Socialsm

[london12]

Does anyone else has the feeling the US is turning more and more into socialism?

 

[opinterph]

How do you define socialism?

 

[CowboyBob]

How do you define socialism?

Yes, and does the OP think this is a good or bad thing?

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/551569/socialism

 

[JayQueer]

I'm not not sure if the U.S. is headed in "socialism," per se, but I can tell you that we are headed in the wrong direction.

Our deficits are increasing. Our status in the world is falling. The job outlook is bleak. Our public schools are not preparing our students for a world where Asians are outcompeting us economically on many fronts.

Furthermore, college student tuition is increasing. Our future is looking bleak. The gap between the "haves" and "have nots" is increasing.

We cannot depend on our government to make up for the loss in private sector jobs and enterprise. Government bureaucracy is slow, inefficient, and more susceptible to corruption. Instead, we need to foster an environment where entrepreneurs and private sector businesses are encouraged to do what they do best -- to create new enterprise and stimulate the economy with new jobs and development.

We need to return to our core constitutional values, and reduce the size of government. There is so much wasteful government spending and "special interests" who are bleeding our coffers.

We need to give parents and local governments more control of their schools, and loosen the grip of powerful teachers' unions who are keeping ineffective teachers in our public schools.

 

[JayQueer]

Yes, and does the OP think this is a good or bad thing?

I can guarantee you most Americans view socialism & communism as a bad thing.

We are a constitutional republic that is based on the ideals of democracy & capitalism.

 

[rareboy]

Well, to begin with, the US can't turn into socialism.

The US is a nation.

Socialism is a socio/economic construct.

Are you late getting your essay started for poli-sci 101?

But now that Jayqueer has weighed in...you'll probably be scratching your head and wondering why he actually didn't answer your question but used your thread as his own hobby horse to ride out and warn the good folk or Orange County that the communists are coming, the communists are coming.....

Good regurgitation of the rote RNC/GOProud/LCR/FOX Nation talking points though.

Anyone who is panicking over the socialists taking over the US is using it as a bogeyman to scare the voters.

Government programs are not the reason there is a widening gulf between the rich and the poor. It is the 1% of the 1% you want to talk to.

As usual, the fringe right wingers have their panties in a bunch over schoolteachers.....but would let Halliburton walk away with billions unquestioned and unchallenged.

 

[CowboyBob]

I can guarantee you most Americans view socialism & communism as a bad thing.

We are a constitutional republic that is based on the ideals of democracy & capitalism.

Socialism and communism are two different things.

 

[JayQueer]

But now that Jayqueer has weighed in...you'll probably be scratching your head and wondering why he actually didn't answer your question but used your thread as his own hobby horse to ride out and warn the good folk or Orange County that the communists are coming, the communists are coming.....

Good regurgitation of the rote RNC/GOProud/LCR/FOX Nation talking points though.

Anyone who is panicking over the socialists taking over the US is using it as a bogeyman to scare the voters.

Government programs are not the reason there is a widening gulf between the rich and the poor. It is the 1% of the 1% you want to talk to.

As usual, the fringe right wingers have their panties in a bunch over schoolteachers.....but would let Halliburton walk away with billions unquestioned and unchallenged.

I just want a better America......

I believe in America, faith, family, and freedom. I just believe that as a nation we have drifted away from the fundamental values & ideals that made our country so great.

In the words of Ronald Reagan, if we are to ask most Americans today, "Are you better off today than you were 4 years ago?"

The answer would be a resounding no..

The parallels between 1980 and 2012 are many. We have a "Jimmy Carter" in office right now, and we are going through a "malaise".

We need a new "Ronald Reagan" who can help make America great once again. With renewed confidence in ourselves and in God we trust, we can make it happen.

Thank you.

 

[Telstra]

Socialsm:
If you don't live alone grow your own food and manufacture your own products you are socializing which is sort of socialsm.

 

[rareboy]

I just threw up in my mouth a little.

