Looks like PragerU didn't catch our thread yesterday.
It's kinda weird, though, that a group that praises Judeo-Christian values so much is also pushing this sort of content, which equates morality with pure liberalism, in the classical sense of the word.
It's kinda weird, though, that a group that praises Judeo-Christian values so much is also pushing this sort of content, which equates morality with pure liberalism, in the classical sense of the word.
https://twitter.com/prageru/status/1362447284709908482
Then again this is the same group that made a video with Jesus helping a homeless guy become an entrepreneur, so we probably shouldn't be surprised. 
Markets are useful things. We like markets.
The fact that market transaction takes place without physical force or fraud doesn't make its results *good*, though.
The fact that market transaction takes place without physical force or fraud doesn't make its results *good*, though.
It's certainly true that socialist states haven't delivered on their promise of economic democracy. You can learn about that in history books.
As for capitalism...well, look around.
As for capitalism...well, look around.
In a economy like ours, everybody has the formal right to own property, to buy, sell, enter into contracts, and so on. That's good as far as it goes.
That doesn't actually create "economic democracy" in any meaningful sense, though.
That doesn't actually create "economic democracy" in any meaningful sense, though.
Consumers have a collective effect on what gets produced and sold (with lots of caveats). So in that sense markets are "democratic."
But when you think about *owns* things in our system, and who profits from economic activity, it's a different story.
But when you think about *owns* things in our system, and who profits from economic activity, it's a different story.
We have gaping disparities in economic power where it counts most: people's degree of control over their conditions of work and how they are able to provide for their families.
So if you want real "economic democracy," you need to have a society where capital and ownership are widely distributed. Not monopolized by the state, but also not monopolized by a few mega-corporations and the ultra-wealthy.
We'll say this again: markets are good things. But they don't spontaneously generate the values that sustain themselves or a good society. We need more than "voluntary exchanges" to conserve the things that actually matter the most.
This is usually the point where people start asking us what all this means in practice.
Let's take a specific example of the kind of policies we have in mind.
Italy has a little something called the Marcora Law.
ica.coop/en/media/news/…
Let's take a specific example of the kind of policies we have in mind.
Italy has a little something called the Marcora Law.
ica.coop/en/media/news/…
This law was intended to help save jobs at struggling companies. It gave employees the option to buy out their own workplaces instead of receiving unemployment. They can then turn them into cooperatives, which can also receive private investment.
The result: Emilia-Romangna, a region in northern Italy, has one of the densest concentrations of co-ops in the world. 2 out 3 workers work in one, and more than a 3rd of the region's GDP is produced by co-ops.
This is what economic democracy looks like, or at least an important step in that direction.
There will always be some level of inequality in a free society. What we *can* work for, though, is a state of affairs where meaningful economic power and independence is the norm, and not the exception.
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