Scargill was right?

An argument you see a lot at the moment is that the current recession represents the ‘failure’ of capitalism and that therefore Scargill was right all along, and socialism as an economic theory has been vindicated.  Really?  When the economic crises of the 1970s destroyed Bretton Woods, did that mean that the old economic systems of protectionism and mercantilism were vindicated?  When the Russia economy collapsed in 1998 did that mean that the communist economic system was right all along?

This reasoning, that capitalism is flawed, therefore socialism works, is a neat little illustration of the false dilemma fallacy.  I’m particularly disappointed that Seumas Milne (tribune of the people that he is) doesn’t appear to have learned much from the philosophy he was taught at our old alma mater.