Why Do Americans Fear Socialism?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Why Do Americans Fear Socialism?

A Facebook friend wrote me a letter saying she agreed with me that Americans are unduly afraid of socialism and speak about it as though it were communism. I wrote her back.

Dear Tanya, I dont want to become a socialist anymore than I want to become a dentist. I am not a person who joins political parties. Labels restrict people.

Why cant Americans think outside their own system? Yes, they are isolated and yes, they are brainwashedbut mostly they are under-educated. The public schools in the United States dont work. There is no single education level which each and every American kid goes to school to attain. Each state and, in some cases, each county and even each township has its own education system with its own rules and standards and books and levels of excellence. (Or should I say mediocrity?) If you consider the number of functionaries and bureaucrats employed by these hundreds of thousands of inefficient school boards and departments and offices and playgroundsthe secretarial staff payroll alone would weigh down and suck the life out of any large company trying to improve product or make a profit. Imagine what it does to schools.

Socialism is not communism. No way. Its a democratic method of improving the lifestyles of the people in a country so they can live productive lives. Its a way of ensuring they can sleep at night if they have a handicapped child or an aging parent who needs expensive care, if they need glasses or a mammogram or a test for prostate cancer. An MRI? A sonogram? An education. Daycare. Trains that run on time. Public television which instructs people, and so forth.

America not only needs more socialism, it needs an education about what socialism is and what it can do for it. But first, education in America needs a bath to wash away football and volleyball and twirling and the rest of the frivolous extra curricular activities from schools. Concentrate on learning. Be certain teachers have advanced degrees in their subjects before giving them tenure. And for Heavens sake, get one U.S standard of excellence toward which each and every child can strive so that by age eighteen a kid has a chance to make it through one of the top-rated, FREE universities.

Why dont Americans want a better life? Because Rush Limbaugh and Bill OReilly and the Bushites and the corporate leaders have convinced them otherwise. They have these poor, under-educated, socially deprived people believing that capitalism will take care of their deaf child, their cancer, their arthritis, or their baby being born with a deformity. Capitalism, we have noticed of late, cant even take care of itself! But somehow most American people cant think around corners. They can only repeat slogans and sling hateful epithets at what they fear. They dont have the tools to think through or evaluate or even to investigate their fears.

The trouble is, Tanya, that you and I talking to each other are preaching to the converted. I think I had better post this note publicly. Otherwise, the slogan-drunk Americans in the crowd will not be hearing what they so desperately need to hear.

Socialism for the people is good for America. Obama is not a socialist. Nor am I. But we would both like to enhance the lifestyles of our fellow Americans by taking the best from the socialisms we see working well in successful Social Democracies and injecting some of it into our current system which has quite simply flunked out.

http://www.divinecaroline.com/life-etc/culture-causes/why-do-americans-fear-socialism

[lostinblue 1,989]

Winston Churchill
"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries"

You and yap yap need to get together,

_{Edited for family friendly language}

Edited January 19, 2015 by Penguin_ie

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

You need to address the topic before launching into ad hominem attacks.

I didn't write it, after all.

Explaining why you disagree with the author's premise is more than compelling than your dislike of me.

[decocker 7,198]

they've been told to.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

they've been told to.

It would seem to be that way since noone so far has offered an opinion on the subject that doesn't rely on cliché

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Socialism is not communism. No way.

http://www.divinecaroline.com/life-etc/culture-causes/why-do-americans-fear-socialism

Wow! That is a convincing argument.

Its a democratic method

No it is not. Socialism is an economic model where the state either owns, or strongly regulates the means of production. Democratic implies decisions are made by popular vote. Could you have a republic that is both socialist and elects representatives by popular vote? Yes. Can you have a totalitarian state that is a socialist? Absolutely. Is Communism a form of Socialism? Yes. Is the reverse true? Not necessarily.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

People here routinely confuse socialism with communism.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

People here routinely confuse socialism with communism.

The terms are not mutually exclusive, however. In the universe of Socialism, there are Communists.

[NikLR 13,227]

The USA needs more socialism. It needs more do unto others as you would have them done to you. It needs more love thy neighbour. It needs to learn to look after the people that live within it's borders. Capitalism makes money, it makes business, it makes independence and hard work.

Everything has positive and negative. But it rarely hurts to help someone else. Most of us would consider that to be a good human being. Why isn't America as a whole being held up to the standard of being a good human being?

[lostinblue 1,989]

Venezuelans Throng Grocery Stores Under Military Protection

By Andrew Rosati and Noris Soto Jan 9, 2015 4:08 PM ET

Photographer: Noris Soto/Bloomberg

Shoppers line up outside Excelsior Gama grocery story in the Chacao section of eastern Caracas on Jan. 9. 2015. Close

Shoppers thronged grocery stores across Caracas today as deepening shortages led the government to put Venezuela’s food distribution under military protection.

Long lines, some stretching for blocks, formed outside grocery stores in the South American country’s capital as residents search for scarce basic items such as detergent and chicken.

“I’ve visited six stores already today looking for detergent -- I can’t find it anywhere,” said Lisbeth Elsa, a 27-year-old janitor, waiting in line outside a supermarket in eastern Caracas. “We’re wearing our dirty clothes again because we can’t find it. At this point I’ll buy whatever I can find.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-09/venezuelans-throng-grocery-stores-on-military-protection-order.html

Works out great ... Just what we need for America

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

What's that got to do with the topic?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

The USA needs more socialism. It needs more do unto others as you would have them done to you. It needs more love thy neighbour. It needs to learn to look after the people that live within it's borders. Capitalism makes money, it makes business, it makes independence and hard work.

Everything has positive and negative. But it rarely hurts to help someone else. Most of us would consider that to be a good human being. Why isn't America as a whole being held up to the standard of being a good human being?

It is not required to be all one, or the other. The nations of the world can and do pick and choose, and find ways to moderate one economic or political model with the principles of a different model. The often results in some rather oxymoronic terms for describing what nation has what form. For instance, there are command and market economies, and a blending of the two. And capitalist systems moderated through government social programs. So the system in the US may be referred to as "Welfare Capitalism", or most of the European nations as "Market Socialism".

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Is the author correct though? Fear of socialism in the USA stems from a lack of general education and an over reliance on tabloid media?

[Janelle2002 3,865]

Lack of education. People want retirement and social security, aren't these socialist benefits?

Are government is responsible for all of the people, poor-rich. They should be making a model that works for everyone not some. Capitalism only works for some.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Is the author correct though? Fear of socialism in the USA stems from a lack of general education and an over reliance on tabloid media?

The author would do well to educate herself.

Edited January 17, 2015 by I AM NOT THAT GUY