http://www.amazon.com/forum/politics/ - etc. etc.
Douglas Hainline says:
First off, I'm not going to provide an answer. I'm a conservative and believe that it could not work. Or, rather, would work about as well as it did in the old Soviet Union, or Cuba or North Korea today. Which is to say, life is preserved, unless the ruling party decides to kill the population: people are clothed and housed, have enough to eat (well, not in North Korea), basic health needs are met, books get printed (if the government approves of them). So Soviet-style socialism "works", just at a low economic level.
But ... most self-declared socialists today eschew the Soviet model, and even say "that's not real socialism".
So, comrades, here is an opportunity to explain how real socialism would work.
To make it simple, why not explain how a loaf of bread would get produced under genuine socialism. How would the flour be obtained, how would it be priced, how would it be decided how many and of what kind of loaves to bake, and where to sell them or give them away.
I choose a loaf of bread as my example, because of a possibly-apocraphyl story, which I think comes from Paul Krugman:
Back in the 70s, a high-ranking Soviet official visited the US, and was given a tour of New York City. At the end of the tour, he said, "There's just one thing I want to ask. I noticed that you have lots of little shops, selling all kinds of bread, and there is never a queue, and I must admit that the bread is delicious... and so many kinds. So I would like to meet the man who is charge of the bread supply for New York City."
Of course, he was told there is no such person, and no such function. It "just happens". Of course he knew the wicked Americans were lying to him.
So, comrades, over to you. How would bread get made and distributed?
A note to my fellow conservatives: let's hold fire for a day or two and give our socialist friends ample room to describe how socialism would solve this problem.
>>>
Well, KTC,
How would the bread be baked and distributed?
Zim.
Mad Poet Strikes Again.
| 
