A certain puzzlement concerning this argument from one of the more stupid Krauts:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] Germany’s main centre-Left party has been rocked after one of its most prominent figures called for the country’s leading brands to be put under collective ownership. Kevin Kühnert, the leader of a Momentum-style grassroots movement in the Social Democratic Party (SPD), said German industrial giants such as BMW and Siemens should be owned jointly by their workers. [/perfectpullquote] [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] “There is nothing wrong with the BMW brand. The only question is why BMW should belong to a few people who have the sole right to the profits,” Mr Kühnert said in an interview with Germany’s Zeit newspaper. “The distribution of profits must be democratically controlled. That excludes a capitalist owner. Without a form of collectivisation, it is unthinkable to overcome capitalism.” Political opponents accused Mr Kühnert of trying to drag the country back to the dark days of communist East Germany, and his party colleagues rushed to dissociate themselves from his remarks. [/perfectpullquote]Kuehnert only needs to go to the former East Germany to know why overcoming capitalism might not be all that good an idea. Seriously, not capitalism managed to make even Germans poor which is some going for a socioeconomic system.
But look at what his assumption is. That this most successful of economic systems must be overcome. Because – well, because, innit? If you ever asked for an actual reason you’d just get *crickets* in response. It’s bad therefore any stupidity which overthrows it is justified.
And yes, that is stupidity. For look upon the result of that slow seepage of capitalism over the past few decades out across the world:
This is the system that must be overcome? And you’d object to my calling Herr Kuehnert stupid, would you?
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We have an exact comparison. After the unpleasantness, there was a BMW factory stuck the other side of the border. Eisenacher Motoren Werke. It set up as EMW. So we can see how Beemer would have done under socialism. Have you ever seen or heard of a EMW?
If the workers want to own BMW, nobody's stopping them buying it.