Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Finance, the economy & Economics The Debate: Is America’s future capitalist or socialist?

Thanks for recognizing it.

Actually, Hayrack made a classic remark of condescension! So he knows whereof he speaks...

And they are NOT "two different things" no matter how loudly anyone protests to the contrary. We elect our representatives and our POTUS (and sheriffs, judges, even dog catchers) in a democratic fashion.
We uphold democratic principles like freedom of speech, security in our persons and personal effects, prohibition against self-incrimination at trial, no state sponsored religions, and much more.

We ARE a democracy, a representative democracy enshrined in a constitutional republic. The two are neither mutually exclusive nor detrimental to each other, and athenian direct democracy is ancient history, tried once 2500 years ago.
So the only people who keep harkening back to such an old chestnut are people who are hostile to democracy.

I am a member of the Republican Party for the lack of better one. Ideology is not important to the two major political parties. Their reason for existence is to win elections, legally if possible and illegally as long as they don't get caught.

The lost Cause was lost before Fort Sumter. When those in the southern states quoted the Anti-Federalists, who were the real Federalists, they were talking about how our Constitution was both a federal and a national one. The federal part was where the state government was in control of what happened in their state. The national part was when the central government was in charge, it was in charge of foreign relations and related matters but very little else.

Those supporters of the Lost Cause twisted (hijacked) the idea of states rights to support their economic system that was based on slavery. In doing so they rejected the idea that all men are created equal. (Slavery a Positive Good by John C. Calhoun) That rejection started shortly after Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin and that crop became "King Cotton." It became set in stone after Calhoun's speech*. Because picking cotton was a very difficult job the need for slaves dramatically increased. What I seek is a return to the days when our Constitution was both a federal and a national one while remaining true to the idea that all men are created equal.
A libertarian is not a conservative. They might sound like one but what they are is Southern Apologists. The libertarians have, thanks to Ron Paul, appropriated the label of conservative. Our Founders were split on how big our government should be. The Federalists wanted a strong central government as put forth by the Virginia Plan. The Anti-Federalists didn't and they proposed the New Jersey Plan. Their disagreement was settled by the Connecticut Compromise which made our Constitution a federal and a national one. The Federalists didn't get the strong central government they wanted and the Anti-Federalists didn't get the mild revision of the Articles of Confederation that they wanted. Which means when it first went into operation we had a small limited government. It has grown due to the fact of human nature that people lust after power. A return to the small limited government we once had is indeed impossible. It is for the reasons you mentioned. What I advocate is to reduce the size of our government as mush as is possible. Return our government to being a Constitution that is both federal and national instead of the predominately national one we now have.
*Here in Minneapolis, MN there is a lake named after John C. Calhoun. Ironically the neighborhood it is located in is a very liberal one, as is the city of Minneapolis.

So I am still lurking out here even if I often ask myself why.

Great job Hat-rack... even if I might deduce that the mercury left behind on the hat-racks from the previous mad-hatters “liberal" use of mercury before you has indeed had a substantial residual effect upon your dear and precious mind.

Stick with it son, and if repeated often enough even you might end up truly believing your meandering drivel.

Thank you Ken for showing that reading and replying to your future comments is something I shall avoid. I shall avoid them because your first comment to me is naught but gratuitous insult. A comment completely lacking in substance.

I made a delightful discovery this evening, an old post of Logtroll’s from many years ago, offering a bit of advice about debating a certain legendary Grecian Classical Liberal who once haunted these environs.

I have always admired the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps. The things created and accomplished during that time inspire me.

If they (by "they" I mean "we" of course) ever do get another WPA up and running, hopefully we can squeeze some affordable housing out of it.

Yeah I know, I know...in twenty or thirty years people will say they're ugly eyesores, and by that point or soon after, some entrepreneur is going to want to tear them down.

But no matter what, don't forget that during that twenty or thirty years span that ugly affordable housing will have served a purpose, to help working families stay together and exercise upward mobility.

The WPA and CCC were clearly socialist endeavors that helped to pull the nation through a really rough patch, at the same time creating much that has been of lasting value. Landscapes that had been trashed by rampant capitalists were healed, public works were built (walking around my town you still see “WPA 1937” stamped into sidewalks and streets everywhere), and the National Park Service has loads of architecturally significant buildings that were constructed with real craftsmanship.

It was a time when big government truly produced a great deal of wealth while helping people in need.