Debate on Capitalism and Socialism

Okay. So you, you're a capitalist, not a socialist.

So does that disturb you to hear a gr- this

growing movement of Democratic socialists in the United States who think that it's

the government's job to make sure that you live a,

a dignified life? Because I always thought it was on us to

succeed, not on someone else to do that for us.

Well, Martha, I assume you went to good public schools.

Yes, I did.

And you got to drive on good roads today, or you rode the subway today?

Pretty, pretty much.

Right?

Pretty much.

Or, or you wish those roads were good.

Yeah.

And when you put your garbage out, somebody comes and picks it up.

Yes.

Yeah, and, uh, you breathe clean air.

We pay an enormous amount of taxes in New York and New Jersey for those, for those

things, so-

And, and I guess what I'm saying is-

Uh, we pay for all those things

... what I'm saying is, I, I'm a capitalist-

Yeah, yeah

... because I believe that we leave it to supply and demand,

right, to allocate

where capital ought to go and the goods that we produce.

But I also believe that there's a basic amount of soil

that we need.

A good school, clean air, clean water, healthcare,

childcare. Those are things that just are in the firmament.

Now, those are the basic foundations.

It, it's not disturbing to me to think

that government should be able to offer you

those basic things, just like you got and I got.

I'm so grateful for the amazing public schools that I got to have.

But we pay so much money for those services.

Well, the reason we pay so much money is because we end up fighting wars that we

shouldn't be fighting.

Well-

That's why we end up paying so much money, and because we cut loopholes for the

richest people-

Well, there's, there's also-

... who pay a lower effective tax rate than we

do.

So I would rather us not buy a whole bunch of wars, and I would rather us

buy really good schools.

All right. Well, the, the school problem is, is a crisis.

There's no doubt about that. Um-