Print this post.Joseph Waters
In a recent RT clip advertising the Keiser Report, Max explains how society is changing and people are moving away from solely individual self-interest and toward more concern for their fellow citizens, their “network” as he called it. Max realized that what he described was akin to socialism and so he quickly pointed out at the end of his comments that “this is not socialism because socialism has failed.” No proof is given; at least not in this short segment.
If it can be said that socialism failed (notwithstanding there still being socialist countries in existence and others moving in that direction; namely, China, Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela, Bolivia, Eritrea, South Africa to name a few) we must ask why did it fail? The presumption is that the Soviet Union, the pillar of socialism, failed all on its own because its system was critically flawed and inefficient.
There is much more to the story, but the short version is this: The capitalist West, led by the United States, did in fact defeat the Soviet Union and the socialist countries of eastern Europe. They did this through the use of the CIA (whose mission it was to destroy communism covertly since a direct military conflict would be mutually destructive) by employing sabotage, propaganda, psychological warfare, subversion, economic sanctions and other covert means. Socialism suffered a major defeat with the collapse of the USSR, but is now on the rise once again. Can it defeat the evil U.S. Empire this time? Only time will tell.
“Max Keiser is full of shit. He is a shill, in a long line of shills and pundits going back over 100 years who have clamored for a return to the “real” capitalism that was good and fair…”
But one thing I can tell you for sure is that Max Keiser is full of shit. He is a shill, in a long line of shills and pundits going back over 100 years who have clamored for a return to the “real” capitalism that was good and fair. The kind of capitalism where small business could thrive. This kind of capitalism only exists in the imagination of the petty bourgeoisie who simply cannot understand, or as Lenin would say pretend not to understand, that the amalgamation of capital into a financial plutocracy where billionaire bankers rule – this effect of the capitalism system that has come into being – is the very result that was inevitable and understood by those who played the game to win. If you tore everything down and started capitalism all over again, you would eventually get the same result, or something very similar, once again. As George Orwell* said in his review of the godfather of right-wing, market libertarianism Friedrich Hayek’s book, The Road to Serfdom:
” . . . he [Hayek] does not see, or will not admit, that a return to ‘free’ competition means for the great mass of people a tyranny probably worse, because more irresponsible, than that of the State. The trouble with competitions is that somebody wins them. Professor Hayek denies that free capitalism necessarily leads to monopoly, but in practice that is where it has led . . .”
Max Keiser does not see, or will not admit that a so-called return to the“pure” capitalism of his fevered dreams would not lead to the social justice, egalitarianism and freedom that he claims to desire. We’ve seen this act before and we know how it ends.
* I don’t agree with everything Orwell said. He was clearly not a true Leftist, but he nailed this one.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
[box type=”bio”] Joseph Waters is a political activist. He operates the blog, Proletarian Center for Research, Education and Culture (Prole Center).[/box]
FACT TO REMEMBER:
IF THE WESTERN MEDIA HAD ITS PRIORITIES IN ORDER AND ACTUALLY INFORMED, EDUCATED AND UPLIFTED THE MASSES INSTEAD OF SHILLING FOR A GLOBAL EMPIRE OF ENDLESS WARS, OUTRAGEOUS ECONOMIC INEQUALITY, AND DEEPENING DEVASTATION OF NATURE AND THE ANIMAL WORLD, HORRORS LIKE THESE WOULD HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED MANY YEARS, PERHAPS DECADES AGO. EVERY SINGLE DAY SOCIAL BACKWARDNESS COLLECTS ITS OWN INNUMERABLE VICTIMS.
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1 comment
So, ah, let’s try to parse this a bit….
We don’t have to agree with everything Orwell said because he “was truly not a true Leftist.” Still, we believe he was able to “nail it” when it came to his critique of Hayek and proto-Libertarianism! On the other hand, if former Wall Street broker Max Keiser suggests that socialism (as he understands it) has “failed,” and capitalism (as he understands it) would be much improved if it were to return to its Adam Smith roots… well, that simply (or is that simplistically?) connotes that Keiser is a “shill” and “full of shit.” Case closed! Except….
Regrettably, Mr. Waters has merely huffed and puffed his case from the barnyard roof, supposing his blunt language will surely substitute for his inattention to logical connections and coherent argumentation.
Adam Smith was, in fact, a moralist. In his eyes, in his day, Capitalism was a model to replace the moribund, perverse Feudal system. (As I recall, “The Wealth of Nations” appeared in the same year as the American Declaration of Independence– 1776.) Capitalism was far from a “perfect” system (after all, it was conceived by, and developed by men, and I have heard that humans are rarely perfect!). Nevertheless, there was a framework that was better than Feudalism’s framework– if only the people of that time and this time had the wisdom to develop it within the moral (“Christian” at that time) bounds.
Capitalism fairly quickly careened into Corporatism in the early 19th Century when our blessed Supreme Court blessed the notion that corporations were actually “persons.” It has been pretty much downhill towards Banker-corporate-gangsterism ever since.
Frankly, I’m a fan of the Keiser Report. I’m a fan of RT (Russia Today). Keiser and his calm-him-down foil, Stacy Herbert provide 15-30 minutes of the best dialogue one can find on the Alternative Media.
One aspect of that show, which I believe Mr. Waters has overlooked, is that it reflects on cultural values, as well as economic. Cultural considerations are too often dismissed and pooh-poohed by “hardnosed” dialectical materialists who suppose the hoi polloi will follow them down the primrose path of Revolution if only they can express themselves as intensely and passionately as possible!