Alterman on Chomsky

[Bradford DeLong]

>Bradford DeLong wrote:
>
>>>Well, see, I really don't buy the point you're making here, which is
>>>apparently that such economic experiments were unmitigated disasters (well,
>>>North Korea certainly is, but it's in a class by itself). This seems to
>>>presuppose that there is A style of life which appeals to everybody, across
>>>cultures. Whether you prefer Brezhnev-style socialism or US-style capitalism
>>>is going to depend to a great extent on which you find preferable, a stable,
>>>cradle-to-grave social security net or lots of quality consumer goods.
>>
>>Western Europe manages to have both...
>
>So Zambia and Uzbekistan should just wake up tomorrow and resolve to 
>be more like Western Europe?
>
>Doug

No. I wanted to argue against the idea that one's choices were 
limited to Brezhnev's Utopia or Reagan's Utopia. One *can* have a 
working social-insurance state without the... drawbacks of really 
existing socialism.

Well, maybe not in Zambia and Uzbekistan today one can't, but 
hopefully someday...

Brad DeLong