Dear Mr. Shishir

Submitted by Debanjan Banerjee (India), May 9, 2012 at 22:58

"Socialism is Robin Hood taken to the extreme-taking not just from the rich but the productive middle classes and giving to the unproductive."

My Answer : I am afraid your definition of socialism does not stand the test of real world experiences. If the Western countries of late are piling up taxes upon the rich for paying the poor's lifestyles , then why there is so huge income equality present in almost all countries of the Western hemisphere ? In the US despite all the accusations of high taxes on the rich , it is the rich who control almost entirety of the economic growth in the last 30 years. In the US in particular the wages of the middle classes have become stagnant in the last 30 years according to many independent economists.

Remember Occupy movements and Indignado movements are taking place in the West in protest of economic inequality and not for anything else.

So if according to you Western nations have been practicing socialism for the last 60 years and robbing the rich to pay the unproductive poor then how come the rich have become omnipotent and more richer over the last 3 decades that they now even control the political process and "democratic elections" in the US have become a farce and place of auction to be won by the highest bidder to say the least.

I hope you would try to explain your contradictions in good spirits.

I am still eagerly waiting your defintions of Islamic finance and how Turkey has implemented it. Only one example has come forth which says that Turkish usage of cheap credits is detrimental to the long term growth of the economy.

Now my question to you is that is your definition of Islamic finance is only cheap and easy credits ? You yourself in another question said that mass consumerism also means easy and cheap credits so should I assume that according to you easy credits and Islamic finance are also the same ?

Another related question here is that we also need to observe is that I am not supportive of every policy of Turkey in the last couple of years.

1. Turkey in order to control the trade deficits , should think seriously about scraping the usage of dollar for any types of commercial transactions.

2. The problem with using dollar for your transactions remain that if you do not have enough dollar it will be a problem for you in terms of trade deficits which would force you to go to institutions such as IMF or World Bank endangering your sovereignity.

3. Instead Turkey should opt for barter trade i.e. exchange of goods with countries of its neighborhood in particular.

4. Doing business with neighbors is the most important thing to do if you want to grow. Because last year saw Turkey caving under US pressure to reduce trade with its neighbors like Iraq , Syria and Iran this is increasing Turkey's trade deficits. This is something Turkey needs to look to correct in future.

5. There is no need for Turkey to purchase obsolete , unreliable and costly weapons such as those from the US like F-22 and F-35 etc. Instead it should think about improving its own indigenous defense production and seek to boost defense exports.

Take care

Debanjan

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".