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Topic: Criticisms of socialism

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	Criticisms of socialism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Criticisms of socialism range from disagreements over the efficiency of socialist economic and political models, to condemnation of states described by themselves or others as "socialist." Many economic liberals dispute that the egalitarian distribution of wealth advocated by socialists can be achieved without loss of political or economic freedoms.
		Critics counter this with the argument that peer pressure might be effective in a small group with permanent interaction and where everybody knows each other, like among hunter-gatherers, but see no evidence that it works well in larger, more complex societies with constantly changing groups.
		Social democrats argue that welfare states are examples of socialism.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Criticisms_of_socialism (3387 words)

	Socialism by Ludwig von Mises
		Today Socialism and destructionism find their strongest supporters in the millions for whom a return to a freer economy would be at first and in the short run detrimental to their particular interests.
		What is surprising is that ecclesiastical enemies of Socialism, in their efforts to represent Socialism as a child of Liberalism, of the free school, and of atheism, have taken up just the same attitude towards the work which the Church performs in maintaining existing property relations.
		Socialism has not become the ruling idea of our period because the masses first thought out the idea of the socialization of the means of production and then transmitted it to the intellectually higher classes.
	www.mises.org /books/socialism/part5_ch35.aspx (3959 words)

	Socialism - Charles' George Orwell Links
		By the time of the Revolution of 1848 there were a variety of competing "socialisms", ranging from the socialism of Charles Fourier to the self-described "scientific" socialism of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
		Another defect of socialism, according to its detractors, is its disregard for the role of private property in creating incentives that foster the sustainable use of resources.
		Critics of socialism argue that all historical attempts at its implementation have been transient failures.
	www.netcharles.com /orwell/articles/col-socialism.htm (6445 words)

	MISGUIDED SOCIALISM
		There is widespread confusion about socialism both by those who are would-be socialists as well as by those who are anti-socialists.
		Unfortuantley for international socialism, there are so many misplaced priorities in the international socialist movement that international socialism remains confused, inept, and fails to come even close to achieving the universal private property vision.
		Unfortunately, traditional socialism has tended to take property rights away from the working class instead of giving property rights to the working class because socialists have traditionally supported interest/debt/tax slavery finance capital and the holding of property ownership in common.
	www.webspawner.com /users/misguidedsocialism/index.html (1034 words)

	Wikinfo \| Socialism
		Social Democrats regard such a system as desirable and achievable, indeed, many would argue it already exists in some states.
		In general their definition of socialism could be "the control of production, consumption, allocation, and distribution of goods and services through democratic means".
		This may be a representative democracy in the style of European parliaments and congresses, or another type, usually described as closer to direct democracy.
	www.wikinfo.org /wiki.php?title=Socialist (709 words)

	Replying to Mandell and Finger
		Socialism 1, by virtue of having eliminated private ownership of the means of production, tends to reduce wealth and income differentials.
		Finger says, "where -- as in 'socialism 1' -- economic power is centralized in the hands of an autonomous, self‑perpetuating state bureaucracy, such 'collectivism' acquires unprecedented powers of oppression, exploitation and enslavement." But Socialism 1 makes no reference at all to a specifically state bureaucracy.
		The economic ruling class in Centrally Planned Socialism in a developed economy -- the coordinator class -- is a substantial group, unlikely to subordinate itself to a very small sector of detached planners, or, even more, to a tiny and detached political elite, or one master ruler.
	www.zmag.org /replying.htm (1641 words)

	Decentralized Socialism
		Socialism is the ultimate application of democracy to the entire society and to all institutions and organizations, so that no abusive or exploitative power exists anywhere.
		As he says, "the very criticisms of market socialism are themselves, to a large extent, criticisms of the neoclassical paradigm." (ibid.
		Socialism has always been criticized for the failure to provide incentives for good performance, either by workers-owned enterprises or managers of state-owned enterprises.
	www.bergonia.org /Econ/economy.htm (5587 words)

