Dear editor,
Re. Lorne Smith’s letter, Socialism is not all it’s cracked up to be (Sept. 29).
Socialism believes all individuals should have access to basic articles of consumption and public goods to allow for self-actualization. Large-scale industries are collective efforts and thus the returns from these industries must benefit society as a whole. Capitalism is opposed to government intervention in economics because capitalists believe it introduces inefficiencies. It believes a free market produces the best economic outcome for society.
The 2008 financial downturn was caused when capitalism was left unchecked, similar to the Great Depression in the 1930s, which had devastating effects in countries affecting both rich and poor. Both were started in the U.S., which is considered to be the most capitalistic country in the world, the effects of these downturns affected both socialist and capitalist counties. It took a war to get us out of the Great Depression.
As Lorne states, Venezuela is rich in oil but as of today they are struggling badly, similar to what has happened in Alberta and other regions that depended heavily on oil for revenues. Before the drop in oil Venezuela had a different story, one of success.
Lesson, do not put all your economic eggs in one basket.
Socialism is well entrenched in our society, every time you call the police, the fire department or send your kids to school. The problem with capitalism today is in Lorne’s quote of Churchill, it is that of the sharing of the blessings. Blessings are now stored in offshore tax havens created through political manipulation and corporate lobbying worldwide that ensures wealth remains in the hands of the wealthy. Thanks to policies that were meant to provide trickle down effects through more tax breaks and benefits given to the wealthy it created a trickle up instead, benefiting only a very small percentage of the population.
Capitalism or socialism? I’ll take a little bit of both thanks.
Denise Walters
Royston