Reply to Whistling past the graveyard of socialism

Forum Index » Political Discussion

Reply to "Whistling past the graveyard of socialism"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]In any case, capitalism ain't that grand either. So.[/quote]

Because it requires you to start from the bottom and stand on your own two feet?[/quote]

Exactly.  Because it means less “free stuff.”  Some people actually like the idea of redistribution because then they don’t have to exert any energy.  [/quote]

This describes none of the european economies.

The biggest "free stuff" people receive is free college education, in some countries.  That's a good investment.[/quote]

Oh please.  Sanders has been foolishly touting Denmark as a socialist model for the U.S.  Problem is - even liberals in the U.S. media have concluded Sanders' plan isn't workable for the U.S.:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/article50026810.html

[/quote]

Haha!  Bullsh!t.  The United States is so GD rich, we could do it BETTER than Denmark!  Anyway, most Americans want some very simple things that make sense:

** Access to affordable, universal health care from cradle to grave.
** A living wage.
** Affordable child care and/or a wage that makes it possible for one adult in a two-adult household to provide for the family.
** Affordable housing.
** Access to good education in preparation for life after high school.

In addition, we need:

** Solid infrastructure for transportation -- roads, public transport, etc.
** Clean water and air, safe products in general.
** Financial security (not crazy wealth, just the basics), so trust in our banks and financial systems and security in old age/retirement.
** Jobs that afford us basic human standards of decency, so we have predictable work hours.
** Appropriate time for children, dependent adults, rest and relaxation.
** An educated workforce
** Families that can raise children (families are the most efficient and effective method we have for caring for the next generation)

So... what's keeping us from these things and what's it going to take to get there?[/quote]

As a pragmatist who spent two decades on Capitol Hill, I think the short answer is that you have to walk before you can even think about running.

The problems with every one of those are that 
(1) the means to achieve them are not politically feasible - people may support the goals in theory, but when you have to propose details for massive increases in government expenditures and/or extreme mandates and restrictions on private entities and individuals, the support quickly disappears; but you would have to do one or both of those because otherwise 
(2) the private sector will cheat the government out of billions and billions of dollars - if you try to do these things using the paths of least resistance, you end up with something like Obamacare where the government is paying for health care and mandating insurance coverage but the insurers, drug companies, et al are still largely in control and can extort higher prices out of everyone and still avoid covering high risk people by cherry picking which markets to participate in; if the government suddenly started paying everyone's college tuition, just about every college would raise the tuition and students who flunk or drop out would be kept enrolled until the last possible government tuition payment was received - in other words, the things that the for-profit sham schools are now doing to cheat the federal financial aid program and trick their students into piling more debt on top of debt, would become the norm for many more colleges but the government would pay all the bills; so 
(3) you have to regulate these markets in an efficient way that protects against fraud, provides for transparency, but then allows consumers to make their own choices; then you can have the government supplement the market to help where it is really needed, not to subsidize everyone, but even if you write a great plan, 
(4) the truth is that the U.S. right now is so full of people who hate and distrust the "others" among their fellow citizens that any big interest groups that are not allowed to write their own subsidies into the new program would convince just about every self-identified group in America that it is a bad deal for people like them at the expense of whatever group it is that they despise.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics