Freakonomics, Solving Poverty and Marxist theory

'To be radical is to grasp things by the root.'- Karl Marx

Hello, and welcome to the mind of unknown_girl2345.  As you have probably guessed from the blog's title, I am a hopeless klutz and less obviously, a huge fan of all things kitschy and un-mainstream. My latest interests have been Freakonomics and (trying to) apply the freakonomic way of thinking to my debate assignment of solving poverty. 
My first reaction to this assignment was a huge 'WHAT ON EARTH'. First of all, I am no political/economics genius ready to nudge the general population into a designated structure with my carefully planned incentives. Although this would probably be excellent fodder for the economics degree which I plan on doing, it took a really LONG time for me to come up with a solution.
In the end, I settled for a 'command economy', thanks to my BRILLIANT economics teacher *no sarcasm at all :) * I quoted the father of all command economies, none other than the defamed, forgotten and revered (simultaneously) by the academic world; 'To be radical is to grasp things by the root.'

 I was obviously thrilled to bits since I thought this perfectly encapsulated the philosophy of my fight against poverty. I shall, quote, now from my essay: 'Do not seek to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor. We must destroy it.' As every emotional/hormonal adolescent, my heart beat with the early passion of the mid 20th century. I believed in equality for all, no exceptions, no difference. I fell in love with Marx, in love with the idea of togetherness- until I was forced to present in a practical way. 

 It just didn't work. Total equality for all was just too hard to achieve without sacrificing huge amounts of profits, efficiency and individual liberty. It was far better to practice a mixed economy, one that allowed for each man to eke his own living whilst providing a Social Security system.
Gosh, I sound like such a nerd! But then again, this is the age of the Nerdicus! Well, hopefully my debate 'coaches' like my take on the assignment... till then, Internet!
XOXOXOXO
unknown_girl2345




An introduction to some Mandel on Marx

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