To what extent is democracy a tug-of-war over reallocating resources? Vs collective long term decision making that makes us smarter.
I have just moved from China to UK and I’ve recognised that, economically speaking, while many people in UK would say that China is more socialist than UK, I’ve found that UK is more socialist than China.
As a percentage of government spending UK is more socialist than China.
1) Democracy leads to socialism
Socialism is defined as broadly speaking, a political and economic system in which property and the means of production are owned in common, typically controlled by the state or government. Socialism is based on the idea that common or public ownership of resources and means of production leads to a more equal society.
People don’t realise this, but when there is a common vote, most people who are less well off, will vote to be better off, and will vote for the party that spends more money on them. This is exactly what has happened in UK in the last 100 years.
Here it is according to some key events:
According to the parties of the last leaders, the conservatives have always decreased government spending and labour increased it. When it is too high or low the other party will get voted in.
The UK needs to find a balance of:
– Redistributing the economy and satisfying people and making the economy dynamic enough.
In 1850, the UK government spending was 10% or less of GDP.
Does democracy lead to wokeness?
the quality of being alert to and concerned about social injustice and discrimination.
China is less socialist than UK and more capitalist.
Here are the pros and cons of democratic socialism:
Source.
2) I believe that a dynamic capitalist economy needs to have less government spending.
I think in order to develop a more dynamic economy it needs to be less than 40% or even 30% government spending.
Dynamic means: If you describe someone as dynamic, you approve of them because they are full of energy or full of new and exciting ideas.
Capitalism is defined as: an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit.
Here is USA:
I think the most capitalist places to live right now are the city states UAE and Singapore.
Singapore is below
This is the government spending as a ratio of GDP in UAE
Why am I writing this? Part of it is to explore some ideas and clarify some thoughts. I write as a way to think. Here is an article about why I write. What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below
