- Capitalism and Alternatives -

With electric precision, of course.

Posted by: Dr. Cruel on October 28, 1999 at 01:05:47:

In Reply to: You talkin' to me? posted by Stoller on October 27, 1999 at 10:35:53:

I feel compelled to make several points.

1) Being a jerk does not help one's case. I make no accusations.

2) The American electoral system is, was, and will likely continue to be very heavily influenced by large sums of money. Socialists know this very well, which is why they are so keen on fundraising. Money and political power in the U.S. are very closely related. Whether or not one agrees that this is a bad thing is another matter entirely; to deny it is imbecility.

3) The fact that money is used to influence the electoral process has little or nothing to do with "bosses". The local owner of a pizzaria is hardly a threat to my personal freedoms. An agent of communist China, with the wealth of a hostile near-superpower, makes me very nervous. Wealth, and not the "exploitation of the working class", would seem to me to be the critical issue - how it allows for an aristocracy of sorts, and how it might be used coercively. Perhaps my perspective is not sufficiently guided by Marxist theology (I would prefer to think that it isn't blinded by it, but what do I know ...).

4) I would rather be guided by individuals who feel compelled to beg for my vote than for those that think themselves entitled to it by doctrine. Likewise, for those who substitute tanks and troops for dollars and cents. It may be a fine distinction to you'all, but for moi, it make a world of difference.

See you at the polls, bub.

Dr. "Mistakes Were Made" Cruel


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