tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post2657208862167451712..comments2024-03-29T00:44:42.046+13:00Comments on Bowalley Road: Ten Years Ago This Week: "National Capitalism"Chris Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09081613281183460899noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-53921842045843037772009-12-09T15:04:55.585+13:002009-12-09T15:04:55.585+13:00National is to laissez-faire capitalism, as Michae...National is to laissez-faire capitalism, as Michael Cullen was to Adam Smith.Jamesonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-91055700799080692192009-12-09T11:08:59.575+13:002009-12-09T11:08:59.575+13:00The term laissez-faire capitalism means a system o...The term laissez-faire capitalism means a system of government that is totally hands off from the economy. A split in economics and state similar to the one with church and state. It is system where the governments role is to protect the inalienable rights of the individual by providing, law courts for the upholding of contracts and for law suites, police force and military. To ascribe this concept to the National party is an error both historically and today. National has never, ever been a very capitalistic party. Indeed National is more business than labour, but laissez fair capitalism has serious points of depature from the business round table. For example under the concept of this type of capitalism there would be no special interest groups, no lobby groups no legislation governing competition or redistributing wealth. National is a light form of Labour, in my opinion.Kasper Kulakhttp://kasperkulak.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-53422824039547153752009-12-08T21:55:36.869+13:002009-12-08T21:55:36.869+13:00Good idea Chris.
This walk down memory lane has b...Good idea Chris.<br /><br />This walk down memory lane has been very interesting.<br /><br />I Can recall vividly a column that you had published in the Independent in 1996 or so where you stated that the new left were the community minded people. Whereas before it was all about workers verses employers from now on it was about those who wanted to network verses those who wanted to maximise their individual wealth. It struck a real chord with me, from memory it was published at the same time as Putnam's "Making Democracy work".<br /><br />I would suggest that you put this up next. It will at least for me invoke a great deal of thought.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16293708548352713924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-54789915417253169042009-12-08T12:58:29.377+13:002009-12-08T12:58:29.377+13:00Not much changes really.
With characteristic perv...Not much changes really.<br /><br />With characteristic perversity, I've long maintained that Social Democrats (amongst whom I number myself) are the true 'small c' conservatives. <br /><br />In the tradition of Edmund Burke , we are sceptical of both excessive individualism and <br />excessive collectivism and we reject both the market place and the military command structure as our automatic default social models.<br /><br />Above all, we are conscious of the social capital that is the hard won fruit of centuries of cooperation and of living together in organisms larger and more complex than extended families. My apologies for the length of that sentence. It's an inbuilt defect when in Burkeian mode.<br /><br />National Capitalism (with a large neo-Keynsian dollop) is the most effective means of pursuing 'small c' conservative and/or Social Democratic values in the sphere of economics.<br /><br />But its application is beset with problems. The most obvious is the continued global dominance of the neo-liberal consensus.<br /><br />Another, in New Zealand's case, is that we're an immigrant nation and immigrants, by their nature, tend to be individualists and natural neo-liberals. I know that of which I speak, having been one.<br /><br />Most important of all , there is the potential contradiction between national capitalism and the cultural liberalism and internationalism that are also among the bedrocks of a civilized community. <br /><br />In my more generous moments, I often suspected that Clark, Cullen and Anderton were all dimly aware of these truths if insufficiently resolute in tackling them. But I sense no sign of such insights in our current government.<br /><br /> As I wrote in another post, however, John Key may still be an ideological work in progress. I doubt that he will 'Dish the Whigs' in Disraeliean mode. But I do not discount the possibility.<br /><br />VictorAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com