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ucracies although it s tempting to view politics as tawdry and salacious theatre we can t ignore the fact that policy is still the core of america s political process view all 70 comments the different types of socialism september 19 2019 economics in the news politics theory and history bertrand russell capitalism clement attlee communism john stuart mill karl marx social democracy socialism perry casilio to most of us socialism conjures up many images these range from modern american politicians to the social democracy nations of scandinavia to communist countries such as modern day north korea and then to the most famous socialist in history karl marx undoubtedly with so many images created by the word socialism it s hard to know who owns the definition of the term although marxian socialism as practiced in communist countries is probably the most famous example marx is hardly the last word throughout history the concept of socialism has had many adherents dating back to ancient greece and the philosopher plato over the past 200 years there have been many socialist thinkers that not only differed in impact from marx they also differed in their ideas about free markets and democracy when one looks at leaders such as john stuart mill bertrand russell and clement attlee one discovers thinkers who looked at socialism as something to be used in combination with both capitalism and democracy these leaders were influential in the evolution of social democracy at times some advocates for social democracy call themselves democratic socialists what makes the practice and rhetoric of marxian socialism different is its emphasis that capitalism is exploitive in addition the rigid way that communism has been practiced is another way it s differed from other forms of socialism although its been proven since the fall of the soviet union that marxian communism is weak economically there are many who still adhere to the marxian premise that capitalism creates exploitation therefore although the economic premise of marxism is problematic the influence of marx historically and on contemporary culture looms large although many people may not describe themselves as marxists they may agree with marx s theory that capitalist culture is exploitive as a result on many issues that address social change a common way to challenge tradition is to claim that a certain practice is exploitive and yes exploitation does exist in many areas and needs to be addressed however it s fair to say that the levels of exploitation some claim exist are not always apparent to all obviously socialism and capitalism can co exist as many know the products and ideas of a capitalist system enhance the creative way we lead our lives on a daily basis we express our freedom and make decisions about how to live based on our interactions with a free market therefore in light of these positive aspects its obvious capitalism s not as exploitive as some claim where aspects of socialism have a role in modern life is in ensuring a social safety net regulating marketplaces to ensure equality of opportunity and upholding common environmental standards this ability to rely on free market capitalism to provide most of the goods and services of society while also ensuring a moderate level of government services for infrastructure security human services and defense is the hallmark of the most successful and least radical form of socialism social democracy most democracies including america have aspects of social democracy in modern america there s now a strong push for what some envision as more social democracy interestingly though the rhetoric these advocates use is sometimes similar to the rhetoric marxian socialists use this is shown when they infer that both capitalists and capitalism are exploitive and greedy hopefully when people nowadays advocate for more social democracy they ll realize that demonizing capitalism often turns many practical people off in reality the ideal of social democracy is often best achieved by first acknowledging the useful role that capitalism plays in modern life view all 47 comments social progress racism march 5 2019 economics in the news politics theory and history civil rights racism racist accusations social progress perry casilio one of the most frequently mentioned topics in today s american culture is racism for most of us not a day goes by without hearing of someone being called out as racist in addition some claim that america is a country where racism is systemic and institutionalized why is it that almost 50 years after the civil rights gains of the 1960s america is still grappling with the idea of racism and in addition why is the racist tag applied so frequently obviously the term racism can mean different things to different people in line with this the use of the term can mean different things in different eras of history for instance the use of the racist term meant something different in the era before the civil rights gains of the 1960s when one looks back at the jim crow practices common before the 1960s one can definitely see that many of the legal protections that african americans have now didn t exist and yes from a legal standpoint some can say that life for blacks during the post civil rights era is easier however if things have improved for blacks on a legal level then what accounts for the fact that claims of racism are so high in today s world there are many reasons why claims of racism still exist to some these claims exist because there s a justifiable perception that people of color still do not receive the respect they deserve to these people there s still much work to be done to address systemic racism in all of its forms ranging from subtle to the more obvious in addition and from another angle some claim the racist tag is applied loosely nowadays as a political tool to create division and call out white people these people claim that some issues now being called racist fall more in line with preferences they claim politicians and activists are creating racial hypersensitivity to exploit fear for many of us the concept of social progress is real and tangible in line with this many of us hope to envision a future where racism of any kind whether it s aimed at blacks other minorities and even whites is seen as a concept of a bygone era to further the cause of social progress it s important to help america live up to its pledge to create a society where equal opportunity for all races is respected in addition it d also behoove us to be careful of applying the racist tag to both situations and individuals too freely after all the negative effects of racism are shown not only with actual racist practices it s also shown by unjustly accusing people of racism when that may not be their intent view all 62 comments a modern debate equality of opportunity vs equality of outcome january 23 2019 economics in the news politics theory and history equality of opportunity equality of outcome perry casilio a hotly contested political debate occurring is about the eternally powerful concept of equality this debate conjures up many mental images these images range from the founding fathers and their views on equality to celebrities and athletes who espouse equality ideals to modern marxists who claim that the goal of a totally equal society is still possible and desirable yet as with many philosophical ideas equality lies within the eye of the