Video: What exactly is socialism?
posted at 3:00 pm on May 17, 2011 by Ed Morrissey
Good question, says NRO’s Kevin Williamson to Reason TV’s Nick Gillespie in this interview. People tend to confuse regulatory states with socialism, and vice versa. Williamson has just published The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism, and Gillespie walks him through a few of the commonly-thought examples of American socialism. ObamaCare? In theory no, but in practice, yes. Public schools? You bet; government owns the means of production. How about Sweden, an example hailed and reviled on the Right and Left, depending on the argument? You’ll be surprised at Williamson’s answer:
What’s the real definition of socialism? How is it distinct from regulation and a social welfare state? Why are intellectuals still enamored of a system that brought us Stalin, Hitler, and more recently Hugo Chavez and Kim Jong-Il? And what can the United States learn from Sweden about free enterprise and capitalism?
It can learn that the socialist model fails even where people have largely supported it. As Williamson notes, the Swedes have been moving towards free-market capitalism over the past several years, thanks to the dysfunction that socialism creates. It’s a good interview, and the book looks like a fun read.
In fact, maybe the people running General Motors should buy a few copies for themselves:
In late 2010, General Motors agreed to sponsor a propaganda film celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP made film titled (translated to English) “The Birth of a Party” or “The Great Achievement of Founding the Party” is set to premiere all over the Communist nation on June 15 reported China AutoWeb last September. The auto website adds:
“As the CCP marries totalitarianism with capitalism and fools the people with entertainment, only the “politically correct” or stupid–or those who pretend to be so–can get rich. And GM seems to know this very well. While Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volvo have all rushed to please China’s rich and powerful through physical enlargement (offering models of extended wheelbases), Cadillac gratifies the party orally, singing praises through a film.”
According to the above report, the film will discuss events that led up to the formation of the CCP following the 1917 Russian Revolution. When the movie first went into production GM signed up Cadillac as the “chief business partner” with the Communist Party, stating: “Cadillac whole-heartedly supports the making of the Birth of a Party.”
Or maybe they just like the business model:
The United States government currently own 33% of the GM company following the auto-bailouts of 2009, and GM CEO Daniel Akerson describes China, as the “key to [GM's] success.” (h/t The Detroit Bureau)
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Monsieur Hollande, you have no earthly clue what real austerity is, merci beaucoup.
gryphon202 on May 4, 2013 at 11:36 AM
Government wine? (Facepalm.)
RoadRunner on May 4, 2013 at 11:40 AM
Is that really any more ridiculous than the government food commodities our own government purchases?
gryphon202 on May 4, 2013 at 11:43 AM
Do the French really want to tick the Germans off. Again. If so, one can only hope O’Dumbo stays the hell out of it.
GarandFan on May 4, 2013 at 11:45 AM
You want some government cheese to go with that government wine?
Flange on May 4, 2013 at 11:52 AM
Let them drink wine
BobMbx on May 4, 2013 at 11:53 AM
Like, oh, m’god!
HB3 on May 4, 2013 at 11:56 AM
Being English, I’m loving this!
OldEnglish on May 4, 2013 at 11:56 AM
Government Whine!
xdwall on May 4, 2013 at 11:57 AM
Coolest wine I ever consumed was a Chateau de la Chaize 1976 Beaujolais Tricentennial Edition Magnum. The sales rep of the winery I was working for at the time gave me and the winemaker the bottle. He estimated its worth at about 3500-5000.
It wasn’t the best wine I’ve ever tasted, but it was the best wine in context.
Beaujolais are generally composed of a majority of Gamay Noir grape. Gamay Noirs don’t hold up well over time, and when we opened it, we expected it to taste flat and boring. Not so. For a 35 year old Gamay Noir, the wine was incredible, maintained a ton of fruit, and still had amazing structure considering the scenario. A truly incredible winemaker did some great work in 1976.
blatantblue on May 4, 2013 at 12:00 PM
I’m sure blatantblue will disagree, but anymore French wines are at the bottom of my families list. For the money, domestic or even Aussie wines are better for the buck than their high-priced wines and are just as good IMHO. Buy your local regional wines also. (Unless you’re upstate NY)
hawkdriver on May 4, 2013 at 12:03 PM
HAH! BB.
hawkdriver on May 4, 2013 at 12:04 PM
Night Train, last Tuesday, #3.99
BobMbx on May 4, 2013 at 12:06 PM
I’ll see your Night Train and raise you a Mad Dog 20/20. Don’t make me go all in with Thunderbird.
