tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post633618866712965821..comments2023-09-25T04:26:51.568-06:00Comments on The Barefoot Bum: Taibbi scratches the surfaceLarry Hamelinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-79324906318553962602009-05-23T17:15:29.742-06:002009-05-23T17:15:29.742-06:00I don't know for sure. No socialist attempt has ye...I don't know for sure. No socialist attempt has yet been successful in doing so on a large scale.<br /><br />The key is not necessarily to "harness" the desire for individual gain, but rather control its excesses, to make sure that personal gain is <I>mutual</I>.<br /><br />There are two <I>theoretical</I> ideas, ideas that also have not yet been tried. The first is economic abundance. If we can make enough stuff, then the struggle for individual survival will cease to dominate people's thinking. Remember that typical capitalist crises are caused by <I>surpluses</I>. Even enormous natural disasters cause only relatively minor economic problems. Just making sure everyone always has enough to eat, a decent place to live, electricity, clean water, sanitation and medical care will drastically reduce the scope for unlimited greed.<br /><br />The second is making sure that the masses of people have real political power. Historically, communist governments have been just as afraid of the masses as the most elitist bourgeois governments, including our own.Larry Hamelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-13322259950516854642009-05-23T12:43:03.147-06:002009-05-23T12:43:03.147-06:00People — especially the executives of large financ...<I>People — especially the executives of large financial corporations — aren't stupid: they act rationally to maximize their personal gain under the prevailing economic, political and social circumstances.<br /><br /></I>Absolutely. In a communist society, how would the natural human impulse to maximize personal gain be harnessed for the common good?Comrade PhysioProfhttp://physioprof.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com