Would it be possible for Socialism and true Democracy to co-exist?

Question

My thoughts are as follows(I'll try to keep this brief):

A government that cares for the basic needs of its citizens, obviously via taxation(hence, the socialism part) while allowing the citizens to assess and mandate to that government what the needs of its members are(hence the democratic part)

This is a theorhetical question. What barriers do you foresee?

what I mean by "true democracy" is- 1 person, 1 vote. As opposed to a Republic where less than 600 members of society(as in Congress) make the laws and assess the needs for the millions of subjects at its mercy.

Answer 1

Not as long as greedy people are involved in politics.

Answer 2

I hope this is not an example of what the youth in this country is thinking. If so, we are in a lot of trouble.
You have a confused notion of what socialism is. As to "true" democracy, it doesn't work. That was proven 2000 years ago.
For most of the recorded history of civilization, wealth has been controlled by the state. In feudal systems, a king or other ruler owned and controlled everything. In a socialistic system, a ruling elite or committee owns and controls everything. In either system, individual aspirations were limited to the good graces of the rulers. In other words, the common person could only advance in life as far as the people at the top would allow.
About 400 years ago or so, a new economic system started to evolve called merchantism. This was a system of international trade by merchants in the markets, in today's world it would be WalMart or KMart. This international trade fell outside of the scope of control of the kingdom in which the merchants resided. It was the first time in history that individuals, common people, were able to acquire wealth and power without being born into a gentry. It was the first time that common people were able to acquire the means to educate their young, to buy the home of their choice, to wear the fine clothes of the elite. Merchantism created a class of people that never existed before, the middle-class.
The success of merchantism in lifting people into prosperity was the basis for the eventual evolution of capitalism. Capitalism is individual ownership and control of wealth. In a capitalistic system, each individual is afforded the same power that was once limited to the king or other such ruling class.
Only under capitalism are the individual liberties and freedom on which this country is founded guaranteed. Only thru capitalism can the populace control its government. Once individual control of wealth is ceded to a government, the government has the power to coerce its populace. Once you depend on your government for your basic needs, you have lost your freedom.

You don't have to go far to see what I am talking about. Venezuela has recently adopted a socialistic government. Just this week, the government banned an opposing TV net from broadcasting. All power in Venezuela has been ceded to the government. Individual freedoms are being eliminated.

Answer 3

As a lot of posters have pointed out, we DO exist in a socialistic/democratic nation. Today, the big issue is Universal Health-care, and more childcare initiative. In theory, our market economy is supposed to even out these kinds of "socialist" programs, but there are bad apples in that, too. Everyone takes advantage of their system and there will always be greed and corrupt politicians.

I think we should look at our "democracy" too, and decide that if it truly is "one person, one vote", we do something about people's frickin' voting rights!

When it comes to civic involvement, we do not take our responsibilities seriously enough in this country. This is partly in cause of a poor electoral system that would rather us be uniformed and uninvolved anyway, which is why there needs to be REFORM. Among other things, there needs to be:

1) A Constitutional guarantee for right to vote extended to every tax-paying citizen.

2) A mandated national holiday (like they do in other countries) where everyone can take off work. Beyond simply being practical, the day deserves solemnity and respect.

Answer 4

In there pure forms these systems could not co-exist. Democracies were first formed from people who were tired of tyrannical rule. This is the reason for the basic Democratic philosophy that a man must make decisions for himself rather than someone making them for him. When someone takes care of your "basic needs" for you, you give him power over you. An individuals self-reliance in the foundation of any strong community, state, government. That is the beauty of Democracy!

I should say that a good government would be a mixture of both. Here in the U.S. the worst thing that could happen is if the rich and middle class grew too far apart. (the Great Depression) A little socialism is needed to combat that. Just a little socialism, a very little.

Answer 5

It's not a barrier, it's more of an escalation of the socialist realm. The more socialist leaders that are elected, the more they will tax us, because most of "their" constituents will allow it.
Before we know it, we'll be paying in excess of 70% of our income to the government like the people in France currently do.

If you do the math, we already pay over 50% of our income to the government, so we aren't all that far away from being a totally socialist state.
The other problem with socialism is it opens too many holes for a totalitarian regime by giving government too much power. A fine example of that is Venezuela. We are actually watching a once free country slipping into another Cuban style dictatorship of historical proportions.

Answer 6

I am constantly astounded by the number of people who do not know definitions of words but have very strong opinions about what they think those words mean.Socialism is an economic system,Democracy is a political system.With the right leaders,and without greed, any economic system could work with any political system.By the way,the word is mercantilism.

Answer 7

The short answer is no. Socialism has never worked. I want to know why people think that the government should take care of peoples basic needs, If people want their basic needs taken care they should get a job period. Why should I have to pay more in taxe ( that's my money ) to support anyone who refuses to work

Answer 8

Untimately, Socialism must be enforced by the government. People will sooner or later (paraphrasing Abraham Lincoln), object to the sweat from their brow being the producer of someone else's bread. It would take government force to make people give up the fruits of their own labor.

Socialism is a utopian vision for someone like you, but you close your eyes to the inevitable unintended outcome...that socialism must be enforced.

Answer 9

Democratic Socialism already exists in numerous states, many of which have the highest standards of living in the world. Sweden is the best example, but Socialism is central to the ECONOMIC systems of most European states, including Great Britain.

Please remember, Socialism is an economic system; Democracy is a political system. It is very possible, again, present on the earth today, to have Dictatorial Capitalism.

Answer 10

effective dream yet enable's be genuine...it is by no ability going to take place. There are different a thank you to steer away from sexually transmitted ailments. and you look suggesting that basically "genuine" Christians wait till marriage - human beings of alternative religions do besides, you be attentive to.

Answer 11

I'll just quote from the SPUSA website.

"Socialism and democracy are one and indivisible. The Socialist Party is democratic, with its structure and practices visible and accessible to all members. We reject dogma and promote internal debate. The Socialist Party is a "multi-tendency" organization. We orient ourselves around our principles and develop a common program, but our members have various underlying philosophies and views of the world. Solidarity within the party comes from the ability of those with divergent views on some issues to engage in a collective struggle towards social revolution. We strive to develop feminist practice within the party."