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Since everyone just ignored me in the "What is socialism," thread I figured I'd just start a new one so here's a little known fact that you never learned in your history books:
Did you know that in the very begining of this country we experimented with socialism? It's true! Long before Karl Marx was even born, the original contract that the pilgrims had entered into with their merchant-sponsors in London called for everything they produced to go into a common store, each member was entitled to one common share. All of the land they cleared and the houses they built belonged to the community as well. Well what happened? Bradford who had become governor of the colony realized that collectivism was a failed experiment, because the most creative and industrious people had no incentive to work any harder than anyone else, unless they could utilize the power of personel motivation. So Bradford assigned a plot of land to each family to work and manage, thus invoking the power of the market place.
Did you know that in the very begining of this country we experimented with socialism? It's true! Long before Karl Marx was even born, the original contract that the pilgrims had entered into with their merchant-sponsors in London called for everything they produced to go into a common store, each member was entitled to one common share. All of the land they cleared and the houses they built belonged to the community as well. Well what happened? Bradford who had become governor of the colony realized that collectivism was a failed experiment, because the most creative and industrious people had no incentive to work any harder than anyone else, unless they could utilize the power of personel motivation. So Bradford assigned a plot of land to each family to work and manage, thus invoking the power of the market place.