Comments by "John Burns" (@johnburns4017) on "OxfordUnion" channel.

  1. At 11:06 he is on about property rights. What he means is private ownership of land in which the landowner charges rent to others. This is appropriating commonly owned and created wealth for private profit. Eventually as time goes on, the land ends up being 'owned' by a few people, as in the case in the UK. In the UK 0.6% of the population own 70% of the land. They are the country's richest people. The production of the biggest resource we have, land, is not used for the people as a whole. Fred Harrison was an economic advisor to Russia on the break up of the USSR. He strongly advised them to keep all land and natural resources under common ownership. They never. Now look at the mess and inequality in the society they have created. The free market works well when not monopolised or rigged. However it can only work well when the fruits of all commonly created and owned resources stay common. In the western world the concept of land 'ownership' is ingrained into the population. Using Land Valuation Tax eliminating income & sales taxes solves all that. But this is alien to top 'greed is good' Tories. They are so anally retentive they can't see that Land Value Tax is actually better for them and everyone else.
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  2. "if you want any kind of equality right now, you have to try to insert socialism into capitalism." Try Geonomics. Mason Gaffney on Henry George, one of the 19th C promoters of Geonomics: "George's blend of radicalism and conservatism can puzzle one, until it is seen as a reconciliation of the two. The system is internally consistent, but defies conventional stereotypes." - Professor Mason Gaffney (US economist)
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  3. Excellent indeed. BTW, privatising resources is a road to ruin and the reinforcement of the trickle up economy of which we have. The 'economic rent' of the nations resources should stay in common hands.
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  4. Greg ulgcyfvtg Marx got hell of a lot wrong. He did not understand Land, but appeared to at the end after a spat with Henry George. Geonomics is not ideology, it is an economic system. The problem is that people mix up economics with politics. Read the modern versions of Progress and Poverty by Henry George for starters.
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  5. Greg ulgcyfvtg Marx did not understand too well that common economic activity soaks into the land and chrysalises as land values. Land values are not manna from heaven. He did not understand Ricardo's Law of Rent. Henry George fully understood it. Adam Smith, Thomas Paine, Ricardo all understood Land and its resources and how it is key to all. On reading Henry George's book Progress and Poverty' Marx said it was Capitalism's last ditch or something like that. In his latter years Marx did value land more in his economic views. It took a while for the penny to drop. Recently, Pickerty never understood land either. Yet he is world renowned. You are right that politicians keep an economic system current. But economists are not politicians.
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  6. We do not have a full free market. We allow private organisations to hold monopolies and most importantly appropriate commonly created wealth - legalised stealing. 
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  7. Private monopolies with a rigged market and small government can, and does, lead to large private organisations pulling the strings of government. Large private organisations get rich by monopoly, rigged markets and appropriating commonly created wealth (legalised stealing).
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  8. kingmatt2563 The penny is dropping. :)
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  9. ***** Lenin said he feared he replaced private capitalism with state capitalism. The organisations only changed ownership, not much else. They should have been runs as cooperatives, what economist Marx recommended in his writings.
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  10. ***** You need to understand the difference between democratic socialism and Communism.
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  11. ***** Capitalism simultaneously put men on the moon The Soviets were well ahead in the Space race. First man in space, first radio signal, first Moon Rover, etc. The US put a man on the Moon first, that was about it. The Soviets did it with a fraction of then budget of NASA. and provided living conditions for the "poor" that were better than most of the people on the planet. You need to get your head out of the sand. Look at the favellas around Capitalist cities. Look at the shanty towns in the USA right now, full of people thrown out of their homes because of foreclosure. The winner takes all version of Capitalism we have now does not work. That is plain to see.
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  12. ***** It sounds odd as well.
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  13. Greg ulgcyfvtg The values of land is determined mainly by the economic benefits its location yields.
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  14. Greg ulgcyfvtg Capitalism 'currently' thrives on appropriating commonly created wealth - known as 'economic rent'. Wealth they never earned. Geonomics is based on the free market (an unmonopolised and unrigged market) with 'economic rent' reclaimed by the community to pay for common services. This can eliminate income and sales taxes, which are penalty on production.. This is not a wild theory. It works in reduced forms around the world right now. Economic rent is where there is no enterprise or costs of production. In short, it was made by us, the community. This belongs to us, and has to be reclaimed for our services.
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  15. "It has been the first to show what man’s activity can bring about. It has accomplished wonders far surpassing Egyptian pyramids, Roman aqueducts, and Gothic cathedrals; it has conducted expeditions that put in the shade all former Exoduses of nations and crusades." That is what Marx wrote about the benefits of Capitalism. It has to be kept in check and not allowed to run wild - we know the consequences of that. Geonomics does that.
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  16. Greg ulgcyfvtg Marx wrote about the great achievements of Capitalism. Marx did not think it was all bad.
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  17. Correct. Private organisations should only be in the free market. If they are not, they have no business being involved as it will be a monopoly. Private monopolies should not exist.
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  18. It is not so cut and dried. Small government removes many checks and balances leaving the system open to corruption.
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  19. kingmatt2563 Look at any 3rd world country. Look at how the USA and UK are semi-dictated to by corporations.
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  20. ***** It is not socialism. Private organisation should only be in the free market, not monopolies, or where they appropriate commonly created wealth. The state running a monopoly is not socialism.
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  21. ***** Marx recommended common ownership of banks, land (essential) and transport & utility infrastructure. Funnily enough what many were saying we should have after the 2008 crash. Marx was for cooperative, which by nature are owned by the 'workers' in the co-op organisation. Those countries who implemented Marx got a lot wrong on his teachings.
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  22. SharkFace69 MLG Hardly a rational argument, but an opinion I suppose.
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  23. SharkFace69 MLG socialism is for the uneduecated. You need Socialism urgently then.
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  24. SharkFace69 MLG You must fall into Socialism as by your metric you are uneducated.
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  25. SharkFace69 MLG You are an idiot.
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  26. SharkFace69 MLG If I debate with and idiot we end up with two idiots.
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  27. SharkFace69 MLG I have a gift of recognising an idiot.
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  28. ***** "Wealth redistribution isn't socialism" 100% correct.
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  29. ***** You have not a clue. I advise to stop reading the Daily Mail.
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