New York, New York
The authors of Evolution-Revolution are currently visiting New York as part of our January tour of the United States. A proud bastion of capitalism and free markets, Manhattan also has some fine examples of what decent government can accomplish. Try asking a New Yorker whether Central Park ought to be sold off to a real-estate developer because having it government-owned is socialism.
2 comments
Hey, author, please look up the word ‘propaganda’, it says “Propaganda is a form of communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience.”
Dear John Doe,
thank you for your criticism. Let me point out, however, that we make no attempt at impartially providing information – we only provide commentary (or analysis, if in a presumptuous mood). We do press the point, however, that we are just as interested in having people disagree with us as agree with us. Hence this comments section.
At any rate, I am eager to also hear your views on Central Park, and wether it is a symptom of socialism or not. Personally, I don’t think so – and I think one would have to be radically far right (or left?) to even think that the argument had anything to it. My point above was rather to show that a government spending tax money on providing various not-essential-but-nice services doesn’t have to beget a socialist doom. Arguably, the government/market dichotomy – while it is very real and dangerous in some cases – is to some extent merely imagined in others, and I think this is important to point out. In the case of Manhattan, one could perhaps argue that a publicly owned central park has contributed positively to establishing it as a financial powerhouse, by making the city a more attractive place to live for very highly skilled professionals.
All the best,
Stephan A. Jensen
Leave a Comment