Capitalism vs Central Planning

As I was reading this excellent article on Central Planning vs Capitalism - I had a few thoughts that came to mind that I wanted to jot down.

Even before this quote from Adam Smith appeared in the article:

"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we can expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest."

I was thinking of supermarkets.

Specifically I was thinking of a scene in the book MIG Pilot: The Final Escape of Lt. Belenko where Belenko is brought to a supermarket in the US for the first time. He couldn't believe that it was real. There's no way, he thought, that there could be so many goods, so many choices available to just ordinary citizens. He thought it was a CIA fabrication set up to impress him.

Venezuela too used to have supermarkets. Then the people VOTED to have a socialist in charge. Now there are no more supermarkets and people are either fleeing the country or staying and starving. Once again - the people VOTED for socialism because they were promised free stuff.

Now some people in the US are VOTING for socialists like Bernie and AOC. This brings to mind another quote:

Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.