From: ae547@yfn.ysu.edu (Ronda Hauben)
Subject: Re: Vote for 3rd party/no-party candidates!!!
Reply-To: ae547@yfn.ysu.edu (Ronda Hauben)
Organization: St. Elizabeth Hospital, Youngstown, OH
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 21:03:18 GMT


In a previous article, cmh004@cck.coventry.ac.uk (Dave) says:

>In article <Qeo2Z8e00awRAHekYe@andrew.cmu.edu> ts2a+@andrew.cmu.edu (Thomas Omar Smith) writes:
>>> >  I [may] not agree with a word you say, 
>>> >  but I will defend to the death your    
>>> >  right to say it.                       
>>> >                     - Voltaire         
>>> Voltaire's Program is the key to an economic program that will help
>>> deal with the problems.
>>> So its good to see Voltaire's Quote again - it is the path to an
>>> economic program that will deal with the real problems.
>
>>Voltaire's quote has almost nothing to do with Economics.  but I'll
>>agree it is a great quote.
>
>What has Voltaire quote (as above) got to do with economics? It certainly
>has somthing to do with politics, but economics?
>
Why do you say it has to do with poltiics, but not economics?

I originally noted that the quote was the policy of the Searchlight,
when it was the uncensored local newspaper of the Flint UAW pioneers.

What is economics? Let me make an effort toward a definition,
that it is the theory for a plan or policy guiding the production
and reproduction of the goods and necessities of life.

That in The Searchlight in the 1940's in Flint, UAW members were able to
outline their theory for why higher wages for workers, and the 
Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)added to their pay would result in 
a healthy economy. But for them to be able to put forward this
program, they had to fight against the International Union Leadership
then under the presidency of Walter Reuther who put forward a
different plan and tried to keep workers from presenting and discussing
their plan. So the defense of the right to speak was crucial for
workers in Flint to have the right to put forward any economic
theory. Eventually their theory won out in the debate with the
International (though they have not been given credit for the advance)
and U.S. industry did go forward, and conditions of workers were
improved with the 1948 UAW-GM contract which set a pattern for basic
industry in the U.S. that held for more than 30 years.

But the right for workers to speak was crucial for them to be able
to put forward economic theory - so they were infact tied together.

 
>>It's hard to believe in this day and age that there are still people who
>>honestly believe that socializing America will add prosperity.  Almost
>>no nation that has undertaken a socialist agenda has benefitted from it.
>> Even the Chinese are abandoning socialist economics in favor of
>>capitalism.  Socialism doesn't work, and is counter-intuitive to all
>>human psychology.
>
>Question What is socialism?
>
>An example of successful socialism could be the British Steel Industry
>between 1967 and 1987. For even though a large number of workers lost
>their jobs only the public sector was able to provide it with enough money
>in order to replace the old blast furnaces. British Steel has now been 
>returned to the private sector.
>
>I presume most people would like the state to provide for a police service
>and provide for the countries defence. The problem is there are things called
>public goods which either have to be provided by the public sector - which
>very loosley is socialism or the public goods would not be provided at all.

The above examples are helpful.
This corporate ideology in the U.S. calling any legitimate public function
of government "socialism" is a real misuse of the word.

In fact the very use of a common money it would seem would be called socialism
by those who seem to call all public functions "socialism"

Strange, however they don't talk about how having an army in a country
is "socialism". The use of public funds to serve the public is thus
attacked as  "socialism" and the use of public funds to serve private 
large corporations is called "supporting the private sector."


>-- 
>Dave                                                       cmh004@cck.cov.ac.uk
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Call this place what you like - Coventry University, Coventry Polytechnic or
>Lanchester Polytechnic it is all the same and is called school.
>

Ronda
-- 
Ronda Hauben                    email address:ae547@yfn.ysu.edu
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P.O. Box 4344                   rhauben@heartland.bradley.edu
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