List,
Judging the relative adequacy of capitalism and socialism on a comparison
of capitalism in the core to the socialist world system is absurd. Any
discussion of core capitalism that leaves out capitalism in the periphery
is like the US President giving foreign dignitaries a guided tour through
Washington DC.
A note on one-sidedness. One might be able to argue that slavery had its
good features (many in fact have). But it doesn't make slavery any more
legitimate. Sanderson's one-sidedness of capitalism is an extremist
position. We may safely reject his rhetoric out of hand. But a "balanced"
critique on capitalism, whatever that might entail, is little better fair.
The system of capitalism must be replaced, whatever positive features
ideologues might want to manufacture about it. Capitalism is destroying
the biosphere and it is fundamentally exploitative of human beings. This
cannot be changed without doing away with capitalism. Comparatively, in
totality, capitalism is not a superior system to socialism. Such a claim
can hardly be taken seriously. Capitalism cannot be everywhere what it is
in the more affluent regions of the capitalist core. And that affluence is
built on the great mass of humanity who have suffered terribly at the
hands of capitalists oppressors.
Andy