X-Message-Number: 23208 From: Date: Fri, 02 Jan 2004 19:45:04 +0000 CryoNet - Fri 2 Jan 2004 #23204: Re: Topic A [Mark Plus] #23205: Re: CryoNet #23199 - #23203 [randy] #23206: RE: CryoNet #23199 - #23203 [Eytan Kollin] Administrivia To subscribe to CryoNet, send email to: with the subject line (not message _body_): subscribe To unsubscribe, use the subject line: unsubscribe Message #23204 From: "Mark Plus" <> Subject: Re: Topic A Date: Thu, 01 Jan 2004 07:58:46 -0800 In message #23202, Charles Platt says, >Ron Bailey is a nice guy but his diatribe against socialist economies is simplistic and ignores some cases which contradict his bias, such as Finland. I have visited Finland, where they still have a Lenin museum, public housing is the norm, and socialism is not a bad word. The Finns are doing very well indeed. Scandinavian social democracy doesn't seem to have hurt the entry of Finland's Nokia and Sweden's Ericsson into the cell phone business. I wonder how libertarians explain that their cell phones come from companies based in countries with high taxes, many business regulations and generous provisions for the vulnerable. Mark Plus Mark I am surprised at you. Socialism is indefensible. Period. It is an immoral philosophy that assumes the state has supremacy over the individual. The reason some socialist states are more prosperous than others is because some socialist states "allow" more capitalism than others. The socialist states that outlaw capitalism (N. Korea, Cuba, the old U.S.S.R. for example) become infested with poverty and misery, except for the ruling class. They are free to shop in countries that allow capitalism. The reason we buy from these countries, obvioulsy, is because the product is cheaper. That is probably due to some form of government subsidy or cheaper labor. I don't object to cheaper labor but I do object to any form of government subsidy. Jerry Searcy Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=23208