Today, free markets are championed as the foundation of capitalism, while socialists argue that free markets cause growing inequality and exploitation of the working classes, and thus need to be constrained by the state, or else abolished entirely. But in the 19th century, it was socialists who touted the wonders of the market and decried state interference with free trade, which they blamed for causing the inequality and oppression of the working classes. This is the introductory episode in a series aimed at “flushing the toilet of the left,” which will demonstrate that it’s the rules of unlimited property rights, backed by the state, that are the cause of inequality, exploitation, and lack of freedom, while the market is simply a form of democratic decision-making, which is entirely compatible with socialism and socialist ideals. TO SUPPORT MY EXISTENCE (I do not monetize my channel, and increasingly depend on donations to do this!): PAYPAL ONE TIME OR MONTHLY DONATIONS PATREON PER EPISODE DONATIONS KO-FI ONE TIME OR MONTHLY DONATIONS TRANSCRIPT (COMING SOON) BIBLOGRAPHY VIDEO VERSION RSS FEED tweeter ALL MUSIC BY STARSIXNINE   0:00 Intro: Property rights lead to dictatorship unless constrained by democracy 1:36 the Matthew Effect 3:23 Markets vs capitalism and unlimited property rights 4:20 Adam Smith vs economics 101 6:03 Mercantilism vs. markets 7:13 Smith’s free market as an equalizing force 8:40 Adam Smith vs unlimited private property rights 9:12 The state forms to protect the wealthy from the poor 9:38 Property as power: rent and enclosure 12:15 Contracts as coercion by property owners, backed by the state 14:34 Contracts between equals 15:35 Contracts between unequals: master and hireling 16:29 Adam Smith: prophet of socialism 17:55 Thomas Hodgskin: property rights as modern feudalism 19:42 The Labour movement and Adam Smith 20:48 From free market socialism to communism in the era of laissez-faire 23:59 Marx and Bakunin: anti-market socialists 26:12 Summary / next time   https://archive.org/download/17-adam-smith-vs-karl-marx/17%20-%20ADAM%20SMITH%20VS%20KARL%20MARX.mp3