What is so wrong with socialism?

[ratfoot]

Provided that it actually works and is applied to things that will help people with things like healthcare I don't see how it could be bad.

[aeronut]

Because it takes money from hard-workers and gives it to people who don't deserve it. It is completely anti-American, because the mantra of the country is that we have the American Dream, to become successful and prosper, but with socialism it would be impossible because you could only make so much because you give a large portion of the money to the government, which goes to people who make little, because they didn't pay attention in school or they screwed up and went to jail or some such.

In definition, Socialism is where the government owns big business, leaves small buisness alone, and has heavy taxes to spread the wealth. It's anti-productive and not a good path to go down.

What i'm getting from your post is you believe socialism would work if the government did it right, but considering the dismal approval rate of ours right now, I don't understand how anyone would want to give more power to that lot of bureaucrats.

[angysock]

OP, socialism sounds great hypothetically, but in reality, it couldn't possibly ever work. In socialism everybody gets an equal amount of money so everyone is treated as equal right? ALL PEOPLE ARE NOT EQUAL. Everyone has different personalities, ideas, etc etc, but socialism does not acknowledge the difference between persons. You all get the same amount of money, food, same houses, so there is no possibility to ever move up.. Nobody is rewarded for hard work, so what is their motivation to work hard? Lets say there are two people in a factory that makes shoes, one person works the full shift and the other goofs off half of the time. In a socialistic society, it doesn't matter that you work hard, you get payed the same either way! Because of this, there is no motivation for anyone to be different, and no motivation to try hard. Since there is no motivation, society falls apart, people can't get proper healthcare because the doctors have no motivation to do well. I mean, look at Cuba, or China using universal health care, both countries people suffer horribly because of their lack of care. I know that they are both communist societies, but communism and socialism are basically the same thing with only minor differences. Socialism also leaves so much room for corruption, because if the government controls how much money you make, then who is to say that they couldn't raise their salaries immensely? Also, with such enormous taxation that socialism brings, it inspires many people to commit crimes just to make enough money to survive. That is why socialism never works on a large scale. China, Cuba, North Korea, South Korea, Venezuela, look what is going on over there. They all have communism/socialism, and look at how well it has worked for them! (sarcasm)

[mypallyowndu]

This debate is well outside my area of expertise (a vanishingly small area) but some points of clarification:

1. South Korea is not a socialist country. It is a member of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development which defines its goal as "bring[ing] together the governments of countries committed to democracy and the market economy from around the world."

2. Cuba has among the best health care systems in the world. According to the World Health Organization, Cuba has among the lowest adult HIV/AIDS prevalence rates, lowest fertility rates, lowest infant mortality rates (indeed, slightly lower than the United States), and more physicians per capita than the US. Cuba also has among the highest literacy rates in the world (I think it's above 90% --- much higher than the US). Do I think this justifies the government jailing dissenters and seizing property without any due process from business owners during the revolution? Probably not --- but it still needs to be weighed in the calculus.

3. It is a bit difficult to sing hosanas for the market economy given the past few months. A combination of unregulated banks handing out bad loans and weird financial tools that no one could valuate (what the hell is a derivative of a derivative???) contributed to the US, the pillar of laizze-faire market economy, to nationalize a bunch of previously privately-held companies. Capitalism is hardly dead but it's been roughed up and our notions of what counts as a market economy will probably change over the next few decades.

[BetaMaxx]

During the late 19th century, during the socialist movement Social Democracy emerged. This is the ideology of socialist viewpoints such as social security, social rights, and civic rights. This also consists of a mixed economy consisting mainly of private enterprise, but with government owned or subsidized programs of education, health care, child care and related services for all citizens. They also believe in Fair Trade. In Canada, the Social democratic political party started as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, and was very popular among farmers and low income families. The party was dissolved in 1961 and became the New Democratic Party of Canada. Therefore I believe it is possible to hold socialist views while still supporting democracy.

[Xalgar]

If you want to know about socialism, let me introduce you to George Orwell and his book Animal Farm. The book is about how socialism is a good idea, but it will most likely never work.

[mlgsux]

Nothing is wrond with Socialism, the concept is great but the execution is horrible.

[Travis]

There are forms of socialism in america.. and it works out fine.

Education System
401 k
Health care
Social Security


whatever. There is nothing wrong with socialism, people are just jerks.....
which makes socialism wrong