Why do so many Americans hate socialism?

Question

It seems like when I talk to Americans the world 'socialism' is so dirty. I realize that America was founded on princples of capitalism; but in reality there is no pure capitalist society.

The 10 countries with the highest standards of living are:

Norway
Sweden
Canada
Belgium
Australia
United States
Iceland
Netherlands
Japan
Finland

http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/world-top-ten-quality-of-life-map.html

There are 5 higher than the USA, and all have a lot more socialist policies.

What does everyone else think?

"North Americans"? Canadians (I am one of them) have more socialism and are higher up on the list and have low unemployment. How do you explain that?

Answer 1

They're brainwashed to believe in "The American Dream" or the American way of life, just as much as middle eastern suicide bombers are brainwashed from childhood to hate the west.

Answer 2

As an American I agree with you that Americans are ignorant when it comes to socialism. However, in my opinion the ignorance is a little bit different than how you characterize it.

Starting from the begginning, the idea of America being a capitalist country from birth is not completely true. The most important book written on capitalism, Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, was not even published until 1776 (the year america was founded). The idea of having a strict capitalist society did not really come about until later (in the way that we know it).

The reason I believe Americans are ignorant is that we have many social programs that contradict this capitalist notion. Just to name a few: Welfare, Social Secutity, and state health care plans. We also have laws that limit competition among businesses and go against the invisible hand theory such as: requiring a real estate liscence to sell houses, requiring a dealership liscence to sell automobiles, a liscence to be a laywer, and also collective barganning laws. America is a lot more socialist than you may origionally think.

Now, to address your concerns on the standards of living, I will use Canada as main example since I live close to the boarder. Canada has a higher unemployment rate, the quality of health care professionals is below that of the US, there taxes are far higher, and there standard of living is really not that much better (ignoring crime rate and the general disposition of their citizens, both of which have nothing to do with economic policy). I also point out that while you might argue that things like free health care for all is a good thing, I must also point out that our free market and compeitition creates the vast majority of new drugs on the market. The competition among businesses in a capitalist society theoretically creates products at lower costs and higher qualities.

In conclusion there no such thing as a truely capitalist society, you are correct. And just as communist gevernments failed because they never truely achieved communism, america is falling behind because it has not truely achieved capitalism. But rather than becoming more socialist, I believe that because we know capitalism can be achieved (unlike comunism), and because we know capitalism does work, the USA needs to become more capitalist than it is.

Answer 3

The other thing is that if you add the populations and GNP of all the countries together, they make about 1/4 the population and GNP of the U.S. Beyond all that, all those countries have strong market economies. You also probably know that a place like Sweden has very low corporate taxes and some have NO taxes on captial gains. And all those countries have homogeneous populations. International comparisons are hard. There are only a few hard and fast rules. Countries with freer economies are almost always better than those without. Globalization and prosperity are stongly linked. And democracy goes with both. I don’t dislike socialism. Of course you have to have some price mechanism. I lived in Norway and liked lots of its social democratic aspects. It just does not work in a large and diverse system. And it does not adapt well to change. Even in Scandinavia, it breaks down as the population gets more diverse. Among the trade offs in socialism is integration of diversity. That is a big problem for Europeans and why they have such trouble with immigrants. Ours are nothing by comparison. I let my Very Smart friend answer this>>>>>

Answer 4

First, I'm not sure what criteria was used to rate the standard of living but it's suspect. I wonder if it considered such things as opportunity and income mobility.

Second, some of these countries (Canada and Norway, for example) have ample natural resources such as oil and gas which generates significant revenue for the government. Without those natural resources, the socialistic systems may not be as "good."

Third, all of the countries on the list bask in an umbrella of security and innovations shared from the U.S.

So, those are some things to consider. Now, to get specifically to your question, read our Declaration of Independence and or Constitution. We love individual liberty and distrust unchecked powers in the government. Over the long term we believe individual liberty has a better chance of delivering quality of life improvements than more centrally controlled forms of government. Even China and India are figuring this out.

The other countries on the list should count themselves lucky that we share. If we didn't, I'd suspect that only a couple names would remain on that list 25 years down the road (the U.S. being one).

Answer 5

Those numbers are crap. Where is Switzerland?
Take those numbers to be true. Socialism may be the preferred choice of wealthy countries. Thus socialism did not cause wealth but is a result of it. (Post Hoc fallacy is what I am accusing you of)

Look at countries as they become less socialistic. They have huge growth rates. Look at countries as they become more socialistic they have flat or negative growth rates.

Furthermore (still assuming those numbers are true). The U.S. is probably the first or second less socialist country in the world with very few countries even close. It is in the top 10 out of close to 200 countries. This indicates that maybe socialism sucks.



Next assume that economically socialism is better. Americans love freedom. When you have more controls you have less freedom. A great book on this is Friedman's "Capitalism and Freedom"

Finally, to some of you. I would be careful accusing people who disagree with you as ignorant. You might find that people who study these things for a living are less likely to be socialist (Don't mention Krugman he is a trade theorist).

Answer 6

The idea that those countries have a higher standard of living than the USA in any true sense is ludicrous. Seriously, Belgium? Is that a joke? To American eyes people in Belgium live in poverty. Which is why so many of the brightest and most talented people in ALL those countries come to the US. (I need hardly point out that Americans don't go to those countries seeking their dreams). I recall an incident where someone saw a slide show of famous Canadians -- and the funny thing was it was a list of people who all had to come to the US to become successful.

Americans hate socialism because they tend to have a better and more intuitive understanding of economics than Europeans do -- probably because they're not subject to constant brainwashing about the evils of market capitalism, and because there is so much more diversity of thought and opinion in the US. (I'm continually shocked by the abject ignorance of mainstream economics that I find among educated Europeans.)

Americans also know that they are substantially wealthier than Europeans (including those on your, uh, highly subjective list), and that they have far more individual freedom. They know this because we've all met many Europeans and Canadians who've had to come to the US to have a chance to be successful.

Answer 7

You are currently using computer technology and the Internet to ask why Americans don't like Socialism.

Of those 5 countries you listed above the US:
Norway
Sweden
Canada
Belgium
Australia

What innovations have come from their Socialist Systems that have made your life better and increased your standard of living?
What innovations have come from American Capitalism that have made your life better. (hint: computer technology and the Internet)

How about a little comparison of EU vs USA.
http://www.timbro.com/euvsusa/
.

Answer 8

I think if we ask ourself this question, then we know.

If I have been working hard and saving all my money, and now I have $ 10 millions in the bank, will I be ok if some control figure dictate me to share it equally with everyone, despite the fact that this is my money from my hard-working-with-sweat & tear earning?

I also think because the notion of socialism is very similar w/ communism, and we don't want communism in this country.

Hope it helps!

Answer 9

It is hard to be a true socialist if you have been brought up in an individualized society that touts ownership and values monetary gains to such a high degree. North Americans are out for themselves and to have such a selfish view it would be difficult to be part of a collective.

Answer 10

It is the word socialism they hate. If you ask them if the like the policies using neutral words with out labels, most would favor them. We think socialized medicine is bad, but that everyone is entitled to health care. We don't like tax loopholes but favor deductions on mortgage interest. It is all in how you label things.

Answer 11

in America we've changed the name from socialist to liberalism. that is why the European countries are so happy to work with the "new" congress. lets face it wherever you live there are the politicians and then there's us the work force .lemon aid anyone?