u-Bob

There are only 2 options:

1. freedom, liberty, justice, the market, no government intervention
2. government intervention, collectivism

So, yes there's a difference between socialism, Socialism, communism, social-democracy, mututalism, anarcho-syndicalism, national socialism, fascism, corporatism, anarcho-communism,.... But in the end they are all the total opposite of pure capitalism. In a pure capitalist world (a free world, a voluntaryist world, a Rothbardian world) every human being is master of his own body and the fruits of his labour.

Like I said, this system is a corporatist system. People are bound by debt because of collectivist principles. Politicians make decisions, spend money and let the people pick up the tab.

The fact that you won't have an income if you quit your job does not mean you don't have a choice. In a free world, you are free to find another job or start your own company.

In a free world wages are determined the same way the prices of of factors of production are determined: law of supply and demand.

If my company needs 10 expert widget makers, and another company also needs 10 and there's only 10 of them out there, guess what will happen. Prices (wages) go up. When people see there's a lot of money to be made if you're an expert widget maker, a lot of them will train to become an expert widget maker.... more expert widget makers => prices go down. Some expert widget makers will decide they're no longer willing to work for that price and train to become something else. and the cycle continues....

I was explaining how the raw materials and labour are not the only factors that determine the value of a 'product'.

But then again, according to Marx there's an infinite supply of raw materials and the concept of price is totaly irrelevant.

I think history proved you wrong on that one. What's thé most distinguishable aspect of communist countries? Queues and waiting lists. Want a car in a communist country? No problem, you'll have to wait 2 years. Oh and if you ware not happy with the color, too bad. The guy who's passionate about building cars, just also happened to be passionate about the color pink

Without a free market, there are no market prices. without market prices, there's no economic calculation. without economic calculation, there will be shortages of things people want and too much of things people don't want.

What do you do if only 1 guy is passionate about making shoes and 6000 are passionate about making clogs, but everyone wants shoes?

making a profit = engaging in an activity that results in you having accomplished something you wanted to achieve.

Developing a vaccine = making a profit.
helping poor children in Ethiopia = making a profit.

Let's say you want to feed hungry children in Ethiopia. You'll need food and a way to get it there. You could plow the field, grow and harvest crops, bake bread, build a boat or airplane, fly to Ethiopia, distribute the bread. I doubt you are equally good at growing crops, baking bread, building airplanes, flying airplanes,....

We are all individuals, we are all different, we all have things we are good at. Wouldn't it be more efficient to do what you are good at to make money (=the means to facilitate trade) and use that money to buy bread and ship it to Ethiopia?

Devision of labour is what allows us to specialize in what we are good at or passionate about. The market is the system that 'organizes' everything in the most efficient way.

I'll read that and get back to you.



The Austrian School goes a lot further than Ron Paul....

I live in a country with so called free health care and social security and paid paternity leave and paid maternity leave and free training if you are out of work and free public transportation if you are looking for a job.... Hell, normal employee's can even take up to 5 years of leave 'without pay' and get 80% of their former salary paid every month by 'the state'. but unlike the spoiled masses that just want more and more, I understand that there's no such thing as a free lunch. Someone always has to pay the price.... And that's where that huge debt came from...