Libs and Cons Special Blog Series: When Smart People Fuel Stupid Economic Misconceptions

MISCONCEPTION: SOCIALISM VS. CAPITALISM IS OUR BATTLE

This battle is a non issue; you're not with one or against the other. If this paramount battle between right and wrong touted routinely by the Republican indeed has no basis in reality, then it was necessarily created exclusively to divideto divide people and therein becomes an illustration of the polemics that run so deep in the Republican party.

REALITY: THERE IS NO BATTLE. LEADERS USE TOOLS BASED ON IDEOLOGY TO MANAGE THE ECONOMY.

Economic theories are neutral. Economic policy is only as good as the people executing it. An economy is a phenomenon of the people, services, and resources that make it up; tools based on free market or social economic theories contribute to the ongoing success. Sometimes you need a hammer, sometimes you need a screwdriver. If you refuse to use a hammer because it’s a hammer, you’re screwed when you discover that you accidentally got nails. I guess it’s a good enough excuse when you have people begging to let them do your work anyway.