Search This Blog

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Socialism In One Country

I seem to remember that "Socialism in One Country" was a slogan floated by the USSR, sometime after the Revolution when it had become clear that world-wide revolution was not going to occur. The expressly international aspect of Marxism had to be amended to a more parochial nature: hence, socialism in one country, the USSR. Having said that, since the Soviet Union has gone the way of the saber-toothed tiger, what is the most socialized country in the world? What country has the most socialized and planned economy? I think a case may be made that the USA is. The era of great economic planning and control started in World War II. The governments essentially took over the economies of their nations to defeat Hitler. After WW II, the USA's military budget continued to grow, and the role of the military continued to expand. The entire portion of the economy of the USA devoted to the military: the military itself, support, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, etc., may be viewed as planned economy in the fullest sense of the word. This is the socialism we speak of, the planned economy, planned by government agencies. Thus, the USA will be in the running in the race for the most socialist country in the world, getting an enormous boost out of the starting block from its gargantuan military budget.

No comments: