Forum Post: the socialist bank of north dakota
Posted 12 years ago on March 31, 2012, 3:48 p.m. EST by flip
(7101)
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in North Dakota, socialism has been thriving for decades. It is the only state with a state-owned bank and a profitable state-owned grain elevator and flour mill, both of which the good people of North Dakota, who mostly vote Republican in presidential elections, embrace and value. Both institutions began embroiled in controversy. With all the vitriol about socialism and radicalism in the national debate today, is there anything we can learn from North Dakota?
All state revenues are deposited in the Bank of North Dakota, which promotes agriculture, commerce and industry in the state. It was the first bank in the country to provide a federally insured low-interest student loan; it supports new farmers in a state that has some of the toughest laws in the country limiting corporate farms; and through partnerships with local banks, it guarantees loans to commercial and industrial enterprises that directly benefit North Dakota. Before he became governor and then a United States senator, John Hoeven, a Republican, was the bank’s president. A Socialist Republican? That’s weird.
The high-tech grain elevator and mill towering above the prairies in Grand Forks is one of the largest and busiest in the country. The North Dakota Mill and Elevator Association competes with private grain elevators and mills but receives no taxpayer money to give it an unfair advantage and, like the bank, the association returns much of its annual profit to North Dakota’s general fund. Isn’t that socialism? What’s going on?
But don't elected federal employees including Republicans get free health care? Isn't that socialism as well?
I wonder what would happen if people demanded that elected federal officials and U.S. citizens have the same health care program no matter what it would or wouldn't be.
If the 24 democracy (initiative) states were to institute the aspects of the Free Democracy Amendment
http://occupywallst.org/forum/free-democracy-amendment/#comment-567331
and the American Prosperity Initiative
http://occupywallst.org/forum/american-prosperity-initiative/#comment-572273
that can apply at the state level, practically half the country would have state banks and a better economy without reliance upon political promises.
right on - i wonder who paid for cheney's new heart?
The best thing about it it is state run That is what makes it great the federal government has nothing to do with it
That sounds awesome! Where can I read more about North Dakota's economy?
don't know - the full article was on the ny times op ed page
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So why then is the unemployment rate in North Dakota at 3.2%. Something is terribly wrong -
Exactly; North Dakota's government plays a nonnegligible, largely positive role in the upkeep of the economy there and sets regulatory policies that make sense for the entire population of the state rather than making things easy for a small population of corporate honchos. If you look at the way the state governs itself rather than the way it swings in presidential elections you get a decidedly center-left picture centering on regulated capitalism and a strong, profitable public sector, and investment in the future of the state's citizens.
If we were to propose the North Dakotan model of economic policy on a national scale and attempt to put the necessary policies into effect on the federal level then the backlash would be legendary. President Obama attempted reforms of a far smaller scope than this and the mud started flying faster and thicker than I ever thought it could. He's a commie. He's a Nazi. He's a commie Nazi (at least if you listen to Glenn Beck). He's a Muslim. He <3 terrorists. And the list goes on and on. And yet when this policy is actually enacted and allowed to run its course, what do you get? Unemployment at a third of the national average and all-around prosperity.