Walter Williams, still wrong!

       “Professor” Walter Williams, in a recent column, asserts that Capitalism is superior to Socialism because more people have died under Socialism than Capitalism. This brutally simplistic and demonstrably wrong statement is unworthy of a man with a PhD in Economics and would almost be laughable if not for its being read and believed by many who know no better.

        Laying the deaths inflicted at the behest of dictators (like Hitler or Stalin) at the feet of either economic system is sophomoric.  Williams alleges that all the deaths in Soviet Russia (15 million or so of which were inflicted by Germans under a Capitalist Dictator) were the direct result of Soviet Communism. Likewise, he omits blame for the 6 million Jews killed on the orders of Adolph Hitler.

        The original of this essay is limited to 300 words, because I sent it to the local paper, but for information and amplification this will be longer. What is missing from Williams’ list of death by political system is:  

·       Every Famine of the last 150 odd years

·       Every preventable disease of the last 100 odd years

·       Every death caused by poverty.

·       *Almost every violent death in Africa. Since independence, and before.

* This last deserves amplification. From 1876 until the early 20^th century, Belgium, a “free market” Capitalist monarchy, exploited the Congo and its inhabitants to a degree of savagery which might have made Hitler blush if he were capable of it. Estimates are that 10 million Africans died to serve the capitalist interests of one tiny European state. King Leopold II, in a public speech in 1883, said the following:

        “Teach the niggers to forget their heroes and to adore only ours. Never present a chair to a black that comes to visit you. Don't give him more than one cigarette. Never invite him for dinner even if he gives you a chicken every time you arrive at his house…… Your action should be directed essentially to the younger ones, so they won't revolt when the recommendation of the priest is contradictory to their parent's teachings. The children must learn to obey what the missionary recommends, who is the father of their soul. You must singularly insist on their total submission and obedience, avoid developing the spirits in the schools, teach students to read and not to reason. Evangelize the niggers so that they stay forever in submission to the white colonialists, so they never revolt against the restraints they are undergoing. Recite every day - "happy are those who are weeping because the kingdom of God is for them."

         This shameless, exploitative and disgusting melding of Capitalism with Christianity isn’t atypical and tragically it exists today in America.  Ask Hawaiians or Native Americans.

        Additionally, Williams lists only the good that has been accomplished by Capitalism (he insists on using the term “free market” which is not really what any civilized nation has universally today). He then attributes all the human misery inflicted by Communist dictatorships to “Socialism.”  Both assertions are gross exaggerations and demonstrably false.

        In truth, most have been taught that there is a sliding scale of economic systems with Communism at the extreme left and Capitalism at the far right. Reality, as proven by world history, is that the economic “line” is much more like a circle. The farther right into unregulated market capitalism one goes, into Oligarchy, or unregulated market Capitalism (like Russia today) the closer one comes to Dictatorship by single party, or (Communism) as in Russia, mid-20^th century. In each, the wealthy at the top own the nation, reap the benefits, and dictate policy. In each, opposition is crushed, media controlled, and opportunity limited to the favored and powerful.

        The larger picture in America is that those who promote the current trend toward Oligarchy, justify their machinations by heralding the “horrors of Socialism,” equating it to State Socialism or Communism. In truth, there has never actually been a true Communist society for very long, principally because if power corrupts, absolute power (Lenin, Stalin, Kim, Castro, Mao) corrupts absolutely. On the other hand, to be fair, Ho Chi Minh, who guided modern Viet Nam despite of the US’s worst efforts, was an avowed Marxist, too.

         In practice, a truly communal social organization is limited to about 20 people and then, only until they run out of beer or weed, whichever happens first. Exceptions occur only when religion dulls the judgement far worse than beer or reefer ever could.

          No one of political consequence in American has even suggested the adoption of State Socialism, as those of the far right would have us believe. What has been suggested is that under-restricted free market capitalism is leaving more and more working poor behind. As to claims of disavowing all things socialist, Medicare and Medicaid are living examples of the inverse. Problems, such as there are with these two social programs are traceable back to unregulated free market policies forced on us all by drug companies which spend more on advertising in every instance (and in some instances, lobbying) than on research. It is the result of bad legislation (Medicare part D), which allows drug companies free reign to charge what they will.  

        A regulated market economy, such has evolved in the USA, can achieve great things for people. A “free market” economy, however, has allowed the current unabated drug and health care cost surge in America. A regulated democratic socialist system, maintaining market mechanics but limiting abuses, by Oligarchs, offers some hope of better life for the 99% of Americans who are not rich and the roughly 1/3 of those who have no hope other than Powerball of ever being even economically comfortable.

        We learn and forget hard economic lessons. Cats respond to maltreatment by leaving or fighting back. Economically, we in the USA are more like dogs, who tolerate abuse multiple times, assuming it’s all our fault and the owner knows best. The various “Panics” of the mid to late 19^th century, the recession of   1920, the Great Depression of 1928-1939  and the Great Recession of 2009-14  caused by the 2008 housing bubble collapse, should have been seen as evidence of the flaws inherent in unregulated human greed, yet as the Trump administration continues eroding the market strictures enacted in Dodd-Frank, it is obvious that, like our loyal canines, we have not learned and continue blindly assuming that it was all for the best and somehow we deserved it. We glory in the rare comeuppance rendered to an upper 1% financial criminal such as Bernie Maddoff simply because it happens so rarely. 

        In summary: Comparing Democratic Socialism to Soviet/Sino era Communism is roughly analogous to equating the loathsome Westboro Baptist Church hate group to a Quaker meeting.  Walter Williams, per usual, remains unhampered by facts.