Martin William Smith wrote:

>That's still a different system.  You are drawing the border around a
>larger set of entities.  That's fine, but it doesn't change the view
>of the system consisting of the nation's people and its military.
>That system is a socialist one.  Every system is embedded in a
>hierarchy of systems.  If the source of disagreement is that people
>are focusing on different levels of the hierarchy, then there is not
>much hope of resolution.

No Martin, the problem is that you are failing to acknowledge that
socialism is an economic and social system, you can't be a little bit
socialist. Production for profit and production for use are mutually
exclusive options.

You seem to think that socialism is an optional micro-management system,
useful for managing those enterprises that are unprofitable. I find that a
very myopic vision, certainly not in conformity with the dictionary
definition of "socialism".

Bill Bartlett
Bracknell tas.