Posted: Apr 13, 2020 1:40 am
OlivierK wrote:*sigh*
Jamest, you don't seem to have a clue about what the government's role is in a modern democratic, capitalist mixed economy.
It's not to allow unfettered capitalism.
Capitalism is good at what it says on the tin: promoting the cause of capital. It's a wealth creator. That's its role in a mixed economy, and it does it well.
But wealth is not the only concern of a nation. And other concerns - particularly social capital and environmental capital - are what government exists to serve, either by regulation of capitalist activity to limit social or economic harms, or direct service provision.
And that's what governments are doing in the pandemic: taking action to protect public health; providing monetary compensation for those whose livelihoods are impacted, and directing the justice system to curtail anti-social behaviour.
For once, they're doing their jobs, rather than trying to line the pockets of their corporate donors. It's little wonder that approval rates for most governments have gone up.
In my opinion, democracy and its associated freedoms are clearly meaningless ideals wrt to governments who have imposed policies upon its citizens which counter the universal ideals of democracy/freedom, which they've done.
JS MILL would not have closed down the World's economy for this virus and neither would I. Why? Not because we're greedy bastards, but because "closing down" freedoms is the biggest crime of all, and because it's UTTERLY short-sighted to think that the current strategy is going to save the most lives in the medium to long-term.
I might sound like a heartless cold-hearted bastard, but what I'm saying here is in the best interests of both democracy/capitalism and human life in the long-term.
History will unveil all of this, but it's fucking obvious anyway. Wake the fuck up. Your government is both selfish and short-sighted and is simultaneoulsly destroying the concepts of democracy/capitalism.
When one of you realise this, I'll get onto the "What next?" aspect of the title.