Socialism vs Capitalism

[Gustaf]

Socialism, in its more radical forms, is much worse than capitalism. Capitalism actually works.

[Gustaf]

Socialism, in its more radical forms, is much worse than capitalism. Capitalism actually works.

Depends what Socialism means and what Capitalism means.
Mid 19th Century Capitalism was horrific... five year olds hauled coal trucks down the pits... if they were lucky... the unlucky ones had to work in the mills...

Yes it does. My point is that since capitalism is self-regulating, in one sense or another it always works. That might mean horrible conditions for the poor, so I'm not saying that it's good. Socialism on the other hand means manipulting the economic system, thus it can easily not work at all, which is worse.

Look at pre-NEP Soviet Union for instance.

[Gustaf]

Socialism, in its more radical forms, is much worse than capitalism. Capitalism actually works.

Depends what Socialism means and what Capitalism means.
Mid 19th Century Capitalism was horrific... five year olds hauled coal trucks down the pits... if they were lucky... the unlucky ones had to work in the mills...

Yes it does. My point is that since capitalism is self-regulating, in one sense or another it always works. That might mean horrible conditions for the poor, so I'm not saying that it's good. Socialism on the other hand means manipulting the economic system, thus it can easily not work at all, which is worse.

Look at pre-NEP Soviet Union for instance.

19th and early 20th Century capitalism was not self regulating.
Trust me on this.

I didn't mean it in the sense that they regulated poor working conditinos and stuff. Only that it will WORK.

[Gustaf]

I tend to agree with some of that. However you can't group Europe together as one mass. Germany is extremely heavily regulated, which explains it's high unemployment rate. Italy and UK are much less so, although regulation in the UK has increased considerably since 1997. Some of that regulation is good, most bad.

Same here. Continental Europe, such as France and Germany, is generally very regulated and bureacratic (that's why they're doing so badly). Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon countries are usually less so. Finland and Sweden both have among the highest predicted future growth rates in the world.