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The recent proposed bail-out got me wondering . . .
So many of our institutions are already socialist in nature and are controlled by the government: the police, gradeschools and high schools, exports of "sensitive" products, social security, some medical insurance, and now, if this bail-out pushes through and with the Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac take-over, a huge percentage of the lending business.
So the question is two-fold:
Is the United States in fact moving toward becoming a socialist nation (along the lines of France, England, and Germany)?
Only self-proclaimed rugged individualists and sovereign citizen types fear socialism. The rest of us seem to think that cooperating on stuff is probably a good idea in a lot of situations...
You need to refresh your understanding of the word 'socialist.' Having a publicly funded police force is not an attribute of a 'socialist' nation!
I understand that socialism is primarily an economic policy in which the general populace controls the means of production and its distribution - but, I also understand that a socialist government is one in which the socialist ideals of common control is put into practice through the government acting on behalf of its people . . . I did say in the model of the UK, France and Germany. In that sense having the government control such goods or services as the police - and what is commonly being argued in today's political campaign - universal health care, is viewed as socialist in structure.
So the question still is - Is this something we should be concerned with or is this a good thing?
The recent proposed bail-out got me wondering . . .
So many of our institutions are already socialist in nature and are controlled by the government: the police, gradeschools and high schools, exports of "sensitive" products, social security, some medical insurance, and now, if this bail-out pushes through and with the Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac take-over, a huge percentage of the lending business.
So the question is two-fold:
Is the United States in fact moving toward becoming a socialist nation (along the lines of France, England, and Germany)?
And if it is, is that a bad thing?
Discuss please.
Life is about balance.. balance is key in ANYTHING in life.. including governement.
If you have government that is purely capatalistic then you have problems.. capatilism in it's extremes is just as dangerous as fascism as an extreme. Socialism, when taken to the extreme is also dangerous.
However, we also know that things needto be done for society to function and achieve for the greater good.
Take public education for example. Thomas Jefferson first introduced the idea of publicaly funded education in 1779 because he realized that all resources were needed to educate the countries children and because of the opportunity for all, regardless of socio economic status, to get an education we are one of the most, if not the most, powerful country in the world and one of the leaders in innovation.
I believe that the way our government is set up is designed in such a way as to keep everything in balance without it ever going to one extreme or teh other.. which is the true genious of the founding fathers.
The wiki article is fairly comprehensive, talks about the fact that social democrats believe in democratic freedoms, but in some goverment intervention to try to achieve social justice (as defined by their constiuents) in terms of education, standards of living, etc..
From a personal standpoint, I am in favor of some social democratic principles (health care, education, defense, unemployment, time off for birth of a child, retirement/pensions) that in my opinion make the community/state a better place, even if those community programs mean that individually people may not be able to achieve as much as they would in a purely capitalistic society.
If you earned little money ($30K or less a year), and now were only going to earn $25 (due to taxes, etc..), but knew that you'd have a secure / dignified retirement, knew that if you lost your job you'd have a decent amount to live on while you found another, knew that your family had good health insurance, knew that your children's education were paid for...
Maybe that $5K penalty would be easier to swallow, because the security in social programs actually made your life better?
I know if I were making $150, and they told me i'd only be making $110 - because the rest was going to taxes, BUT, I'd have a guaranteed retirement - I'd be pretty happy. Right now I have NO retirement, so if I had to pay more in taxes, but was guaranteed good health insurance and a pension, I'd be a happy cat.
so my vote is - it could be a good thing, question as always - how is it adminstered? If the administration is corrupt, no amount of "good intentions" will save the programs
The right wing in America only talks about capitalism and socialism. Don't confuse the people with additional political categories. The right wing sets the agenda for all political discussion in America, remember.
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