> http://aurora.icaap.org/talks/jsaul.html
>the Polish- American Adam Prezorski in a very dour way says
>capitalism is irrational, socialism is unfeasible, and in the real
>world people starve, the conclusions we have reached are not
>encouraging ones. It's kind of scary when you think of it in those
>terms. I do tend to think that capitalism is irrational. I know that
>socialism, or whatever we call it, has not been that successful in
>the "real world," but the impulse to resist this lowest common
What is a measure of success? I think state socialism was extremely successful in some E.E. countries, especially Poland. In mere 50 years, it undid the effect of backward feudalism, modernized the country bringing it almost to the Western European level. And it did with very low social cost, especially by the US standards. The same argument can be made about Cuba, which is much better off than all of its Caribbean /Central American neighbors. If that is not a success, I do not know what is.
Those who compare EE state socialism to American style imperialist capitalism are comparing apples to oranges. State socialism in EE was not a racing car but an ambulance designed to bring a wounded country to modernity. Obviously, it not have the speed and sexy features of the racing or luxury cars. But it did a better job resuscitating ailing EE countries than capitalism (esp. of the US variety) would have ever done. OTOH, it does not mean that people should continue riding an ambulance forever.
wojtek