	Hunter: Violence and the Labor Movement
		The calumnies, the feuds, the misunderstandings, the clashing of doctrines, the antagonism of the ruling spirits, the plots and conspiracies, the victories and defeats-all these various phases of this war to the death between socialists and anarchists-will in that case present to history the most vital struggle of this age.
		Many sincere opponents of socialism actually believe that these are the ends sought, while the casual reader of socialist literature may see much that appears to lead directly to the dreadful State tyranny that Bakounin has pictured.
		When, furthermore, the party declared that the social question is inseparable from the political question and that the problems of our economic life could be solved only in a democratic State, Eakounin, of course, was forced to oppose such heresies with all his power.
	dwardmac.pitzer.edu /Anarchist_Archives/bakunin/hunterbakandmarx.html (6590 words)

	Subsidizing Sickness by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
		Not only socialism, but all interventions in the free market redirect resources in ways that are counterproductive – away from the voluntary sector of society and into the state sector.
		As the originator of national socialism designed to foil international socialism, he claimed credit for being the first to establish a national health care system – thus adopting the very socialism he claimed to be combating.
		By the time of the collapse of socialism, 80 million people were said to have chronic illnesses, and up to 68 percent of the public was health-deficient by international standards.
	www.lewrockwell.com /rockwell/sickness.html (4747 words)

	Book Review - The Flight from Truth: The Reign of Deceit in the Age of Information (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		The standard reply to criticisms of socialism has not been a straight answer to meet the charges.
		Instead, the critic has been accused of ignoring equal or even greater abuses in capitalist countries and being so paranoid about communism that he is blind to the ever-threatening resurgence of fascism.
		Hence, the critic has been sidetracked into a debate over the possible revival of fascist dictatorships and away from the reality of the socialist experiment.
	www.fff.org /freedom/0692e.asp (747 words)

	Socialism - DiscoverLudwigVonMises.COM - PRODOS Institute Inc. (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		But let anyone measure Socialism by the standards of scientific reasoning, and he at once becomes a champion of the evil principle, a mercenary serving the egotistical interests of a class, a menace to the welfare of the community, an ignoramus outside the pale.
		One cannot evade this defining of Socialism by asserting that the concept Socialism includes other things besides the socialization of the means of production: by saying, for example, that we are actuated by certain special motives when we are socialists, or that there is a second aim—perhaps a purely religious concept bound up with it.
		Socialism might have contented itself with denying the use of maintaining the institution of ownership any longer, without denying at the same time the usefulness of this ownership in the past.
	www.discoverludwigvonmises.com /Socialism (20518 words)

	Socialism: Fake and Real
		Socialism is the “lowest stage of communism,” a preparatory stage to prepare the society for communism.
		Here we get to the real substance of Chomsky’s criticisms of ‘Leninism.’ There are two aspects of his hatred for ‘Leninism.’ One is the idea of the revolutionary party leading the workers, and the other is the ‘Leninist’ conception of what is meant by “socialism.” His criticisms of the revolutionary party cannot be taken seriously.
		Chomsky views socialism as arising from the conversion of, “the means of production into the property of freely associated producers and thus the social property of people who have liberated themselves from exploitation by their master.” No Marxist would argue against that as a goal to strive toward.
	www.geocities.com /newoctobers/Chomsky_communism.htm (11149 words)

	A Review of A Future For Socialism By John Roemer
		Worse still, if Roemer's model of what he sometimes calls "managerial market socialism" and sometimes a "coupon economy" were all that remains of socialism-- socialism should be dead.
		Roemer proposes bank centered conglomerates because he is anxious to answer critics of market socialism who argue that no political authority can be trusted to stick to "economic" rather than "political" criteria in evaluating, rewarding, and punishing enterprise and management performance.
		Hayek's criticisms of market socialism, and more recently those of Janos Kornai, are for the most part on the mark." No matter that Lange's model was, essentially, a pure market model without anything resembling planning, much less central planning.
	www.zmag.org /zmag/articles/hahnel.htm (2871 words)

	Critical Review -- Vol.13 Nos.3-4 ---- Summer/Fall 2000
		The book reaffirms two themes that were central to Schumpeter's thought from its very beginning, namely the significance of creative and extraordinary individuals in social processes, and the resentment created by the innovations they introduce.
		The thesis that socialism would replace capitalism, but that it would bring about few of the advantages imagined by socialists and many disadvantages with which they had not reckoned, was an ironic proposition, which Schumpeter put forth in a manner designed to overcome intellectuals' dogmatic resistance to capitalism.
		Mirroring the methodological blindness he criticizes, Polanyi insists on the all-or-nothing existence/nonexistence of laissez faire—and on its all-or-nothing goodness/badness.
	www.criticalreview.com /vol13nos34toc.html (936 words)

