This debate was part of the May 28, 2018 HowTheLightGetsIn festival held in Hay on Wye, Hereford, UK and hosted by The Institute of Art and Ideas.

From Stalin's gulags to weak growth in planned economies and the fall of the Berlin Wall, socialism has a chequered history. Is it a mistake to imagine that equality can be engineered by socialist planning? Should we be sceptical of those wrapped in fine ideals or is there a form of socialism that can deliver on the dream?

Leo Panitch | Yaron Brook | Kemi Badenoch | Mary Ann Sieghart

Leo's argument:
• Socialism would have been misrepresented by the Murdochs of this world even if it hadn’t been dystopian.
• The failure of socialist parties in Europe is largely their failure to go beyond capitalism gradually.

Yaron's argument:
• Socialism cannot deliver equality, nothing can; equality is a myth and a dangerous aim.
• Socialism violates individual rights and it is anti-life.

Kemi's argument:
• There is one exception - in a small, culturally homogenous groups. But socialism cannot function in large societies. Too much has to be imposed.
• Big attack on freedoms, stifles innovation, lends itself to courruption and inefficiency.

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