Capitalism, Socialism, Fascism?

[Hannah Bell]

What is the current American economy: capitalism, socialism or fascism?

Nouriel Roubini writes in a recent essay:

This is a crisis of solvency, not just liquidity, but true deleveraging has not begun yet because the losses of financial institutions have been socialised and put on government balance sheets. This limits the ability of banks to lend, households to spend and companies to invest...

Some, however, argue that the economy is more like fascism than socialism. For example, leading journalist Robert Scheer writes:

...The marriage of highly concentrated corporate power with an authoritarian state that services the politico-economic elite at the expense of the people is more accurately referred to as "financial fascism" . After all, even Hitler never nationalized the Mercedes-Benz company but rather entered into a very profitable partnership with the current car company's corporate ancestor, which made out quite well until Hitler's bubble burst....

So what do we really have: socialism-for-the-giants, fascism or an economy which calls itself "capitalism" but which allows looting?

Ultimately, it doesn't matter. They are just different brand names for the same basic type of economy. All three systems allow giant businesses which are friendly to the government to keep enormous private profits but to pass the losses on to the government and ultimately the citizens.

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/10/capitalism-socialism-fascism-or.html

[sakabatou]

1. Plutocracy?

[Syrinx]

2. it's a complicated issue, I guess

It's not pure capitalism, because the government gets involved all the time.

And it's certainly not socialism, because we have millions of people going without the basics of civilized existence.

So, I think it must be fascism, which is evil.

But I'm glad the federal government saved the big-three American automakers because it would have been decimating to our economy if we had lost them.

Mercedes Benz U.S. International is located near here, Tuscaloosa, in the small community of Vance, Alabama.

I would say that it's been helpful to the economy around here, and helped to turn Alabama into an automobile manufacturing state. But the state government pretty much bribed the Germans to put the factory here.

And the plants here are not union shops. This is a "right to work" state.

Ah, fuck it. I should quit trying to find the silver cloud around the dark cloud. It's fascism.

But it's not the auto manufacturers that are to blame. It's the Wall Street maggots that rip us off, without providing anything remotely of value.

It's fascism, run out of the Manhattan, Houston, Cambridge complex. And that ain't a joke.

[blindpig]

3. Fascism is just a flavor of capitalism.

Capitalism is looting regardless of it's flavor.

[lonestarnot]

4. They are admitting to unemployed over 14% in AZ. So yeah, financial fascism an apt description.

[ladjf]

5. No governing system will work unless there are effective safeguards

against criminals gaining control of the apparatus. So far, none have been very successful at doing that.

[bemildred]

6. Corporate feudalism. nt

[robcon]

7. Capitalism, thank G_d. The only one of the 3 consistent with democracy

Socialism and Fascism lead to dictatorships.