Every so often, perhaps inadvertently, a collectivist says something very smart. In the case of Lula da Silva, Brazil’s socialist president, he made the common-sense observation that you can’t redistribute without first producing. He didn’t quite realize what he was saying, one imagines, since he presumably would have realized that capitalism is a superior system in both the short run and long run, but at least he recognized the role of wealth creation. Obama, by contrast, acts as if the blessings of a free market economy automatically exist and that people will continue to produce even if he persists with his statist plans to simultaneously subsidize sloth and penalize productive behavior. Here’s the excerpt with the Brazilian President’s amazing statement:
He described the situation when he was elected Brazilian president: “The country had no credit, had no working capital or financing or income distribution. What kind of capitalism was that? A capitalism without capital. I decided then that it was necessary to first build capitalism, then make socialism, we must have something to distribute before doing so.”
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I like his, perhaps unintended, admission of the bait and switch plan:
“…I decided then that it was necessary to first build capitalism, then make socialism, we must have something to distribute before doing so.”
Just don’t advertise your ultimate plans during the first phase. While truly competent people are likely to see behind the ploy, enough of the not so bright ones will fall for it and go to great lengths to produce the wealth ultimately destined for redistribution.
How do you say in Portuguese: Sit back, relax, then go to ballot box to collect your allowance ?
Very thought provoking observation. One would hope that President Silva would recognize the wisdom of building capitolism, and disregard his socialist affiliation.