The Myth of Capitalism vs. Socialism re Reality

The Myth

There's only one general type of Socialism, and it's all bad/destructive.  [Such is the view of the Political Far-Right around the world.]  There's only one general type of Capitalism, and it's all bad/destructive.  [That's the view of the Political Far-Left around the globe.]  Neither assertion is true.  In each case, there are at least two types:  dictatorial, and democratic.

The Reality

First, let's look briefly at the USA.  My beloved Land is usually thought to have a purely capitalist economic system.  That's certainly the view of most people on the political Right, and probably the view of most on the political Left as well.  The fact is: ours is a Mixed Economy.  While it's primarily capitalist, it has many aspects of democratic socialism.  Here are several of those aspects:  PUBLIC roads; PUBLIC schools; PUBLIC water systems; PUBLIC sewer systems; PUBLIC museums; PUBLIC parks; PUBLIC health clinics; PUBLIC Zoos; the Social Security Administration; prison industries; and the V.A. health care system.  There's more, but you probably get the idea by now.  Also consider the following.

When people refer to "capitalism in the USA", precisely which version of that economic system is being referenced?  Is it Crony Capitalism?  Neoliberal Capitalism?  Disaster Capitalism?  Casino Capitalism?  Monopolistic Capitalism?  Oligarchic Capitalism?  [They all exist here.]  It most certainly is NOT Adam Smith Capitalism.  That's found mostly only in the arena of Small Business enterprises.  Mega Biz people engage in the other forms.  I doubt most of them even have read The Wealth of Nations.

Adam Smith considered himself more of a philosopher than an economist.  Nevertheless, he's lauded as the Father of Economics.  He favored the establishment of SMALL, competitive businesses, not Mega, monopolistic Biz.  He never used the term "capitalism"; instead, he referred to "commercial society".  Most importantly, he believed that economics was only one aspect of the human condition, and not the be-all and end-all of Life.  The full title of his famous book is An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.  He was a Scotsman, and he changed the world.

Let's consider even more briefly the countries which adhere to democratic socialism, such as Norway***.  While they primarily may be socialistic in nature, from all I've read and heard about their economics, it seems to me they do embrace capitalism to a significant degree.  In other words, they each have a Mixed Economy.  I doubt many of their Powers-That-Be would deny it.

***Norway is the richest country in the world...not in aggregate financial wealth, but in the more accurate and comprehensive  measurement of per capita income.  It beats the USA in that regard.

Usually, in any "free world" country it's the Far Right and the Far Left folks who ignore the reality of their Mixed Economy.  They can't wrap their minds around such a concept maybe because it seems to contradict their ideology.  They are "True Believers", and nothing will do except pure capitalism or pure socialism.  Perhaps with age they'll realize that most things in Life are gray, not black or white.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well