The title of this post may throw you off. If you, the reader, are thinking that I am implying people steal my style (biting, in old world lingo) to boost themselves up while making no efforts of their own to be original and produce something by and for themselves and that THAT Socialism (stealing my style) is the theme of this post….you’re half right. That does indeed happen.

BUT… Let’s talk about another type of Socialism and another type of dresser.

I would like to talk about the photo on the right of a simple dresser (furniture to store clothes) I purchased years ago and the terrible and childish misunderstanding of Economics. I ordered this cholcolate-brown, wood dresser in 2010. When it arrived, I noticed how, while the exterior was solid, the interior wood was weak and flexible, almost risking to crack. I compared it to my older dresser, purchased from a very old man who moved and sold his belongings, which was from the 1940’s. The World War II era piece of furniture was rock solid, inside and out. In fact, the inside of those old drawers that held the clothes was as strong as the outside of my new dresser !!!
I mentioned this to a friend who has a soft, actually too soft, spot for Socialism. As I told him of the thin interior of my new dresser, he interrupted and said ” See? That’s Capitalism! People tying to screw you over!”

I started asking him a series of questions that he could not answer because it completely destroyed an argument that, to him, sounded good, and, I am quite sure, felt good when he said it.

I asked:

1) So, was my 1940’s, and also American, Dresser not made under a Capitalist system?

2) Since you also have had family businesses, which you quickly and clearly defend in Capitalist terms when it benefits you, you should know that costs have sky rocketed, thanks to excessive taxes and regulations. There is only so much a producer can charge, so to keep the price the same, cuts have to be made. You do realize excessive taxes and regulations are anti-Capitalist?

3) AND here was the END ALL question (2 parts, actually) :

A) Are you telling me that if we just instantly switched to a Socialist economic system that, all of a sudden, the carpenter would say, “Gee, You know what? I am going to make a better quality dresser !!! ” ?

B) Then I brought it the the logial conclusion by asking, “Do you mean to tell me that if you take the profit motive OUT of the production of that dresser then quailty would go up? In which childish world do you live in?

SIDE NOTE : In Europe, Craftsmanship was always highly prized and while they have suffered through Socialism, they have, up until recently, kept the quality high. BUT THAT IS BECAUSE OF CULTURE. There are thousands of years of beauty and pride in beauty in European, especially Italian, cultures. BUT go to a Hotel or take a cab in Italy, and they will screw you blind, those oh so noble and fair Socialists, who, you know, don’t try to “screw you over” like the Capitalists.

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