Sadye's post on Alfred Amery

Sadye wrote about Alfred Amery, a volunteer in the Mac-Paps Canadian batallion. I was especially interested by her commentary about Amery's conversion to Communism in his memoir entitled "Something More". He joins the navy to find "something more"; returns in the midst of the Depression; and is finally convinced of the inherent flaws in capitalism by a Communist friend's analogy of competition between chicken farmers in which everyone comes out the loser. The friend describes how the farmer lowers prices to match his competitors, and lowers wages to keep his profit margin. The farmer eeks out a meager existence in which his survival depends on the exploitation of his workers. Amery is convinced that with the current US economic system, the Depression will never end and so he feels only an economic revolution will pull the country out of its dire situation. I think Roosevelt's New Deal reforms and later government changes have made the system feasible without the revolution Amery clamored for. Social security, Medicare and Medicaid, unemployment insurance, and welfare, to name a few programs, give citizens a safety net so that the Depression never occurs again. However, one only has to look at the current state of the market to see the flaws still present in the system. There is a long way to go, but I feel that the market will fluctuate no matter what system is put into place. There is no perfect economic system. The economy is like a roller coaster: It would be boring without some surprising lifts or drops (just kidding).