beholder this is why the current debate is so strong in a nutshell a difference of opinion exists as to whether it s better to have equality of opportunity vs equality of outcome this is where the debate gets intense basically those who believe in a strong market based economy tend to favor building a society that has a certain measure of equality of opportunity in line with this is the assumption that its not in society s interest to dictate who succeeds the most in life on the other end of the spectrum are those who say that creating equality of opportunity is difficult at best they claim that systemic limitations place certain groups at a disadvantage and that government needs to work at creating equality of outcome for them basically many republicans and libertarians are in favor of a society that works to maintain equality of opportunity on the other side many democrats and socialists are in favor of a society that works to create equality of outcome on a common sense level its obvious that creating a society where everyone has equal opportunity to achieve equal outcomes is difficult to achieve after all even in communist societies there are powerful members of the communist party that have opportunities for success ordinary citizens don t as a result the outcomes in a communist society are not as equal as leaders advertise therefore even in countries that verbally place total equality as a goal the actual attainment of the goal proves hard to achieve the end of the cold war and breakup of the soviet union ushered in recognition that attaining total equality of both opportunity and outcome was no longer possible this recognition influenced communist countries like china to adopt free market ideas into their economy as a result china now has a dynamic economy the abandonment by china of seeking total equality taps into the psychological belief that people are not as bothered by inequality as previously thought this is because many people value having individual freedom instead of creating a totally equal society one of the difficulties encountered in communist countries is that to achieve total equality they need tight control on most economic activity as a result economic production in communist countries is often weak due to the high level of control the government exerts and subsequently the low level of economic activity in these countries often has a detrimental impact on the lives of everyday citizens the day to day struggles of those currently living in north korea and venezuela are examples of communist countries that have sacrificed economic progress in the name of creating total equality if total equality has been difficult to achieve then why does it still have such a pull on the psyche and in addition why do so many in all walks of life talk about it in various ways part of the explanation for this is the fact that its been proven in many countries that having a certain amount of equality has created a more fair society therefore human nature being what it is the question of balancing out equality issues with other factors can sometimes be downplayed the reasoning with equality is that if a moderate amount has been helpful then increasing that amount will improve things more unfortunately pushing for total equality often throws many things out of balance and can lead to tyranny in countries with a strong free market such as america many believe that equality of opportunity creates a dynamic society that benefits all in the long run when this respect for equality of opportunity is coupled with the fact americans enjoy a high amount of personal freedom it explains how american history is full of stories of many who charted their own course and achieved much in their lifetimes as for the idea of trying to guarantee a certain amount of equality of outcome for those who ve been at a disadvantage it s hard to say this is wrong after all it s been shown that when judiciously applied affirmative action has helped certain groups achieve a level of success they may not have achieved otherwise although the debate between equality of opportunity vs equality of outcome will endure the concept of ensuring a basic level of equality and fairness has proven to be eternal the nature of the equality debate mostly revolves around how much equality is practical economically and whether a loss of personal freedom is worth creating a totally equal society historically america represented one of the strongest breaks from the monarchical form of government in this sense america s respect for equality of opportunity whereby the old class structures of the monarchy were swept away helped inspire many other countries to find the strength to give democracy a try for this we all should be eternally grateful view all 58 comments the modern concept of white privilege september 29 2018 economics in the news politics theory and history dr martin luther king racial desegregation perry casilio when i was an 8 year old child in 1968 i took part in a voluntary school bussing program to promote desegregation in syracuse new york in the spring of 1968 soon after the assassination of dr martin luther king letters were sent to some families in the suburbs of syracuse asking if they d be interested in having their child attend a school in the inner city of syracuse at the time i remember my father and mother debating why a young white boy like me should be allowed to go to a predominantly black school many relatives and family friends were concerned it may not be a good idea to send me far from my neighborhood my father who was an editor at a large newspaper in syracuse was supportive of me being bussed in time my mother became supportive of the idea too to my parent s credit they didn t make the decision for me to attend the school and didn t pressure me before a decision was made my parents asked me what i thought of the idea at first i didn t know what to think however i soon came to support the idea and agreed to change schools in the fall the adventure had begun to this day i still am glad i had the experience of going to martin luther king elementary my memories of the school have many positive aspects however the transition to my new surroundings took a while although it was difficult to get used to sitting on a bus for over an hour a day i eventually got used to the ride in addition many features of the school were radically different than what i was used to for one i felt alone as a young white boy in a sea of black faces in addition since we had very few blacks in my suburban school i now knew what it was like to be a minority understandably my appearance at the black school caused reactions in my black classmates for more times than i can remember i was called honky as i was jokingly asked by my classmates whether i was lost or why i was far from home interestingly and contrary to the concerns of many i was never beat up or in any fights in my new school although there were a few times when i was nudged by assertive boys or glared at i never had concerns for my well being and made friends in my new school in particular i became close friends with two young black boys in my 4th grade who looked out for me we made an interesting trio on the campus of school in addition to my close friends looking out for me what helped me cope was the fact i realized at a young age that who i was as an individual actually mattered more than the fact i was white soon after i got to my new surroundings i learned to defuse...