For liberty, try socialism

Comments posted on New York Times online blog in reply to Corey Robin, "What socialism looks like in 2018," 8/25/31: 

Mr. Robin's argument makes intuitive sense in America today even though he does not talk about some of the more obvious ways in which Americans today are less free than in the past.  

One of the most glaring realities of America today is how punitive this society has become. That's not just because of mass imprisonment, militarized police, zero tolerance schools,
and the punitive use of psychiatry. The underlying reality is that both work and commerce involve a high degree of coercion. And Mr. Robin brings this out well. Money doesn't make people free. At least not when you are trying to earn or spend it. It constrains people to make and live with agreements that always involve the quiet coercion of whoever is the stronger party, and in most exchanges the power is wildly unbalanced.  

The old Soviet socialism was a way of managing a factory-based economy. The tyranny in those societies was based on that of labor.  Our system, which still must manage labor and the citizen exploited as consumer and debtor, has the levels of frustration and crime it has because it is one of generalized competition. 

Most people will live more interesting and productive lives when they are no longer organized around working just to make money. That will be freedom. That's the dream.