recently I was reading Thomas More’s Utopia. Well, what did I like, that it does not serve as Utopia any more. Actually with time it became legitimate dystopia. When I read it, I feel what a terribly non free state and society it is.
Also, it made me think again about resources. In liberal, capitalistic society, people have a right for initiatives and entrepreneurship. This means, if I have a good idea, I am free to try to implement it, to bring it to life. Sometimes I need funding, sometimes I can start by doing it on my knees, in garage.
It can be something sustainable, which will survive because of profits, or I can get funding from different places - capital, patronage, foundations, some interested parties, people.
On the other hand, if I want to create something in socialistic, or communistic state, I need to get approval of the state. Because state manages all resources. And it has to decide, if my idea is worth spending money on.
Even if we assume the state is not very much corrupted, and I do not necessarily need relatives in the government, state has all the resources, and has to do such decisions. They should decide if my idea worth giving it a start or not.
First, they already have their own spendings, and may not have resources for new ideas. Thus - socialistic state is not about development.
It is about monopoly. The government has monopoly of resources, management.
On the contrary, in case of liberal, capitalistic society, there are more powers. There can be power which is interested in your idea, and it’ll support it. This power can be some community as well.
No wonder free software was born in the United States.
By the way, I also do not believe in democracy in socialistic state.
Because technically democracy can be preserved, maintained, in case we have different powers. Not in case of government monopoly.
If we have one power, it’ll take advantage very soon, fake elections, change constitution, and make conversion to an authoritarian state.
So, if you do not like monopolies, you should not like socialism/communism. (:
#socialism #communism #monopoly #monopolies #democracy #authoritarianism #dictatorship #collectivism #private_property #liberalism
True: we made mistakes. We tried too hard to pander to Russia in the Yeltsin era, ignoring the growth of corruption, authoritarianism and revanchism. We overlooked Russians’ resentment as their country drifted from the European mainstream and our vulnerability to the steps they could take in response. We neglected Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus and the countries of the Caucasus. The Blair government was bewitched by the Putin regime’s offer of cooperation against Islamist terrorism in 2001. We have been frequently dazzled by the spurious commercial prospects offered by Russia – in particular BP’s decision to form an alliance with Rosneft, the main Russian oil company, was a shameful example of greed and short-sightedness.
very good paper by Edward Lucas
#edward-lucas #russia #putin #oil #gas #caucasus #blair #ukraine #moldova #belarus #rosneft #russian #bp #vulnerability #authoritarianism #corruption #revanchism #europe #politics #world #war #peace #regime #challenge #soviet #ussr #empire #imperialism #freedom
It makes me pretty sad when I see Western liberals/leftists defend post-Soviet authoritarian leaders. I mean come on, you are defending people with golden toilet seats and Swiss bank accounts, people who plunder their own countries to buy yachts and football clubs in London, people who send their kids to the most expensive Western colleges and buy American passports for them. Even those Western leftists who idealized Stalin the 1930s made more sense: Stalin was a mass murderer, but at least he was trying to build a socialist economy, rather than trying to steal enough money to buy a mansion in Miami, FLA.
Mikayel Zolian
#puting #russia #ukraine #soviet #cccp #ссср #2014 #authoritarianism #zolian #invasion #customs-union #eurasian-union #maidan #freedom #путин #янукович #cccp #ссср #украина #россия #майдан #империализм #политика #свобода #евразэс #тс #таможенный-союз #евразийский-союз #деспотизм #авторитаризм #права-человека #Евромайдан #євромайдан #вільність #վլադիմիր֊նադեին #ուկրայինա #ռուսաստան #իմպերիալիզմ #մաքսային֊միութիւն #եւրասիական֊միութիւն #մարդու֊իրաւունքներ #ազատութիւն #սովետ #պուտին #յանուկովիչ #խսհմ #քաղաքականութիւն
#Armenia wants #democracy, #Russia wants #authoritarianism
http://www.katypearce.net/demand-for-democracy-in-europe-and-eurasia/
