Which is more tacky? Capitalism or the State?

I get a little tired of people using the tackiness of reality television as a rebuttal to capitalism. Leave alone the absurdity of using aesthetics for political theory, I take exception with the idea that the free market produces demonstrably unappealing things compared to statism. Perhaps people simply do not think about the alternative to capitalism and the undoubtedly horrible creations that come from it. Allow me then to help the statists see that the state creates some possibly tacky items as well (I say "possible" due to the fact that this is all completely subjective, as any intelligent person would know).

First, there's this monstrosity, the Ryugyong Hotel, in North Korea. Could this maybe be tacky? There's a friggin' crane on the top of it! This is what government planning gets you. It looks like the ruins of the pyramids of Giza (worse). I'm not saying I would like to see a Taco Bell next to the Taj Majal, but only government can produce something this bad. This thing will never be finished, by the way.




Next, we have something a little closer to home, the U.S. Federal Reserve Building. You don't see this very often because of the clandestine nature of the Fed, not because it is ugly. Nevertheless, it is an eyesore and the propagandists in D.C. would not want to showcase it anyway. Look at this thing. I would just assume take a picture of the Temple of Doom. Honesty compels to admit that the inside looks rather nice (seen on that interview with Helicopter Ben last year), but the outside is chock full of government-crusted ugly.





I may as well throw in this lousy piece of junk that I saw on LewRockwell.com the other day. It's the U.S. embassy in London. Not every statist eyesore comes in the form of a building (how about piles of dead bodies?), but the state tends to get it done best in the realm of architecture.





I do not want to make it sound like statists have not produced anything beautiful (Palace of Versailles, ancient pyramids, etc.). They do after all steal from the beauty of the free market all the time. I just want to highlight some of the nasty structures the statists have erected and dispose of this silly misconception that the free market has a monopoly on tackiness. Also, if people are willing to pay for something, it can't be that tacky anyway. Prices can even help us in the domain of aesthetics.