Charles asks: >> CB: What kind of winning and losing are you talking about in "our >> socialist democratic system" ?
I don't know. How would you define winners and losers in your system? Jim Devine's post is intriguingly definitional: if a 51% majority in a socialist democracy vote on a decision, the decision is necessarily a "winner." Jim suggests that in socialist democratic decision-making "an effort would be made to measure the true costs and benefits," but he provides no reason why an individual voter in a socialist democractic decision-making process would be better equipped or motivated to "measure the true costs and benefits" or to vote in the manner consistent with the true costs and benefits as opposed to the individual's personal interest. Let's imagine in our socialist system that there is a wired phone system. A citizen thinks it woud be a great idea for a wireless phone system using satellites. The satellite system will require a significant capital investment and a huge reallocation of resources from the wire system. Let's further imagine the idea develops to a stage where it is presented to decision-makers. I have some sense how the decision would be handled in a laissez affaire capitalist economy. I have some sense how the decision would be made in our present hybrid bailout economy (see Chrysler decision). I want to think about how such a decision would be made in a socialist economy. David Shemano _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
