Socialism and initiative
Sir.—G. V. Thomas says socialism has three fatal flaws: “it inhibits initiative, stifles freedom and kills com-petition-three mainsprings of human progress.” In my opinion this is nonsense. By practising socialism since 1949 China wiped out a huge legacy of foreign debt and in the last decade alone has increased agricultural production by 51 per cent and industrial production by 190 per cent, has no unemployed and a strong currency. By contrast the anti-socialist United States, with' all the advantages of natural wealth, good climate, lack of real upheaval and no civil war since 1865, has just announced its tenth successive Budget deficit (a whopping $60,000M), has an army of unemployed, and a sick dollar on world markets. Part of the United States problem is due to the oil crisis; but the oil producers were only following the good old free enterprise edict of “asking the maximum the market can stand” were they not?— Yours, etc., MALCOLM MOORE. March 8, 1978.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19780309.2.97.3
Bibliographic details
Press, 9 March 1978, Page 16
Word Count
163Socialism and initiative Press, 9 March 1978, Page 16
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.
Log in