CelticBear’s Musings

I posted my previous entry, On Marxism and Libertarianism, on Google Groups:

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.philosophy.debate/browse_frm/thread/cd65fe3ac0383a49/d250248f56ec931a?tvc=1#d250248f56ec931a

It’s gotten a lot of replies, and most of it confirmation of my fear: Both are ideologies that require certain perfect conditions and a more-or-less fundamental change in (current) human nature to be able to work well.

But then, as my wife reminded me, all socio-economic -isms are ideologies and require those changes and conditions.

So far, in my yet meager understanding, while I am now and always will be a social libertarian (if it harms no one, fine, none if you business!) granting any necessary conditions, I’d rather a Marxist socialism than a libertarian society. While privacy and self-determination must be paramount! I’d rather a society that did not find personal wealth to be its highest value, where wealth = power, where there is poverty and despair where it doesn’t have to be that way. I’d rather a society where people helped each other, where there is no concept of money, where the value of the person in society isn’t based on how much you earn for the capitalists or build your personal wealth. Where individuality, human rights, ethics, are more important than profit margin and capital gains. Yeah, a true, working socialist society would be nearly a utopia and would require possibly impossible changes in human nature.

Although, there is evidence that not all societies are like the U.S., go fig, and give hope the possible feasibility of a working socialist society. Canada has a socialized health care system for example, and yet is more permissive than the U.S. regarding “consensual crimes.” Socialism does not have to mean a removal of personal liberties and freedoms.

In fact, the U.S. is the only modern, “western” nation without universal health care! And yet, we’re also shredding our civil liberties faster than any other modern, “westernized” nation. We have laws prohibiting more behavior and “morality” than most any other European nation. I mean, when Turkey and South Africa recognize gay marriage and the “land of the free” doesn’t, there’s something fundamentally wrong here! And I do mean “fundamental.”
Economic libertarianism seems to be the ultimate in the powerful dominating the weak. Where the worst in capitalism can and would be allowed to thrive and do harm to humanity. Economic libertarianism, like capitalism (which IS a sort of “purified” form of capitalism,) is self-serving and greedy. Power, monopoly, robber-barons, are the results of economic libertarianism. Get as much as you can and and do as much harm as you can to your competition, before class action suits put speedbumps in your way. And if you grow wealthy and powerful enough and large enough, as is the goal of economic libertarianism, than no amount of civil suits will stop whatever unregulated practices you’re using to make money and take advantage of your workers.

Gawdang Lenin and the Soviet communists! They screwed up so much of what America could have become! Because of “the godless Soviets,” America went from being pretty freethinking and religiously liberal to a huge upswing in evangelical fundamentalism. “In God we trust” added to money and “under God” to the pledge are the least of the religious changes that began in the 1950′s as a revolt against the darn Ruskies. And anything that smacked of “Marxism” or “Socialism” ever since has been met with knee-jerk hatred and rejection because of the Cold War, even though Lenin and the Soviet dictatorship screwed up the Marxist ideals and goals.

It’s ironic, too. That both Christian fundamentalism would rise beginning in the 50′s while socialism would be squashed and the cult of capitalism would be aggrandized. I mean, I’m pretty sure Jesus and the early Christians would have been socialists. Would have abhorred the idea of the rich getting richer off the backs of the middle and lower class. They would have abhorred class systems in general! I think they would have greatly preferred a socio-economic system where all people were considered equal, money didn’t control everything, the lesser and weaker among the people would be taken care of, and all worked together for the greater good.

Cold War American perverted so much. Mixing ideological capitalism and religion into one uberideology that ultimately harms society. We’re still a country of puritanical ideas and juvenile fascination with sex and violence, and a unhealthy love of money and interest in what your neighbor is up to. Even with the theocrats no longer controlling Congress, and even if a religious ideologue doesn’t get the 2008 election, I may still very much want to expatriate to Canada or Europe. I am so sick of American culture. The crime, the anti-reason, anti-science, the erosion of liberties and rights, the juvenile and immature social behavior as a culture. We’ve squandered the incredible opportunity a handful of brave people gave us 200 years ago, and have created an empire of greed and crime and self-interest and self-absorbed schizophrenic hedonism with puritanism.