Reply #184: Socialism with democracy would be a start. [View All]

In 2008 I would have let the banks fail, since they did so as the predictable result of capitalism, after shaping the world in their own vision. I'd have covered depositors, and that's all. Fuck the predators. I'd have used bailouts to retire state debts (a mere 1.5 trillion) so they could stimulate freely. All states would start their own development and consumer banks (on the old model of you have to actually keep a mortgage on your books). I'd have set up credit unions for all public sector employees and invited everyone to join. I'd shut down most of the military-industrial machinery and invest that in an infrastructural revolution (sustainable energy and railways, building efficiency). Amazing things become possible when you stop leaving it to the holders of capital to make all the decisions based only on profit, which is not a free market but a dictatorship of the corporate class.

That was a two-minute post. This is a ridiculous conversation to have here. You have your set slogans about labels in mind and think these very difficult matters can be settled here to anyone's satisfaction. Good luck to you.