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Unaffordable Socialism in Sri Lanka

(February 7, 2017, Boston Hong Kong SAR, Sri Lanka Guardian) Sri Lanka is a no-growth welfare state, which until recently could get by with minimal foreign assistance. This situation is changing, in part because of Colombos chronic neglect of its key agriculturalsector, in part because of the higher costs of Imported oil and grain, a declassified CIA paper noted.

Rice production, which increased steadily during l 965-70, has failed to increase further since 1970. The countrys heavy dependence on imported grain and petroleum and its inability to expand exports have forced stringent controls on nonfood imports and an increased reliance on short-term foreign loans, it added.

The government shows no signs of shifting toward growth-oriented policies. Failure to generate growth has worsened widespread unemployment and has eroded welfare programme, the paper monitored.

The declassified paper is reproduced below;

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Why Sri Lanka failed in Socialism CIA viewpoint - Sri Lanka Guardian

Maybe we should look at this immigration question and beyond. Absent the hysteria.

Many Americans want this country to take in millions of immigrants per year. We do. Well, we take about a million per year. Legal ones. Lord knows how many illegals come in.

Open border folks reckon we should at least double this. Or triple it. Why? To ease pressure on the countries they flee. After all, these are mostly poor people. Their impoverished countries cannot cope with them.

In fact, this does little to help those poor countries. Why? Take a million. Multiply it by a few thousand. Imagine that a million is represented by this gumball. Now imagine a few thousand gumballs. That is how many desperately poor people there are in the world. When we take in a few million, the impoverished world notices nothing.

There is a short video that will open your eyes to this. Google: Numbers USA gumball video.

What is the best way then to help those billions of people in poverty? The best way is to do what the Left abhors. It is free markets. And the right to buy and sell and own property. And the freedom to operate businesses for profit. And freedom from smothering regulations. And more freedom, period.

The Left abhors these because they are tools of Capitalism. The Left prefers Socialism. When it is not encouraging open borders, that is.

Well, that is a bit of a predicament. What works best to alleviate poverty are assorted tools from Capitalisms treasure chest. Witness China, India, South Korea. They privatized state-owned businesses. They encouraged entrepreneurs. They cut taxes and red tape. All capitalistic measures. Which helped lift hundreds of millions of their people from desperate poverty. In the greatest injection of wealth the world has ever known.

What works least to alleviate poverty is Socialism. When it is introduced to wealthy countries it does all right. Because there is much wealth to confiscate and spread around. But in poorer countries it smothers initiative. It smothers growth of wealth. Witness China before Capitalism. And Russia. Witness India before it slashed red tape and encouraged Capitalism. Witness Venezuela and Cuba and Vietnam. After 40 years of peace, Vietnams GDP is $1600 per person. Cubas is $10,000, after 56 years.

The Left is in a quandary. On one hand it wants to help the poor around the world. On another hand it does not want to encourage the very thing that works best to help the poor. It wants to encourage people to leave countries. To come to the U.S. at the expense of U.S. taxpayers. It wants to encourage Socialism for the poor countries.

This is what is called being blinded by ideology. The Lefts ideology blinds them to how Socialism harms people. When governments own factories and businesses and plan and control economies they harm people.

Their ideology also blinds them to how Capitalism lifts people out of poverty. Genuine grass-roots Capitalism does. If you doubt this, ask hundreds of millions of formerly poor Chinese and Indians.

The Lefts ideology blinds them to how cheap fossil fuels cheap energy improves the living standards of the poor. Directly and dramatically. The Chinese and Indians are not so blind. They are furiously building coal power plants. To deliver cheap energy to their poor. Both are building hundreds of new plants per year. When they achieve sufficient prosperity they will move to other fuels. But for now, ideology be damned.

If we want to help the billions of poor of the world, what works best? What has worked least? If we make a list of what works best, taking in a few million poor immigrants per year does little for those billions.

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Capitalism, Not Socialism, Is The Answer - Jamestown Post Journal

Socialists in France are choosing their candidate for this years presidential election.

Polls opened at 0700 local time.

The run-off vote pits pro-business ex-premier Manuel Valls against hard-left lawmaker, Benoit Hamon.

Yes.

Hamon is tipped to beat Valls in the head-to-head vote.

He is often compared to the leader of the UK Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn.

However, analysts say, after five years of unpoular Socialist government, he has little chance of winning the actual presidential vote.

The research suggests neither candidate would get enough support to reach the presidential election run-off in May.

The Socialists are currently predicted to come in fifth in the first round behind centrist Emmanuel Macron and left-winger Jean-Luc Melenchon.

The two frontrunners are conservative Francois Fillon and far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

Fillon is currently embroiled in a scandal over his wife being employed as his parliamentary assistant.

An official inquiry has been opened into the claims.

He was due to be holding a rally on Sunday on the outskirts of Paris for his supporters.

Polls had shown Fillon beating Le Pen in a presidential run-off vote on May the 7th, with a comfortable two-thirds of the vote.

