NationStates Jolt Archive

The problem with socialism is that it takes away choice. Oh sure, you can choose whether or not to use the state provided services but you can't opt out of paying someone elses way. It's aim is to make everyone equal when we're just not. Some people are better at certain things than others, I'm a good engineer and architect but I'm not up to speed on medicine and if I ran a daycare I'd probably be in prison after the first week for neglect.

A socialist would say that spreading wealth around benefits all. Except the people who've lost their wealth to those that did nothing to earn it.

Strength through unity, unity through strength. That's socialism in a nutshell. It's also fascism.

The thought of moving saddens me but I suppose that it may have to come to that just to avoid the excessive taxes and punitive and senseless restrictions on personal freedom. I hear there're some people trying to go back to that submerged island nation in the middle of the Atlantic, you know the one I'm talking about.

The problem with socialism is that it takes away choice.

WRONG!

procustianism takes away choice. marxism leans toward procustianism just as capitolism leans toward makiavellianism.

socialism is something else entirely.
socialism isn't the old soviet union. that was a kind of bastardized marxism.
socialism was, and to a large degree still is, a western europe that keeps the trains running and remains a place people are attracted to visit, and presumably find gratification to live.

socialism was, and to a large degree still is, a western europe that keeps the trains running and remains a place people are attracted to visit, and presumably find gratification to live.
That's also wrong. And you'd know that if you actually lived in Europe - people are well aware there that the system they have is not socialism. Germans for example wouldn't think to confuse the system they have (or had), the "social market economy", as developed from ordoliberal principles followed by social democratic party governments loading it up with freebies, with socialism.

Fact of the matter is that socialism is poorly defined. I made a thread once asking socialists to explain what they understood the word to mean, and not two people answered the same thing.

Also, what is "procustianism"?

Marx could define Socialism for you. It would be something like "the people owning and controlling the means of production distribution and exchange."

Stalinist Russia and Mao's China never came close. The Party controlled it all. AZnd the Party must never be confused with "the people"
If you do that you end up with Mugabe and Pol Pot.

That, and I trust in myself to succeed. I've been working my way up from having nothing, but I don't expect the government to give me a handout. I wouldn't accept it. If I can't succeed on my own, what's it worth? If I fail, I fail. I won't blame anyone else. Maybe it sounds crazy, but that's how I see the world.If you don't want government help, does this mean you never attended a public school?

Though the concept of general taxe increases to give greater 'breaks' (really government handouts) to the poor. Though since 40% of US residents do not pay taxes as it is there would be a a need to greatly increase taxes, to the point the rich pay 3/4 of their income to the government when they already pay half.Are you including children in this 40% statistic?

No longer will Europe have the best public transportation, the greatest dedication to its citizens, the utmost support for intellectual ideas such as secularism and rationalism.

The USA can take a good step in the right direction this time... but it will take a lot of time to come near the european society in those fields.

An oversimplified consideration:
People per square km in the EU: 113,5
People per square km in the USA: 30,9
(data: CIA factbook)
Being more tightly packed, we had to develop quickly about social issues... and this didn't prevent us from igniting 2 world wars.

Also, about the "utmost support for secularism and rationalism"... well, His Ratziness is currently leading a crusade about putting "christian values" everywhere (ranging from pizzerias to LHC), and many politicians are aligning with him, them jerks.

srs thread pl0x. :)

I've been wanting to write something like this for a while ever since I heard about Palin's "real" america rants. Sorry if these thoughts aren't exactly coherent, it's about 12:38 in the morning.


I'm sitting here at the computer thinking to myself of all the things that Obama would bring once he gets elected to office in November. With the way things are going, it is likely that the Democrats will take a fair enough of seats and have majorities in both house and senate.

I think I read this in the Guardian, but the last time we had such a progressive influence in all aspects of the government was during Lyndon B. Johnson's administration, and in FDR's before that.

I can only hope for all the sweeping changes that Obama will bring to this country. No longer will our Canadian neighbours to the north laugh at us for substandard treatment of the poor and broken. America will show the world that a nation is only as good as its least fortunate citizen. With troops being pulled out of the Middle East, I'm feeling a great sense of hope that bloodshed and violence will end, and perhaps even the extremists may put down their arms.

No longer will Europe have the best public transportation, the greatest dedication to its citizens, the utmost support for intellectual ideas such as secularism and rationalism. I see the eventual breakdown of ethnic and class discrimination slowly eroding away in the US, replaced by the light of progress and tolerance. I see cosmopolitan cities rise up as all Americans, regardless of creed, colour or religion work together and embrace all immigrants as we all work for the improvement of this country and fulfill our obligations to the rest of the world.

And no hospital nor doctor will ever turn another soul away due to his or her inability to pay, as I hope America will finally stand together with the rest of the industrialised world and give its citizens the inalienable right of universal healthcare.

I can't wait. :D

Well, I can wait. A LOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNG time. Because socialism is the LAST thing America or any other country needs! People need to WORK for a living, and not be discouraged therefrom by a big, overgrown, bloated, nanny-state government taxing businesses out of business so that people CAN'T get jobs. Socialism will not improve America; it will bring it DOWN to the level of a third-world country.