	IHS Syllabus Project: Controversies in Applied Economics
		Socialism in practice will be shown to be a failure from the start.
		To the outside world, socialism in the Soviet Union appeared for so long to be successful in part because outside observers uncritically accepted Soviet economic statistics that were full of lies.
		Socialism can also be criticized on other grounds, of course--for example, that it provides inadequate incentives for economically desirable behavior, it leads to a dictatorship of the bureaucracy.
	www.gmu.edu /departments/ihs/economics/hanke.html (7991 words)

	John E. Roemer, A Future for Socialism
		This was a point particularly stressed by Austrian critics of socialism, such as Ludwig von Mises, who pointed to the way self-regulating markets, setting their own prices, force people to use resources efficiently, and presented a dilemma.
		The most interesting reply was formulated by Oskar Lange in 1936, and was to splashily impale socialism on one of the horns of the dilemma by embracing markets.
		A particular way in which the modern view of capitalism suggests a future for socialism is in its understanding of the firm as a nexus of relationships between economic actors (in particular, those that economists call principal-agent relationships [cross-reference omitted]).
	cscs.umich.edu /~crshalizi/reviews/future-for-socialism (2639 words)

	Page 14 August 2005 Socialist Standard
		It often strikes a socialist that so many of the criticisms of socialism are indeed valid, but only when applied to capitalism.
		I’ve heard it said, “socialism may sound fine in theory, but it wouldn’t work out in practice.” One wonders exactly what is meant by “working out in practice”.
		Many equate socialism with dictatorship, yet, with the coming of the modern industrial state, most of the world’s population has lived under dictatorship.
	www.worldsocialism.org /spgb/aug05/page14.html (569 words)

	Comparative Economic Systems
		Since the profits would revert to the government, as owner, they could be distributed to the poor (or to everybody) as a "social dividend." Thus, a market socialist society would be an efficient, classless market society with a lower limit on income and thus no extreme poverty.
		Thus, it might be hard, in practice, to find the boundary between real market socialism and real government-controlled socialism.
		During its period of communist government, the Hungarian Republic adopted reforms that made it a fair approximation to "market socialism," and the criticisms of market socialism in Hungary suggest a more general obstacle to market socialism.
	william-king.www.drexel.edu /top/prin/txt/comsysf/cs9.html (767 words)

	The Challenge of Liberty: Books: The Independent Institute
		Modern liberalism has been criticized not only by conservatives and classical liberals, but also by communitarians, who charge that its advocacy of a wide range of “rights” undermines ethical communities.
		Constitutionalism, a product of classical liberalism, is a worldwide work in progress: Although every country in the world claims to have a constitution, most of the world’s people do not live under constitutional government.
		In chapter 15, “A Critique of Group Loyalty,” Laurie Calhoun complements de Jasay’s analysis by arguing that a commitment to group loyalty must come at the expense of one’s other principles and thus is irrational for moral absolutists and moral relativists alike.
	www.independent.org /publications/books/book_summary.asp?bookID=63 (1445 words)

	Chapter 14 The Economy (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		What are the three essential components of socialism?
		What is democratic socialism (or a mixed economy) ?
		What are the two primary criticisms of capitalism?
	www.orednet.org /~jflory/205/ch14q.htm (250 words)

	H-Net Review: Scott L. Baugh on The First Man
		Camus' emphasis on the individual conscience, his criticisms of socialism, and his defense of an independent and multicultural Algeria made him a target from the political left and right.
		And while Camus emphasizes the story of Jacques as an individual struggling against the indifferent society surrounding him, he also draws a clear picture of the culture of early twentieth-century Algeria, especially that of the working-class neighborhoods.
		Students of culture will appreciate the historical and social elements of Camus' novel.
	www.h-net.msu.edu /reviews/showrev.cgi?path=4001851044630 (572 words)

	Socialism - Information, Resources, Links and Reference (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		Michael Lebowitz, Build It Now - Socialism for the 21st Century, Monthly Review Press (2006)
		Leo Panitch, Renewing Socialism: Democracy, Strategy, and Imagination,
		Peter Wilberg 2003, Deep Socialism - A New Manifesto of Marxist Ethics and Economics
	www.cyberpedia.net /info.php?title=Socialism (3619 words)

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