I think I like you already, it's so hard to spot tongues in cheeks over the net though.
Why are the left such poe-faced humourless b*ggers?
- Thread starter Mescalito
- Start date
I think I like you already, it's so hard to spot tongues in cheeks over the net though.
TPA
Trade: Tiger Paw
I don't think my opinions or persuasions are formed from 1974 political experiences, more from 30 years of working, travelling and observing. If a pragmatic approach to economic systems puts me on the left so be it, but I don't feel I'm chained to inflexible economic beliefs or that I'm continually looking for an enemy which seems to be the defining principle with some here.
G
Guest432
Guest
And you wouldn't be posting on PFM with all the bloody power cuts.
Still
he said his naim was ralph
Thank goodness the market has ensured value for money power supplies in dear old blighty.
Changing the thread title to …
'Why do I constantly express/project simplistic political views, & feel sad when the lil' fish don't find my attempts at humour funny?'
… would be a good start.
Who was buying? ;-)
Changing the thread title to …
'Why do I constantly express/project simplistic political views, & feel sad when the lil' fish don't find my attempts at humour funny?'
… would be a good start.
Who was buying? ;-)
MikeMA
pfm Member
The thing about Capitalism is that it is not ideologically driven. It is essentially a "bottom up" system which has simply evolved: the Darwinian result of competition for scarce resources and their application to meet the needs of human society. Granted, it needs to be managed, regulated and controlled to prevent its worst excesses, but ultimately free markets are the simplest and most efficient way of matching supply and demand. Socialism on the other hand is essentially an idealogically driven artificial construct, and while many of its proponents may mean well, it never really works: it's allways jam tomorrow.
MikeMA
pfm Member
Indeed. UK energy prices are still among the lowest in the EU, even after the latest round of increases, though I suspect that's not what you meant.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6eeb40b0-6321-11e3-a87d-00144feabdc0.html
Greg
2t5b
in reality this is untrue. Over several decades capitalism in the leading economies has followed an ideological route of one form or another. This notion of free markets is very much a red herring.
Still
he said his naim was ralph
Your linked piece is behind a paywall, so not much use, but I don't need to see the article to know you are misinformed.
In fact UK energy prices are very much in the middle when compared to the rest of Europe: http://order-order.com/2013/09/25/how-do-uk-retail-energy-prices-compare-to-rest-of-europe/
Joe Hutch
Mate of the bloke
As Adam Smith put it:
'To widen the market and to narrow the competition, is always the interest of the dealers…The proposal of any new law or regulation of commerce which comes from this order, ought always to be listened to with great precaution, and ought never to be adopted till after having been long and carefully examined, not only with the most scrupulous, but with the most suspicious attention. It comes from an order of men, whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public, who have generally an interest to deceive and even oppress the public, and who accordingly have, upon many occasions, both deceived and oppressed it.'
'To widen the market and to narrow the competition, is always the interest of the dealers…The proposal of any new law or regulation of commerce which comes from this order, ought always to be listened to with great precaution, and ought never to be adopted till after having been long and carefully examined, not only with the most scrupulous, but with the most suspicious attention. It comes from an order of men, whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public, who have generally an interest to deceive and even oppress the public, and who accordingly have, upon many occasions, both deceived and oppressed it.'
MikeMA
pfm Member
You should try reading your own link. It says: Energy prices are going up for everyone, though the UK still has it far cheaper than most.
Joe Hutch
Mate of the bloke
Irony indicators would kind of spoil the point.
Jonathan Swift
'A Modest Proposal'
For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland, from Being a Burden on Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick.
<Irony alert> Please be aware that despite the wording of the Proposal I am not actually advocating the cooking and eating of babies.
I do therefore humbly offer it to publick consideration, that of the hundred and twenty thousand Children, already computed, twenty thousand may be reserved for Breed, whereof only one fourth part to be Males, which is more than we allow to Sheep, black Cattle, or Swine, and my reason is, that these Children are seldom the Fruits of Marriage, a Circumstance not much regarded by our Savages, therefore, one Male will be sufficient to serve four Females. That the remaining hundred thousand may at a year Old be offered in Sale to the persons of Quality, and Fortune, through the Kingdom, always advising the Mother to let them Suck plentifully in the last Month, so as to render them Plump, and Fat for a good Table. A Child will make two Dishes at an Entertainment for Friends, and when the Family dines alone, the fore or hind Quarter will make a reasonable Dish, and seasoned with a little Pepper or Salt will be very good Boiled on the fourth Day, especially in Winter.
TheDecameron
Unicorns fart glitter.
I think the problem created by the absence of ironicons is that occasionally 'Outraged of Scalford Hall' will take a wrong turn coming out of the audio room and step right into a pile of it in the off topic room. Instant offence is caused and a stream of Littlejohn style pronouncements gets farted out before a tactical withdrawal.
MikeMA
pfm Member
The fact that people attemp to influencel capitalism and the market economy for their own idealogical reasons does not make the basic concepts idealogical. I agree that free markets are never really free. There will allways be internal frictions and the desire to regulate and control but markets, however imperfect, are still the best way of allocating scarce resources. The alternatives just never work.
