Too much political debate has been imprisoned inside one dimension for far too long.

Since the early 19th century, the major ideological fault line has been between ‘Socialism’ and ‘Capitalism’. Yet these terms are better understood as descriptors of polarity within a single system than entirely separate recipes for complete, well-functioning societies.

Our Common Future

Take Capitalism. A simplistic but commonly held belief is that a free market system works best with little state interference. Taxation and other forms of regulation are regularly portrayed as enemies of capitalism.

That’s may well be true in a village economy. However, it’s been clear from the outset of the industrial revolution that a successful advanced free-market economy requires very effective regulation. Good common infrastructure encourages enterprise to flourish. Advanced capitalism depends on a clear set of legally enforceable rules – rules that curtail absolute individual freedom, yet provide for a better functioning whole. These ‘socialist ideas’ are a prerequisite for capitalist success – and always have been.

Socialism is the other end of the theoretical polarity. In it’s purest form, it’s also known as ‘Communism’.

In the pre-modern world, there certainly were societies with no classes or castes, devoid of private property and without a competitive economic system. These societies were small in scale. Karl Marx referred to them as ‘Primitive Communism’.

45 years ago, as young boy, I watched the murder of a US President on TV.

JFK: an Interrupted Legacy

The family gathered round our giant early 60s black and white cathode ray tube and followed the drama agog. Like most of the world, we were truly shocked and awed. The tragedy made a deep impression on me and countless others. It was one of those moments when the world seemed to stop, in astonishment and in fear.

Two days later, I watched as Lee Harvey Oswald, the President’s alleged assassin, was also shot in front of the cameras.

By that time in my life, I’d already seen a few murder mysteries on television and read a few children’s thrillers. When Ruby killed Oswald, I remember thinking this was no ‘normal’ plot. Something was very odd about the murder of JFK. Further episodes could be anticipated before the tale was told.

In the years that followed 1963, I grew into a young man and became quite politically active. At university ten years later I gravitated to people on the left. My main political passion, since my late teens, was the peace movement, but I was interested in social justice and environmental issues too.

Left-wing icon I.F. Stone: known for his saying 'Governments Lie', he defended the Warren Commission

I read that the latest crop of Hollywood movies includes a swag of World War Two stories, including yet more ‘Holocaust’ stories.

LA Times Reporter Joel Stein: proud that Jews run Hollywood

Can this be explained by the fact that the Jews who run Hollywood are almost certainly Zionists and militarists too?

Shocked to read such a phrase?

Why?

Although fewer Americans believe it than in times past, it is now quasi-official that Jews DO, after all, run Hollywood!

The man who announced this apparently verifiable fact is reporter Joel Stein of the LA Times. He’s rather proud of it too – leaving the US Anti-Defamation League’s Abe Foxman in a state of some confusion and uncharacteristically quiet.

Poor old Abe! After giving Marlon Brando the drubbing of a lifetime for daring to say essentially the same thing in the 1990s, he’s now faced with a Jewish American reporter who clearly can’t be branded either an ‘anti-Semite’ or a ‘self-hating Jew’.

Abe Foxman, opinion enforcer

This is from Mr Stein’s article (emphases added):

“I have never been so upset by a poll in my life. Only 22% of Americans now believe “the movie and television industries are pretty much run by Jews,” down from nearly 50% in 1964. The Anti-Defamation League, which released the poll results last month, sees in these numbers a victory against stereotyping. Actually, it just shows how dumb America has gotten. Jews totally run Hollywood.”