[wtcactus]

Oh, yeah. Regulating the food prices is the trick here. That went really well in the Soviet Union and Mao’s China... just to name a couple of examples.

It's funny that for some people, the answer of the enormous failings of Marxism is always "We need even more Marxism!"

[nialv7]

Food production is heavily supported by the government in China in order to keep food affordable. Food price is also incredibly low in China. If that's failing that the Western world is in hell now.

[kjksf]

Per AI, comparative food production subsidies are the same in US and China. China spends a 2x total but they have more people so per farmer support is more or less the same.

So if that's your metric, US is at par with China.

US food is affordable. To the extent that food in China is cheaper, I'm pretty sure the main reason is dramatically lower cost of labor.

But the premise of your comment is just wrong.

Money doesn't grow on trees. It's taken by the government from people.

Subsidies don't make things cheaper. They just obscure the real cost and can be used by politicians to buy votes from pickFrom([farmers,students,renters,teachers,...])

If US government didn't spend $35 billion/year subsidizing food production, food would be more expensive but an average worker would have $214 more per year to spend on food.

[carlosjobim]

Today's China isn't Mao's China.

[psychoslave]

Certainly, but it's officially communist, which is at least as true as western countries being capitalist free market democracy where every citizen is equal.

[zwnow]

At what point will it get worse, a planned economy or a free economy based on greed? Life is getting more unaffordable with each passing day. Corporations need to be put in their place given that politicians dont even have backbones anymore as soon as they smell corpo money.

[beeflet]

So much money flows through the government that I would say it is already a planned economy

[sixtyj]

In long term, corporations can buy everyone, unfortunately.

This is the fact, and I would say that almost no one is immune to money offer. (You have to be very financially secured. But then, you are probably from the similar class as corporate people. -> simulate level of greed)

If you (as governmental employee) have some issue to solve, e.g. alimony or faster mortgage repayment, you are vulnerable… and you have to have very strong conscience not to accept any “services”. It is similar to be strong not to ear sugar or fat-loaded chips or drinking…

[zwnow]

Are you trying to excuse politicians for being corrupt due to being vulnerable?

[sixtyj]

Of course, I don’t excuse them. But I see news about corruption all around so I think that it is very tough society mental issue to solve.

[wtcactus]

A planned economy will always, always get worse. All historical examples show us that.

But you are free to give us an example of a planned economy that worked properly and brought freedom and prosperity to their citizens. Just one single example will suffice.

P.S. I see the downvotes, but I don't see a single example. Just one...

[tock]

I'm curious. What is an example of any economy that has only worked properly and brought freedom and prosperity to their citizens and has never ever gotten worse?

[ktallett]

What are your stats measuring good and bad and therefore what do you count as worse? Would it be better all have a home, job, access to education, food?

[zwnow]

So you are blind to the current economies, gotcha