If you ask all the homos that can serve openly in the military, I'll bet they'd say they are better off now.

If you ask all the families of the service personnel who were fodder for Bush's catastrophic war of adventure...they'd say they are better off.

If you ask the millions who are now insured for helath care again, they'd say they were better off.

If you asked the people who have been able to recover a considerable portion of their investments that were almost lost as a result of the failed Republican economic policies that allowed the financial industry to rape the consumer...they would say they are better off.

If you asked all the auto workers whose jobs were saved by careful public intervention into the market, they'd say they were better off.

So don't bother trotting out the tired old shibboleth about people being better off than 4 years ago.

It is just crap.

And, as always, you are welcome.

 

[CowboyBob]

I just want a better America......

I believe in America, faith, family, and freedom. I just believe that as a nation we have drifted away from the fundamental values & ideals that made our country so great.

In the words of Ronald Reagan, if we are to ask most Americans today, "Are you better off today than you were 4 years ago?"

The answer would be a resounding no..

The parallels between 1980 and 2012 are many. We have a "Jimmy Carter" in office right now, and we are going through a "malaise".

We need a new "Ronald Reagan" who can help make America great once again. With renewed confidence in ourselves and in God we trust, we can make it happen.

Thank you.

Ronald Reagan making America great is a myth.

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/02/05/142288/reagan-centennial/?mobile=nc

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/opinion/21krugman.html

“The Reagan-Bush years,” he declared, “have exalted private gain over public obligation, special interests over the common good, wealth and fame over work and family. The 1980s ushered in a Gilded Age of greed and selfishness, of irresponsibility and excess, and of neglect.”

HOW THE REAGAN REVOLUTION DAMAGED THE AMERICAN ECONOMY:

http://prorev.com/reagan.htm

Rachel Maddow on Ronald Reagan's Failed Trickle-Down Voodoo Economics:

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/rachel-maddow-ronald-reagans-failed-trickl

War Crimes and Double Standards (of Ronald Reagan and the press)

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Ronald_Reagan/WarCrimes_Reagan_iF.html

The Corruption of Ronald Reagan

http://www.moldea.com/ReaganRedux.html

And we are better off with Obama than when Reagan was in office. We're still suffering the damage Reagan inflicted on the country.

 

[Telstra]

I just want a better America......

I believe in America, faith, family, and freedom. I just believe that as a nation we have drifted away from the fundamental values & ideals that made our country so great.

In the words of Ronald Reagan, if we are to ask most Americans today, "Are you better off today than you were 4 years ago?"

The answer would be a resounding no..

The parallels between 1980 and 2012 are many. We have a "Jimmy Carter" in office right now, and we are going through a "malaise".

We need a new "Ronald Reagan" who can help make America great once again. With renewed confidence in ourselves and in God we trust, we can make it happen.

Thank you.

Sounds good for the un-educated but sounds rubbish and cheap to me.

 

[cynicus]

Do you mean "socialism" like the public library, the fire department, the police force, public schools, etc.?

 

[bw92116]

Socialism is collective ownership of the means of production. No, we do not have that in America; for the most part the means of production are privately owned and controlled, not collectively. America is actually moving in the direction away from socialism, not towards it, mostly through the trend of privatization of what were government-run services.

 

[White Eagle]

I'm not not sure if the U.S. is headed in "socialism," per se, but I can tell you that we are headed in the wrong direction.

Our deficits are increasing. Our status in the world is falling. The job outlook is bleak. Our public schools are not preparing our students for a world where Asians are outcompeting us economically on many fronts.

Furthermore, college student tuition is increasing. Our future is looking bleak. The gap between the "haves" and "have nots" is increasing.

We cannot depend on our government to make up for the loss in private sector jobs and enterprise. Government bureaucracy is slow, inefficient, and more susceptible to corruption. Instead, we need to foster an environment where entrepreneurs and private sector businesses are encouraged to do what they do best -- to create new enterprise and stimulate the economy with new jobs and development.

