Socialism and Productivity

[macabre]

It's always been a talking point for conservatives/libertarians to say that the bigger a social safety net you give the public, the less incentive they'll have to work. I've never really looked at it until now but it's astonishing how wrong that view is. Although the US ranks high on the list, there are plenty of Western European states with large welfare states and above average productivity.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/OECD_Productivity_levels_2007.svg/800px-OECD_Productivity_levels_2007.svg.p ng (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/OECD_Productivity_levels_2007.svg/800px-OECD_Productivity_levels_2007.svg.p ng)

[Love As Arson]

Marx addressed this in the manifesto:

It has been objected that upon the abolition of private property, all work will cease, and universal laziness will overtake us.
According to this, bourgeois society ought long ago to have gone to the dogs through sheer idleness; for those of its members who work, acquire nothing, and those who acquire anything do not work.

[macabre]

Marx addressed this in the manifesto:

It has been objected that upon the abolition of private property, all work will cease, and universal laziness will overtake us.
According to this, bourgeois society ought long ago to have gone to the dogs through sheer idleness; for those of its members who work, acquire nothing, and those who acquire anything do not work.

How's Das Kapital?

[Praetor]

How's Das Kapital?
Don't mean to butt in because I can't speak for him but I'm reading it right now and I love it. I feel like it has more academic value than the Communist Manifesto.

[macabre]

Don't mean to butt in because I can't speak for him but I'm reading it right now and I love it. I feel like it has more academic value than the Communist Manifesto.

Awesome, I'm finishing up on Smith and I'm going to move onto it right after.

[Praetor]

Smith is good stuff too. I got this book out of the library, Classics of Economic Theory. It's like a compilation of the most defining works of famous economists (Smith, Malthus, Marx, Marshall, etc.) They're all abridged which is kind of a bummer but I'm learning so much.

[macabre]

Smith is good stuff too. I got this book out of the library, Classics of Economic Theory. It's like a compilation of the most defining works of famous economists (Smith, Malthus, Marx, Marshall, etc.) They're all abridged which is kind of a bummer but I'm learning so much.

Sounds interesting, I think my library has it too. Is it by George Wilson?

[Praetor]

Sounds interesting, I think my library has it too. Is it by George Wilson?
Yessir. If you just want to read Kapital then I would get it by itself but if you haven't read works by Malthus or Marshall I'd recommend nabbing it.

[saysmydoctor]

<3 Malthus

[Love As Arson]

Don't mean to butt in because I can't speak for him but I'm reading it right now and I love it. I feel like it has more academic value than the Communist Manifesto.
Well, yes, the Manifesto was more of a rhetorical document meant to generally state the ideas of the Communist League.

How's Das Kapital?
I liked it. It provides one a more thorough understanding of capitalism, including its origins and the reasons as to why something like the current crisis may happen. For anyone interested in Marxist thought, I highly recommend this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Marx-Engels-Reader-Second-Karl-Marx/dp/039309040X/ref=tag_dpp_lp_edpp_img_ex/190-8680348-2844263

[saysmydoctor]

That book you linked is one of the texts for my political theory course.

[Love As Arson]

That book you linked is one of the texts for my political theory course.
It's a fantastic book for those wanting to understand the texts most representative of Marx. That edition also speaks about the schism between the thought of a young Marx and his more mature work.

[saysmydoctor]

It's a fantastic book for those wanting to understand the texts most representative of Marx. That edition also speaks about the schism between the thought of a young Marx and his more mature work.
I'm pretty stoked about the class. I've read the Manifesto before, but I barely remember any of it. It'll be nice to pour over it again. I've always found Marx to be a very frank individual which I always found respectable.

[Love As Arson]

I'm pretty stoked about the class. I've read the Manifesto before, but I barely remember any of it. It'll be nice to pour over it again. I've always found Marx to be a very frank individual which I always found respectable.
He's also pretty funny, if you read his polemics against others in the revolutionary movement.

[Neo Cassady]

Yay for Luxembourg!