The Atlantic's recent article "Bernie is Not a Socialist and America is Not Capitalist" is an excellent read, especially for econ-illiterate people like me. Most educational. I plan to reread this article a few more times to get some of the major concepts down. One of the more interesting points made is that you can't sloppily equate "democratic socialist" with "social democrat." The article also notes a point I've considered obvious for a long time: America isn't the paragon of capitalism.
Here and there in the world, there are regions that are far more capitalistic than the overall US system is. Namdaemun Market is my go-to example of this: it's capitalism in an almost raw state: the stalls jostling for position, the crowds of consumers, the criers atop their carts, shouting out products and prices, the haggling... I'm sure there are municipal-government regulations that define the borders and basic strictures of Namdaemun Market, but the market's heart is far purer than the price-tagged not-so-free market we have in the US.
Good reading for all and sundry.
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Excellent article. Learned quite a bit from it.
ReplyDeleteThe "democratic socialist" vs "social democrat" makes me think of the old Reese's Peanut Butter Cups commercials, wherein they debate "Hey, you put your peanut butter in my chocolate! No! You put your chocolate in my peanut butter!"
ReplyDeleteMarking time here until next month when I can finally vote in the NY primary.