Ratings have since suggested his popularity has dipped slightly, although there have been no polls on voting intentions since the scandal broke.

Analysts say the winner of Sundays vote could help decide the fortune of other candidates, even if the Socialists have little chance of succeeding President Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace.

A victory by Hamon could boost Macrons chances by pushing Valls centre-left supporters into the former investment bankers arms.

Hamon, a former education minister, was kicked out of Valls government in 2014 for differences over economic policy.

Party members have told journalists, on condition of anonymity, that a win by Hamon would accelerate an influx of moderate Socialist lawmakers towards Macron.

This refusal of the most pro-business wing of the party to rally behind a more radical leftist could hasten the break-up of the Socialist Party, some are predicting.

The party has been one of the main political forces in France for decades.

We now know these two different Lefts cannot govern together. It will be harder than ever to cohabit. This is why its true, we can say they have become irreconcilable, researcher Gerard Grunberg from Sciences-Po University in Paris told France Info radio.

He was Valls economy minister until he quit last year to launch his own party.

He has launched his own political movement, En Marche.

He has therefore spurned the Socialist primaries that Valls and Hamon are contesting.

The latest ones show him breathing down the necks of Fillon and Le Pen.

Read more:
Fighting for the soul of Socialism in France - euronews

You are here: Home Monthly Review Press Socialism or Nothing Imperialism in the 21st Century reviewed by PM Press

Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century: Globalization, Super-Exploitation, and Capitalisms Final Crisis 384 pp, $28 pbk, ISBN: 9781583675779 By John Smith

Reviewed by Gabriel Kuhn

John Smith opens his study Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century with a flashback to the collapse of Rana Plaza in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in April 2013. With more than 1000 garment workers killed, it was one of the worst workplace disasters in recorded history. Smith emphasizes that its occurrence in a country with some of the most exploited workers on the planet is hardly coincidental. Rather, it is a stark reminder of a brutal global regime serving the interests of capital and disregarding the lives of millions of people feeding it, most of whom live in what was once known as the Third World and is today commonly referred to as the Global South.

Read the review at PM Press

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Socialism or Nothing Imperialism in the 21st Century reviewed by PM Press - Monthly Review

Frances Socialist Party has chosen leftist firebrand Benoit Hamon as its candidate for the countrys upcoming presidential election.

The primary run-off pitted Hamon against the pro-business, ex prime minister Manuel Valls.

Hamon, a former education minister, was the favourite to win.

Among other things, he wants to establish a universal income of 600 euros a month for all adults.

Polls suggest that, after an unpopular five-year term in office under current President Francois Hollande, the Socialists do not have much chance of winning the presidential election in the spring.

The party is trailing behind conservative Francois Fillon, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, centrist Emmanuel Macron and the far-lefts Jean-Luc Melenchon.

At 1.1 million, organsers say turnout for Sundays vote was up 22.8% on the first round a week ago.

Organiser Christophe Borgel says at least 1.3 million people had voted by 1700 CET in 75% of polling stations which had reported turnout figures.

That is compared with at least one million voters a the same time last week, confirming indications of stronger turnout from earlier in the day.

Borgel said like-for-like figures showed an increase of 22.8% in turnout.

Polling opened at 0900 CET in the runoff.

The two frontrunners are conservative Francois Fillon and far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

Fillon, however, is currently embroiled in a scandal over his wife being employed as his parliamentary assistant.

An official inquiry has been opened into the claims.

He was due to be holding a rally on Sunday on the outskirts of Paris for his supporters.

Polls had shown Fillon beating Le Pen in a presidential run-off vote on May the 7th, with a comfortable two-thirds of the vote.

Ratings have since suggested his popularity has dipped slightly, although there have been no polls on voting intentions since the scandal broke.

Analysts say Hamons victory could help decide the fortune of other candidates, even if the Socialists have little chance of succeeding President Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace.

Hamons victory could boost Emmanuel Macrons chances by pushing Valls centre-left supporters into the centrist former investment bankers arms.

Hamon, a former education minister, was kicked out of Valls government in 2014 for differences over economic policy.

Party members have told journalists, on condition of anonymity, that a win by Hamon would accelerate an influx of moderate Socialist lawmakers towards Macron.

Some are predicting the refusal of the most pro-business wing of the party to rally behind a more radical leftist could hasten the break-up of the Socialist Party.

It has been one of the main political forces in France for decades.

We now know these two different Lefts cannot govern together. It will be harder than ever to cohabit. This is why its true, we can say they have become irreconcilable, researcher Gerard Grunberg from Sciences-Po University in Paris told France Info radio.

He was Valls economy minister until he quit last year to launch his own party.

He has launched his own political movement, En Marche.

He has therefore spurned the Socialist primaries that Valls and Hamon are contesting.

The latest ones show him breathing down the necks of Fillon and Le Pen.

Continue reading here:
Benoit Hamon wins the fight for the soul of French Socialism - euronews