Do you think socialism could be a real political alternative to what we have now (plutocratic capitalism)?

Answer 1

Actually, Socialism is an economic model, not a governmental model. It would be a good solution for our medical system. Communism has not been terribly successful, but socialism has promise, at least in certain areas.

Answer 2

NEVER! That is just the thing that so many men have given their lives for. If we adopted socialism then all the great Americans like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and countless members of the military would have fought and in many cases died in vain. America is a great country because we are not socialist. We should NEVER allow it to be socialist. Socialism is not Freedom and Freedom is the only way.

We don't even want it in our Medical or economic system- especcialy not Medical. You really talk to people who live in countries with socialized mediceine and you will find that the quality of care is not what it is here. I have family members who have lived in those countries and have had to be treated through those systems and they have all said that it is not a good idea.

Answer 3

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

Socialism is an incredible drag on a society, eventually inflicting an incredible burden on the next generation. For folks who are worried about the impact of Boomers on Social Security in the United States, at least the United States' population is still growing at a significant rate.

Some countries have taken it so far that merely the SUGGESTION that employees may be laid off or fired is enough to lead to strikes and boycotts. What do you think the long-term outlook is for a society that stifles growth when compared to countries that are competing aggressively?

Don't get me wrong - there will be a lot of misguided types who will still push for this in the United States, but hopefully people retain their common sense and avoid this trap.

Answer 4

No. It's not just political ideology behind the answer either. Communism and socialism's R systems that look perfect on paper, but fail in real life. It's a lovely concept, but human nature and some people's hunger for power make the systems ideal for becoming dictators.

Answer 5

I think so.

When our economic system was created, it was suppose to be combined with a democratic republic in order to keep tabs on the government. It was designed to have accountability. Why? Because throughout history, capitalism has always failed.

The reason capitalism tends to always fail is because every single time the gap between the rich and poor becomes so enormous that either you end up with a 3rd world country where the middle class no longer exist OR you end up with a revolution because the masses eventually revolt. (Lenin)

Our forefathers tried to design our government in combination with capitalism to prevent this... things like anti-monopoly laws BUT what has happened is those powerful corporations have paid off politicians in order to continue to be monopolies. (walmart-Frontline series on walmart and internation trade and violation of monopoly laws)

So yes, at this point, I do believe we need to start looking at a more socialist structure. What amazes me is that the poor are accused of not desiring to work with is absolutely insane and nothing but rhetoric.

PBS did a show on this last year where they were examining how welfare reform was doing. Welfare reform makes ppl eventually get work after a limited amount of time. 100% of the ppl they talked to were ask, 'If you could go back to receiving welfare versus having a job, would you?" Every single one said,"OMG NO." They said they felt much more self-esteem and valued in society. Their jobs gave them purpose.

Answer 6

Not in the United States, for a number of reasons. Aside from arguments of economic efficiency or Constitutionality, the U.S. is just too diverse for socialism to work.

If we totally extended government control over the economy, it would just become an arena for pitting one group against the other. With all of our racial, religious, sexual, and regional differences (and all of the historical baggage that goes with it) economic decision-making would become endlessly entangled in bitter, unresolvable arguments. If any one group started to dominate decision-making, other groups would work to passively sabotage the economic plan. If we wanted socialism to work instead of being worse than what we have right now, we'd have to give up our pluralistic values and push assimilation.

Look at the typical "success stories" of socialism in Northern Europe. There, you have a fairly homogeneous population with a shared cultural background. Quite the opposite here. In fact, a lot of the problems in Europe right now stem from trying to accommodate the effects growing diversity into the existing social welfare system.

Answer 7

yep! Look at Sweden and all those scandinavian countries! People from denmark are the happiest in the world according to a recent study, Swedish are not that far behind. The government provides a lot of money to wellfare, education, health etc. Huge inequalities don't exist in the degree they do in highly capitalistic societies, et voila!

Answer 8

There is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequal people.

It is simply wrong to take from those willing to work and give those who are not.

Socialism fails for the same reason communism fails. It requires people to be automated, unfeeling machines. Capitalism has gotten us where we are, highest luxuries in history, most free time in history.

However, now that we are becoming more and more communistic in america, we are starting to see serious degredation in our government.

Revolution is at hand. Whose side are you on?

Answer 9

No chance, it just doesn't fit in with venal human nature. It's a nice idea though, like communism, and look what a mess they made of that - though I've met people in ex-soviet republics who regret the demise of the soviet system. The only 2 political systems that "work" are capitalism and dictatorships.

Answer 10

All "ism" is just a ploy by intellectual elitists on both sided of the aile in order to either acquire good conscience or mystify the people, or greedily exploit them