We need to return to our core constitutional values, and reduce the size of government. There is so much wasteful government spending and "special interests" who are bleeding our coffers.

We need to give parents and local governments more control of their schools, and loosen the grip of powerful teachers' unions who are keeping ineffective teachers in our public schools.

Now is this a troll or what?
I believe we have Noot Gingrich joining in onthe JUB forum.
Now getting back to topic.; Whatever Rareboy and Cowboy said. I don't feel like copying and pasting today.

 

[chrisrobin]

.........................

 

[london12]

As an American your taught that socialism and communism is bad. Your also taught other things (like Columbus discovering America) that is historical inaccurate. But that's another topic.

No country is perfect. I just think the government should stay out of marriage, abortion, protected the little people more, tell other countries to handle their own problems, get rid of the TSA.

Less intrusive government for the people not for big business would be nice.

Bush was a disaster: he created more wars (illegally by the way) than we could handle and Obama is way over his head. I don't like Romney. He has a smirk like Bush I can't stand.

 

[frankfrank]

Well, to begin with, the US can't turn into socialism.

The US is a nation.

Socialism is a socio/economic construct.
OK, you know what he was trying to say. Is the U. S. becoming Socialist? Close enough, perhaps not 100% grammatically correct but I think we all understood the question.
*********************

Government programs are not the reason there is a widening gulf between the rich and the poor. It is the 1% of the 1% you want to talk to.

As usual, the fringe right wingers have their panties in a bunch over schoolteachers.....but would let Halliburton walk away with billions unquestioned and unchallenged.

Quoted for truth. Regarding the original question, though, I'd say that we're quickly heading toward another -ISM which hasn't been mentioned here: FASCISM. We're almost there already.

Your also taught other things (like Columbus discovering America) that is historical inaccurate.

The noun was wrong. That's all. Columbus "discovered" AMERICANS.

 

[Kulindahr]

We are a constitutional republic that is based on the ideals of democracy & capitalism.

Many of the Founding Fathers would disagree with you: they hated large corporations as much as they did large government. They understood that any concentration of power can coerce, whether by the armed force of the state or the economic bondage of the corporation.

They also tended to fear democracy, which is why there were so many constraints on it in the original Constitution -- such as the fact that only landowners could vote.

A representative constitutional republic with limited democracy and a free market woud be a better description.


And compared to what they envisioned, yes, the U.S. has become socialistic -- but it has also fallen under the tyranny of the large corporation. I'm not certain which they'd despise more.

 

[Kulindahr]

I just want a better America......

I believe in America, faith, family, and freedom. I just believe that as a nation we have drifted away from the fundamental values & ideals that made our country so great.

One of the ideals that made this country great was that power should be limited. We've seen quotes from Jefferson here before showing how he despised giant corporations, especially those given privileges by government. Today that covers all corporations found in the stock market, and their privately-held peers.

Foremost among those privileges is the bizarre notion that corporations have free speech. The notion would have been deeply repugnant to the Founding Fathers, for corporations have neither brain nor will, so how can they have speech? The truth is that the government has bestowed on the wealthy who run the corporations an extra measure of free speech not accorded to the common American, indeed has arrogated to them the power to steal the wealth of others and use it to promote their own views regardless of the wishes or opinions of their victims.

Until we break that special status, not much else is going to do any good; all we'll achieve is what those with those privileges wish us to achieve. We will continue with the situation decried at the time of the Revolution by statesmen on both sides of the ocean and the equation, that seats in government are bought and sold.

Want to convince me you hold the values of our forefathers? Sign on to the campaign to amend the Constitution to state that only living, breathing human beings, specifically U.S. citizens and legal residents, have any political rights whatsoever, and that artificial legal entities such a corporations may not engage in any political activity of any kind, on any level, at any point in the process.


People turn to socialism as a defense against rapacious plutocracy and corruption. Those who support the corporatist cabal are doing the socialists' recruiting work for them.