Under our current system there is nothing stopping a group of people getting together and creating an employee owned company (which is what Wolff) seems to be advocating for. In fact there are a number of them in existence. WinCo a large western grocery store comes to mind.
The key to the free markets is voluntary transactions. You don't want to work for that guy, then don't. You don't want to buy from that guy, then don't. It's a free(ish) country, do what you want. If you think employee owned companies are the best then do that.
Another option, if all the employees of a public company get together and put their 401k into company shares, pretty soon they could have a large or even controlling interest in the company.
But that's not good enough for people like Wolff. Some (most) people might not live the way he wants. So he's going to use the police power of the state. Which is backed up by men with guns to FORCE you to live the way HE wants.
Socialism/communism at it's core is force. Capitalism/free markets is about voluntary transactions and choice. We should never lose sight of that.
Regarding China, their economic miracle didn't come around due to communism. It came around when they started to allow free markets. And of course they were able to short circuit a lot of development because the advancements had already occurred.
See communism works great in a family, from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. I love my family, and I will work my butt off to make sure they have a good life. But if I'm not going to keep the majority of the fruits of my labor, then I won't bother.
I won't start a business if my employees are going to be able to tell me how to run it. It won't be worth it. And quite likely I would never have bothered to get my MBA or CPA. Why bother, if I can't get ahead then just sit back and play video games.
As the old communist saying goes "they pretend to pay us, we pretend to work".
re: "Capitalism/free mkts is about voluntary transactions & choice"--sure, when everyone participating in those markets is independently wealthy. But to the extent that people don't get their basic means of survival met up-front, unconditionally, they're not free (except to starve, die of exposure, etc.)
Under our current system there is nothing stopping a group of people getting together and creating an employee owned company (which is what Wolff) seems to be advocating for. In fact there are a number of them in existence. WinCo a large western grocery store comes to mind.
The key to the free markets is voluntary transactions. You don't want to work for that guy, then don't. You don't want to buy from that guy, then don't. It's a free(ish) country, do what you want. If you think employee owned companies are the best then do that.
Another option, if all the employees of a public company get together and put their 401k into company shares, pretty soon they could have a large or even controlling interest in the company.
But that's not good enough for people like Wolff. Some (most) people might not live the way he wants. So he's going to use the police power of the state. Which is backed up by men with guns to FORCE you to live the way HE wants.
Socialism/communism at it's core is force. Capitalism/free markets is about voluntary transactions and choice. We should never lose sight of that.
Regarding China, their economic miracle didn't come around due to communism. It came around when they started to allow free markets. And of course they were able to short circuit a lot of development because the advancements had already occurred.
See communism works great in a family, from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. I love my family, and I will work my butt off to make sure they have a good life. But if I'm not going to keep the majority of the fruits of my labor, then I won't bother.
I won't start a business if my employees are going to be able to tell me how to run it. It won't be worth it. And quite likely I would never have bothered to get my MBA or CPA. Why bother, if I can't get ahead then just sit back and play video games.
As the old communist saying goes "they pretend to pay us, we pretend to work".
re: "Capitalism/free mkts is about voluntary transactions & choice"--sure, when everyone participating in those markets is independently wealthy. But to the extent that people don't get their basic means of survival met up-front, unconditionally, they're not free (except to starve, die of exposure, etc.)