steve -- since you bring it up -- I don't know -- compared to
many western socialist countries we have extremely high health care
costs, embarrassingly high infant mortality,
high percentage of population suffering hunger, decaying
infrastructure.............
I agree, although I cannot help having a good chuckle every time
I hear one of my American friends referring to "Socialist"
countries, meaning pretty much all of Western Europe. You won't
find anyone in Germany, for example, where I currently live, saying
that they live in a "socialist" system. The late, unlamented German
"Democratic" Republic was a socialist state. We have a free market
economy with certain strong social welfare aspects. The opposition
Social Democratic Party is not the political home of German
socialists - they belong to the Left Party. We didn't nationalise
our car manufacturers or major banks in the course of this
financial crisis. Believe me, this system is also far from perfect,
but the US has shown over many decades that its system isn't the
answer either.
I do find the differing definitions of the term "socialism"
intriguing, though!
Posted by dallassteve on 9th of Dec 2009 at 09:49 am
You are right that many Americans use the word "socialism"
loosely to indicate more government control. This trend has
been continuous since the founding of this country, and certainly
since FDR. Just as we watch trendlines on stocks, I wonder if
we can break this trendline.
On a more intellectual level, I think a better definition of
socialism is the application of Marxist thought to government.
Anyone who thought Marxism was dead after the fall of the
Berlin wall and the demise of the Soviet Union is having a rude
wake-up call. I am continually amazed at the U.S.
politicians, cabinet officials, czars, etc, giving honor to Marxist
ideas. I run a small business, and I am wondering if our
government still believes in "free enterprise."
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steve -- since you bring
How True
Posted by Michael on 9th of Dec 2009 at 08:20 am
steve -- since you bring it up -- I don't know -- compared to many western socialist countries we have extremely high health care costs, embarrassingly high infant mortality, high percentage of population suffering hunger, decaying infrastructure.............
Public education, public medicine, same thing, relax and get used to it...
Posted by captmet on 9th of Dec 2009 at 09:28 am
That's my point - the
Posted by steve on 9th of Dec 2009 at 09:03 am
That's my point - the US has been gradually moving towards socialism.
Michael
Posted by isplat on 9th of Dec 2009 at 08:55 am
I agree, although I cannot help having a good chuckle every time I hear one of my American friends referring to "Socialist" countries, meaning pretty much all of Western Europe. You won't find anyone in Germany, for example, where I currently live, saying that they live in a "socialist" system. The late, unlamented German "Democratic" Republic was a socialist state. We have a free market economy with certain strong social welfare aspects. The opposition Social Democratic Party is not the political home of German socialists - they belong to the Left Party. We didn't nationalise our car manufacturers or major banks in the course of this financial crisis. Believe me, this system is also far from perfect, but the US has shown over many decades that its system isn't the answer either.
I do find the differing definitions of the term "socialism" intriguing, though!
socialism
Posted by dallassteve on 9th of Dec 2009 at 09:49 am
You are right that many Americans use the word "socialism" loosely to indicate more government control. This trend has been continuous since the founding of this country, and certainly since FDR. Just as we watch trendlines on stocks, I wonder if we can break this trendline.
On a more intellectual level, I think a better definition of socialism is the application of Marxist thought to government. Anyone who thought Marxism was dead after the fall of the Berlin wall and the demise of the Soviet Union is having a rude wake-up call. I am continually amazed at the U.S. politicians, cabinet officials, czars, etc, giving honor to Marxist ideas. I run a small business, and I am wondering if our government still believes in "free enterprise."