CaptainNed on May 4, 2013 at 12:09 PM
Maybe Ed can pick up a nice Merlot for his patio time.
Difficultas_Est_Imperium on May 4, 2013 at 12:10 PM
I can understand. It is France after all. Don’t drink the water.
hawkeye54 on May 4, 2013 at 12:14 PM
I trump your wine selections with two words: Silver Satin. I rest my case.
Mason on May 4, 2013 at 12:17 PM
So in other words he’s lying to everyone.
JEM on May 4, 2013 at 12:32 PM
That was a good year for anti-freeze.
steebo77 on May 4, 2013 at 12:33 PM
What’s the word? Thunderbird! Worst headache I’ve ever had, by far, was from drinking that stuff. My head hurts just thinking about it.
Flange on May 4, 2013 at 12:34 PM
Maybe they could get a deal on some Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill.
trigon on May 4, 2013 at 12:49 PM
Well, I don’t particularly want to make fun of the French.
But they do ask to be ridiculed, so it would be rude of me not to comply.
And I hope you voted UKIP…
JohnGalt23 on May 4, 2013 at 12:51 PM
Had I not escaped to OZ, I would have for sure!
OldEnglish on May 4, 2013 at 1:00 PM
I think the French still ship a lot of good mid-priced wines. I like the Aussies, too, but too much American wine is characterless and/or overpriced.
Why would they even bother cellaring a $20 bottle of wine? And what Palace guest has so little status that they’d be served it?
urban elitist on May 4, 2013 at 1:05 PM
Looks like a lot of folks did this time around – I would trade 100 Republicans for one Nigel Farage. Those of you who haven’t yet should behold some of the man’s youtube clips.
stout77 on May 4, 2013 at 1:16 PM
May the rest of the bottles turn to vinegar!
Spit, double spit.
can_con on May 4, 2013 at 2:10 PM
I wouldn’t completely agree. I’d say a lot of wines we’ve gotten from Virginia are what i would consider regional and in possession of a lot of character.
My family also buys a lot of the wines from the Biltmore Estate label that have a nice distinct taste. I concede it’s not a completely valid argument for them though because so much of the grape juice they start with is actually imported from other regions. What actually comes from their vineyards is very distinct.
I’d be interested to know what French label for mid-price you think is worth buying.
hawkdriver on May 4, 2013 at 2:31 PM
Perhaps we should send barge loads of Boonesfarm, Ripple, Wild Irish Rose… or Muscatel …as humanitarian aid. The wines of brown-bag-wrapped-bottle connoisseurs everywhere.
To be fair, though, Boonesfarm is more widely enjoyed by the wine spritzer crowd, as it has a very low alcohol content with a sort of kool-aid flavor point.
thatsafactjack on May 4, 2013 at 2:36 PM
I don’t know if I’m comfortable sending away crates of Strawberry Hill.
. . . trying to set your “Kool-Aid” snootery aside.
Axe on May 4, 2013 at 4:10 PM
…they’re French!…JugEars will buy it!
KOOLAID2 on May 4, 2013 at 4:20 PM
Sorry. Not ‘snootery’, though.
Check you Sketchbook mail. :)
thatsafactjack on May 4, 2013 at 5:11 PM
Sarc tags are for gurls. :)
k. But give me till the top of the hour; I’m about to update the site.
Axe on May 4, 2013 at 5:15 PM
Gotta have SOMETHING on hand if Obama pays a visit.
JamesS on May 4, 2013 at 7:34 PM
Nothing about huge Ukip surge in UK election? Shame on you, Hot Air
callingallcomets on May 5, 2013 at 5:17 AM
Nothing but the finest box of wine for Barack.
And put an extra straw in it for Big Mooch.
justltl on May 5, 2013 at 6:25 AM
No, and the French were warned about that over 150 years ago:
“Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all. We disapprove of state education. Then the socialists say that we are opposed to any education. We object to a state religion. Then the socialists say that we want no religion at all. We object to a state-enforced equality. Then they say that we are against equality. And so on, and so on. It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting persons to eat because we do not want the state to raise grain.”
― Frédéric Bastiat, The Law
ebrown2 on May 5, 2013 at 9:25 AM