I met a reader of this blog in Salt Lake City. The immediate question I had was about disagreements he has with my blog. A lovely man who put his criticism politely: 'you often create a straw man in the Lefty position you attack.' He had my latest blog in mind.
I re-read the blog and I don't find a
straw man. I think my Salt Lake City reader refers to my statement
that the current Left believe “(3) Socialism remains a major and
vital force in the world to help the poor, downtrodden and helpless.
It is morally superior to commerce.”
This Lefty position is not a straw man, it is widespread in spite of the unmitigated victory of commerce over central planning and income redistribution in the Cold War.
The proposal to give $ billions to poor countries to
eliminate poverty was accepted overwhelmingly at the U.N. as proposed
by Jeffrey Sachs. The EU supports Sach's proposal and the 'pour money on the poor' proposal was a
keystone in Tony Blair's demands at the most recent G-8 conference.
The same proposal was promoted extensively, with complete support, at
the recent Bill Clinton Congress of His Global Friends and Former
Cronies. If giving money to the poor to alleviate poverty isn't a
socialist idea what is it (it isn't a commercial idea)? Didn't Bill
Clinton learn from the welfare reform act he signed in 1996 that dramatically shrank the poverty roles ?
This is not a straw man I have created. This is core Lefty thinking and has been for 150 years.