In Alaska:

[xiphias]

In Alaska, they define the natural resources as belonging to the people of Alaska. The government of Alaska leases these mineral and oil rights out to corporations, who pay the State for the right to use those resources. From that fund, every Alaskan gets a check.

In Alaska, the People collectively own the means of production, and the State administers it for the benefits of the People.

And Palin has the chutzpah to call Obama a socialist? Alaska isn't socialist -- it's communist. At least partially. While Alaska doesn't have a centrally controlled economy, as one would in a fully communist setting, collective ownership of the means of production, administered by the State for the benefit of the People is one of the fundamental communist concepts.

It's a concept which, in general, I agree with. I believe that there are many things which are in "the commons", and things in the public domain belong to the public. And that one of the things for which we create governments is to control and regulate the commons so that no one entity manages to deny other people access to them. Things like "the electromagnetic spectrum", "public domain intellectual works and inventions", and, yes, "natural resources" belong in "the commons", and so I don't have a problem with how Alaska handles their mineral wealth, particularly. But it seems downright hypocritical for Palin to be throwing around words like "socialist", "communist", and "Marxist", and using them with a pejorative tone, when Palin fits those definitions better than Obama.

Comments

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

From your mouth to 300 million pairs of ears...

[madcaptenor.livejournal.com]

Can you get this into a 30-second commercial and have it on the air in the next 48 hours?

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

No. But if anybody else can, feel free.

[bradhicks.livejournal.com]

Ironically, there's also a name for this exactly political and economic philosophy: Baath Socialism. In Baathist economics, if you made it, you get to keep it or sell it; if you just found it and it was there before you got there, it belongs to everybody.

So technically, the Alaska government isn't just socialist, it's Baathist. I'm amazed at how many very political people I know are just learning this.

[geekosaur]

So not only are they communist, they're Muslim Communists? You can't make this shit up.

[quietann.livejournal.com]

Alaska is just... weird. The people make themselves out to be highly self-sufficient libertarians... yet every citizen of Alaska gets a check (about $3000 this year) from the government, and the major source of state revenues, other than the gas/oil money, is Federal Government monies (and this is why Alaskans still love Uncle Ted, even though he's now a convicted felon.)

[rmjwell.livejournal.com]

Western states are all fucked up in that regard. All these free market, guns-from-my-cold-dead-hands sorts bleat like scared sheep if you ever dare talk about water rights and where they come from.

Denail... it isn't just a river in Egypt.

[gingicat]

Well, except that Palin thinks they're all being capitalist, that Alaska is one big corporation.

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

If they were truly capitalist they wouldn't accept Federal monies for Alaska projects. If Alaska ever truly seceded from the US they'd be very unhappy about their sudden decline in standard of living.

[gingicat]

Corporations accept federal monies too. :)

[paper-crystals.livejournal.com]

If they had more of a decline in standard of living from what I can tell they would hit third world. It is my impression that Alaska isn't super-proserous.