hand he views socialism as being unpatriotic.  I guess he would be considered part of the brainwashed, unthinking masses according to the author of the video.

Ironically, since my views would seem to be an even more radical departure from those expressed by the video, his reaction was much more hostile than my own.  My approach was to look at the video as an educational opportunity.  Watching something like this can tell you what socialists think, which is valuable information regardless of whether you agree with them.  His was a much more visceral antipathy towards the video and its creator.

First the video gives a definition of socialism from a socialist perspective.  It is better to take the time to look into this rather than simply constructing a straw man and calling it socialism to make your point.  Socialism is defined as democratic ownership and control over the means of production and distribution.  Prior to watching the video I had been inclined to see it as state ownership and control over the means of production.

Of course, it would be impossible to implement socialism if we take the existing political institutions in our society as being democratic.  Here the video does not disappoint.  Democracy means rule by the people.  Under the recommended form of government, people are to be selected for government positions by lot.  Our system of government is said to be plutocratic, since political campaigns are financed by the well to do.

In practice I doubt whether this would bring about the desired improvement.  Such a government would be completely unaccountable to the people.  There would be no way that the people could punish those who held office since they would likely leave office the next time the lottery was held to select their replacements.  Leaders selected in this manner would be even more prone to accept bribes than those who currently serve.

This is an important point since in order for socialism of the type advocated to be possible, democracy of this type must be as well.  Otherwise we will simply be implementing non-democratic state capitalism, or if we retain the current system of government, social democracy.  I wonder if any existing socialist organizations are governed in the way that the author recommended.

Unlike the author, I believe that the reason for socialism's apparent failure is that state ownership of the means of production doesn't work regardless of the political institutions.  Private ownership of the means of production results in a set of incentives which will result in greater production than any other system.  This will insure that socialism will not be inevitable since leaders who are accountable to the public will not implement it.  The attempt to implement such a system will result in economic failure which will in turn result in their removal from office.