Who is advocating mob justice? If you read all the posts presented here (not just mine); no one is prescribing mob justice or socialism. I don’t know why you would think that. There is a BIG difference between socialism and social responsibility. Almost everyone here is advocating market economy with social responsibility – some more, some less, but hardly anyone will agree on the extreme left or right dichotomy.
Before you have been in a situation where poor little children, who have no safety-net to turn to, come and offer their body because that’s their only chance of getting food, you kind realize how heartbreaking the situation is. Before something like that happens to you, you’re in no position to tell me how many poor children I have met (believe me, a few is more than enough). If you like a lighter version, just take a trip to Juarez (walk over Rio Grande to Mexico) And the other extreme, during the 80s, in Soviet Russia, people spent the night under our hotel balconies waiting for us to throw something at them (perhaps Adidas socks or whatever?). A bunch of rubels were useless because there was nothing to buy. However, the issue is not what you have seen, but that you know exists. Things don’t fix themselves by closing your eyes (if that is what you mean by ‘shutting up’). Ignorance should not be ignored!
I will retire from this thread, and because you apparently think I have no clue how things really are, I leave it to some outstanding, soon to come, colleagues to explain why extremes are not preferable. After that, I can go back to my thing (athletics and political science) and you can go back to being a good capitalist. And again, yes, the market is a good thing after all. And no, I’m not condemning you for believing in the market system; I do it too, just differently.
Shalev & Korpi: Industrial conflict tends to lose its central role in the political economy of western nations to the extent that the labor movement achieves access to the political power and is thereby able to move the center of gravity of the manifestations of conflicts of the interest between capital and labor from the industrial to the political arena. — Any mob rule here or just normal democracy?
If you believe in the Phillips curve, you probably conclude in the lines of Hibbs: There is a widespread agreement among economists that in capitalist economies wage and price stability requires relatively high levels of unemployment, and, conversely, that low rates of unemployment yield relatively high rates of inflation. — Perhaps not entirely correct, there can also be high unemployment and high inflation, but sufficient in understanding why left- and right-wing governments prescribe different reforms.
Moreover, to make it fully clear: Macroeconomic policies pursued by left- and right-wing governments are broadly in accordance with the objective economic interest and subjective preferences of their class-defined core political constituencies. (Hibbs). — that means either lowering unemployment or inflation (leftists will try to lower unemployment whereas right-wing proponents will try to lower the inflation rate), usually depends on the current economic situation and who is in power and what the people see as more important.
When it comes to why both market economy and social responsibility is advocated, Christensen can perhaps explain: A functioning society with respect and tolerance between social groups, and with certain measure of justice in the distribution of social resources is, in the long run, the best guarantee for the creating and upkeep of internal order and a viable social contract.
Finally: [b]It is a fundamental conception that social and economic development, democracy and ‘good governance’ will ensure peace /b. — Kind of obvious, but should be mentioned. Good governance is never extreme.
With this, rather lengthy writing, I leave the last word to you. Call me an idiot if you like, but this is kind of how I see the situation. Before you dissect every sentence and come up with counterargument to every single one (and out of context), please see the whole post as one statement, and it will be clearer.
(Davan especially, if you hadn’t presented such a solid piece of intellect for everyone to rail on there’d be no way in hell this thread would have lasted as long as it did)