Socialism Versus Capitalism

It's been a long time coming. I bet all 3 or 4 of you who read my posts regularly were waiting for this one big article with the title I chose today ;-) But I'm going to have to disappoint; I'm not going to say very much on this subject, but instead let two people speak who both know more than I'll ever be able to forget about this popular topic.

Dr. Richard D. Wolff and Gene Epstein slug it out in a debate with the proposition: "Socialism is preferable to capitalism as an economic system that promotes freedom, equality, and prosperity." This debate was posted to YouTube on November 14, just 3 days ago. Richard D. Wolff, a Marxist economist at the University of Massachusetts will be arguing in favor of the proposition, with libertarian economics editor Gene Epstein taking the opposite position. I'll say in advance: the socialist position lost the debate; in this type of debate the audience votes before and after hearing the speakers, and the "pro"-camp dropped half a percent afterwards, and it already started with only 25 percent of the vote in favor of the proposition. But that's part of the reason I want to share this with you all: I believe this is indicative of what Richard Wolff explains at the very beginning of the debate, which is that socialism is still recovering from being demonized since the end of the Second World War.

The other reason why I would like you all to listen to this debate, which lasts an hour and a half and includes some good audience Q&A, is that there's much said here that I have missed completely in the many posts I've already written about the difference between these ideologies and about the need for capitalism to end, as it will sooner or later. The most important thing this debate reminded me of, is the difference there has to be made between capitalism, which is a specific mode of production with the capitalist- and worker classes, and markets, which exist in any type of economy, be it capitalism, feudalism, mercantilism or slavery. I've been guilty of omitting this crucial difference in many of my previous posts. Also, it's refreshing for me to hear yet another take on the libertarian school of thought as it reminded me of how flawed that ideology really is; yes, I say that even if the libertarian wins this debate convincingly. But that's just me :-) So, please listen to these wise gentlemen and make up your own mind. We, dear reader, are lucky: we do not have to choose which side we want to support, but just take in the information offered by these intellectuals who are both very knowledgeable about economics and its history. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did ;-)

Thanks so much for visiting my blog and reading my posts dear reader, I appreciate that a lot :-) If you like my content, please consider leaving a comment, upvote or resteem. I'll be back here tomorrow and sincerely hope you'll join me. Until then, keep steeming!