John Hickenlooper: "I feel strongly that Democrats have to draw a clear line and say, 'We are not socialists.'"
Lawrence O'Donnell: "On which side of that line would he put Social Security? Medicare? Medicaid? Cancer research? Air Traffic Control? Sports stadiums?"
http://twitter.com/Lawrence
We need a better description of the spectrum than socialist or capitalist and nothing in between. Neither capitalism nor socialism on their own describe the full set of possible ways communities wish to organise themselves.
In fact, successful societies avoid the purist principles identified by eighteenth and nineteenth century economic philosophers.
Socialism: "the means of production, distribution, and exchange is owned or regulated by the community as a whole."
Capitalism: "trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state."
Spectrum model: Some economic environments and industries are more suitable for social or private enterprise than others. There are both benefits and costs to each choice we make. We can reduce the harms of both capitalist and socialist choices by bolting modifications onto the pure principles of each model. We let the markets sort out competition between companies but also stop them polluting the environment or lying to consumers. We provide healthcare to everyone but find ways to make health services competitive such as by offering profit incentives to developers of new drugs.
Time to move on from old definitions.
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