Marxism goes against hard-wired human incentives and psychology. It can only be instituted and enforced at the tip of a spear. Or, lots of body armor, guns, tanks, and making sure the population doesn’t have anything to defend itself with.
The core principle of Marxism is everything is “fair” and all are “equal”. Yet, even Marxist societies have varied classes and nothing is ever fair and equal.
When I hear American politicians talk about “fairness” or “equity” or “equal” my ears perk up. You know the next policy they propose will benefit a special interest. They never seem to chat about objectivity.
The core thrust of the modern Democratic Party is about fairness, equity, and being equal. Many of their ideas have roots in Marxism.
One program would assist black borrowers with down payments. Most home-buyers are required to put down at least 20% of the cost of a new home to reduce the risks of default. Fannie’s plan would effectively require taxpayers to subsidize down payments for black borrowers. Revenue that Fannie earns on its mortgage portfolio is retained as capital to protect taxpayers during a downturn. Under Fannie’s plan, some of that revenue would go to reducing down payments.
Another new program would reduce “loan level price adjustments” for black home buyers. Lenders typically charge higher rates for borrowers with lower credit scores, and Fannie says reducing them can “reduce obstacles for prospective Black homeowners.”
Still another program would “support the reduction of borrower closing costs for Black homebuyers”—for instance, via appraisal reimbursements. Taxpayers would help finance this “support.” Fannie also wants to help black homeowners avoid foreclosure by helping them “deal with unexpected expenses and repairs, or temporary disruptions to income.” This suggests that Fannie may now push into funding home repairs and welfare.
No one is against home ownership. But, you have to save and work to get one. I wonder if the Black Lives Matter leaders will be putting up money for down payments so Black people that want to own a home can own a home. Please give me a nudge and wake me up if it happens.
Eliminating Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and all the government programs associated with home ownership might be a good idea. It could make housing a lot more affordable for more people.
I read that there is a run on some Chinese banks. The interesting thing to me is not the bank runs. The really interesting thing to me is the psychology of the people and their government.
In a communist society, people don’t own the resources and they don’t own anything else. Government does. Hence, the “money” these people are demanding from the bank isn’t actually theirs and never has been theirs. It’s the Chinese government’s money and property.
However, people “worked” to get the money. They invested their time and resources. There is a psychological construct that happened. If you ask them, they don’t think it is the government’s money.
I had a friend who grew up behind the Iron Curtain in Romania. He told me that since it was communist, you didn’t actually have to work to receive your stipend from the government. People “went to work”, but just sat around and smoked cigarettes all day. With socialized medicine, there was no incentive to take care of yourself either.
In his part of Romania, neighbors snooped on neighbors. If you bought something new, they wondered how you got it. He said everyone was equally poor. No one rose and got out of their lifestyle situation. They were stuck.
I don’t think the rural bank runs in China are a threat to the worldwide economic system. If it leads to less stability in China, I am all for it. The world would be a much better place without a communist China. Those bank runs seem to be isolated but it’s evidence of human psychology and the value we place on time and effort. We invest our time and effort to get resources so we can live.
Capitalism is a "natural" economic system meaning it is drawn from logical natural thoughts - "I work hard. I make money. I get to keep the fruits of my labor. I live well. I have capital to invest and risk. I make more money. I live even better. I pass my wealth down to my heirs."
It all starts with my labor.
Communism, socialism, the American left are all about taking one man's labor, the result of that labor, and redistributing it to folks whose main identifying characteristic is they do not work, but they want the same outcome as the hard worker.
Capitalism creates a mountain top of upward mobility and natural incentive - we used to call this the American Dream - whilst the other redistributive system creates a low plateau with no upward mobility.
The harnessing of the US gov't for redistribution is much like its current weaponization - using the gov't to punish accomplishment and to "take care of" the special interests and discriminatory voting blocs of the Dems to retain power.
Don't for a second think that the Biden is a thoughtful immigration bleeding heart. He is importing illegally future Dem voters.
America is 13.4% black with a huge white guilt overhang from the hideous practice of slavery. Given the passage of time and the success of black America, it is questionable if another such program is justified - not saying it isn't, but we need to have that debate absent the white guilt and the presumption of needing or requiring assistance.
I cannot find a single instance wherein Communism or socialism or the policies of the Dems have equaled or surpassed the fruits of labor - capitalism.
JLM
www.themusingsofthebigredcar.com
The problem with the current race based approach to the world is that it makes it acceptable and even preferable to judge people by the color of their skin. All of the Marxist intersectionality will eventually boil away leaving our culture with the basic idea that skin color is predictive of ability and performance. And then it will be noticed that people with black skin commit a lot of crime and require a lot of preferential treatment from the government -- and most others do not. Without the Marxist baloney that goes along with the current approach there will be a return to the racism of the 1950s when even liberal democrats believed in equal rights, but didn't think black people could cut it in the broader world. I think it will take about one generation to make the turn. It's very sad and very unfair, but the current approach to white supremacy is also unfair, and stupid.