Friday, June 11, 2004

Capitalism

Chomsky answers a question about whether capitalism is justified on the basis of rising living standards. The audio is taken from a lecture titled Madisonian Democracy.

5 comments:

Sheryl said...

Hi Ryan,

I was surprised that Chomsky didn't take the interviewer to task about this supposed "rising standard of living in America." Moyers just had a brilliant interview with Elizabeth Warren of Harvard University this year about her new book "The Two Income Trap: Why Middle Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke." It's online at http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/warren.html (Do watch it if you haven't already; I think you would enjoy it considering what I have read i your blog.)

Although I agree with the notion that our system is screwed up, I think Chomsky should be careful about romanticizing the alternatives.

Some of my favorite conservatives friends are ones who were raised in some of these "communist" countries, and the reason that they are so capitalist now is that they have lived through some rough times.

My brother just came back from visiting Russia. Whereas he says that wealth is indeed far more polarized now than before, he also says that he could travel anywhere in the country, whereas it would have been completely impossible in the Soviet Union.

My friend from China Xiaoqin told me that before the market reforms in that country, people were not allowed to move. You had to live the same place your entire life. My brother's wife lived in China for some time, and she says that they pay for your housing there, so maybe that has something to do with it. But it just shows that some things come at a cost.

My friend from Cuba says that people here exaggerate the negatives about Castro, and I have indeed heard that a lot of that is because the cubans in America were the aristocracy that kicked out. But I also can recall trying to listen to shortwave radio as a child and not being able to hear certain broadcasts because the "russian woodpecker" was jamming the signals from Cuba.

So I think it's a lot more complicated than Chomsky is making it out to be.

Certainly America has always been a bit nutty about communism, but I think the ideal versions of socialism are probably closer to what you see in Scadanavia than Russia or Cuba. And as much as I disliked New Zealand, it has one of the better ratings with Transparency International in terms of clean government ratings.

6/13/2004 02:06:00 AM
J.R. Boyd said...

Sheryl,

You're absolutely right when you suggest we shouldn't romanticize any system of domination, whether it's fascism, communism, patriarchy, theocracy, racism, capitalism, or anything else.

6/13/2004 12:59:00 PM
Sheryl said...

Yeah, I've always thought the litmus test of freedom is happiness. Even idealogy itself gets in the way a lot of times, eh?

6/13/2004 04:48:00 PM
J.R. Boyd said...

I think that's true about the relationship between freedom and happiness. Perhaps it explains a why so many Americans are on anti-depressants: we feel less secure in our careers and our future than ever before.

6/13/2004 05:26:00 PM
Sheryl said...

I just quit my last job, so I know what you mean. It was just too stressful.

But yeah, I'm sick of being either underemployed or underpaid or underappreciated. Rarely understood though. (Had to keep that "under" motif going there. Ha ha ha.)

I guess that is the advantage of being an Overlord. You get to be "over" something, eh? :)

6/13/2004 11:42:00 PM

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