Markets and Marxists – UPDATED

Passed along to my by one of my sons. The thoughts are not original, but the presentation itself is remarkably clever and it does draw you in. Do I endorse it? I believe in free markets. But, perhaps because of my formation, I do understand that neither capitalism or socialism are flawless vehicles; both (whether “intentionally” or not) leave some people on the sidelines. Capitalism does often foment greed and can be de-humanizing in terms of wage-exploitation (among other things) while socialism can be a paradoxical path to dehumanizing the very people it professes to serve, through over-regulation.

Still, a very interesting presentation. Will be interested in the comments. As I told my son, I can see where the smart, almost charming visuals, accompanied by the pleasant delivery, could be downright seductive, for some. I can’t wait to read your comments.

UPDATE:

Reader DS emailed:

Saw the Marx cartoon (never fail to amaze me people take seriously a man who never left the British Museum Library to engage in the world) Anyway, it’s too long to post in response and I don’t have reprint permission, but Richard Russell who writes The Dow Theory Letter . . .[made] remarks from a few days ago [that are applicable here]:

What’s next? I think Washington will continue trying to spend us out of recession. This did not work in the past, and it’s not going to work now. The primary bear market will not allow it to work. But what if the Administration gives up and allows the forces of deflation and correction to express themselves?

Here’s where my crystal ball gets very cloudy. I don’t see Washington accepting another long, drawn-out recession or another Great Depression. The temptation will be too strong to try to print us out of the recession or to create enough government-sponsored jobs to drag us out of the recession. That’s what I see happening.

It IS too long to excerpt, but you can sign up to read his letters for a fee. Hey…it’s capitalism. Man’s gotta make a living! :-)

But that brings another thought to mind. How many will pay to go read Richard Russell’s thoughts, and how many are annoyed (at least) that they can’t just click a button and read his thoughts for free? Are free-content media like blogs and websites contributing, in their own way, to an entitlement mindset? We are becoming so used to simply having instant-and-free access to this stuff, are we stopping to think “what is it worth to me” to read it? I wonder what the market is for subscription opinion vs free opinion? I for one detest internet pop-up ads that prevent me from immediately accessing something I want to read or view for as long as it takes me to close the box or sit through a commercial. But if people were willing to simply support a blog, the ads wouldn’t be necessary, right? And if admen were not necessary, how better off might society be?

Just questions I am throwing out there for the sake of it.

UPDATE II:
From Bookworm:

My father, who was raised a Communist before dying a Reagan Democrat, kept believing to the day he died that Communism could somehow work, if it was just done right. The problem, in his Communism steeped brain, was that the Russians, and the Chinese, and the Cubans, and the North Koreans just weren’t doing it right. Back in those days, since I was young, and hadn’t refined my thoughts, I argued with him simply by reiterating that because Communism hadn’t yet been done right, no matter the time or place tried, that alone was a pretty good indication that it couldn’t be done right.

You’ll want to read the whole thing. Bookworm says “those arguments are long gone,” but I heard them just a few weeks ago, at a party.

Related:
Spending 2 Billion Dollars to create 5,000 jobs. They used to call that fraud, or something.
Reason TV: Why Finance Reform Won’t Work