Admit it: TARP worked

**Lemur** · 11-20-2010, 00:36

An interesting article over at FrumForum, and one with which I largely agree:

Free-market capitalism and the constitution are among our noblest concepts and vitally important to the life-blood and character of this nation; they are what made us great, but they are not suicide pacts. And I ask those of my libertarian friends who love no government at all, those who claim they would have let the banks die, to consider the history of fascist states and remember that the rise of dictators and despots is often through the exploitation of major social/economic upheaval. America is not immune to this phenomenon. I was not willing to run the risk should the free marketers have truly underestimated the severity of the crisis and chaos which ensued.

I would be interested to hear the Orgah perspective on this.

**Beskar** · 11-20-2010, 00:44

I think I said a reply to CR which pretty much said something similar to this. Unfortunately, he didn't reply to it, I was interested in how he would view what I said.

**HoreTore** · 11-20-2010, 00:48

~~Planned economy~~
Mixed economy
~~Laissez-faire economy~~

Get with the program, people!

**jabarto** · 11-20-2010, 03:35

Free market capitalism didn't make us great. We got to the position we're at for two main reasons:

1. We protected the hell out of our industries during their infancy, and
2. All of our competitors were carpet bombed in WWII.

**Beskar** · 11-20-2010, 04:48

Originally Posted by jabarto

Free market capitalism didn't make us great. We got to the position we're at for two main reasons:

1. We protected the hell out of our industries during their infancy, and
2. All of our competitors were carpet bombed in WWII.

Actually, they were decimated during the First World War. The periods afterwards and growing independence movements, along with World War 2 just killed off its main European rivals, Britain and France, as both Britain and France dismantled their empires after the war as well. As Japan (America's biggest rival) was also taken care off, it allowed America to assume the position of being the most dominant power, filling up the vacuum of space being left by the other nations.

**Fragony** · 11-20-2010, 05:17

He's an idiot all systems are as good as their people, there's no evil in capitalism or communism or even national-socialism for that matter for extreme's sake. Libertarians take decency for granted, that may be stupid and unrealistic but I prefer it over the cynism that is control of any sorts. It's not the answer to anything, just a direction

**Brenus** · 11-20-2010, 08:25

“there's no evil in……..even national-socialism”: ???????? Err, a political doctrine based on Racism, war and natural right to expend and enslave eastern neighbours?

**Fragony** · 11-20-2010, 09:52

Originally Posted by Brenus

“there's no evil in……..even national-socialism”: ???????? Err, a political doctrine based on Racism, war and natural right to expend and enslave eastern neighbours?

That's what national-socialists did, there is no section on Siberian camps in Das Kapital as far as I know. National-socialism was a normal political movement in many a European country at the time, and social and racial darwinism as well, heck in the seventies people who didn't look all that vking were still sterilised in Scandinavia.

**Rhyfelwyr** · 11-20-2010, 11:50

Originally Posted by Brenus

“there's no evil in……..even national-socialism”: ???????? Err, a political doctrine based on Racism, war and natural right to expend and enslave eastern neighbours?

If you strip all the racism etc that was associated with the historical national socialist movements, all it really is is a different take on the economy. A third way between capitalism and communism.

I actually quite like the national socialist approach to the economy, doesn't make me a neo-Nazi.