Do Liberals really understand socialism?

Question

Our country is a constitutional republic, partnered with a theology of democracy, if that makes sense. What I pick up from liberals, who talk about how the poor and the needy, and our governments role. There is no doubt that people in this country need help, but in an effort to find responsibility and resolution to this social problem, in a liberals effort to verbalize what they think should be done......it sounds like socialism. Do they really know what it is and its long term effect?

ego's will destroy us all

Answer 1

What we liberals advocate is not a hand out, but rather, a hand up. We all fall down sometimes and it's not the responsibility of the government to pick us up, but it would be nice to know that if we do fall, we won't slip between the cracks. What we advocate is our government acting as a safety net. I'm actually somewhat in favor of people repaying welfare, unemployment, etc., but only if they're making $25,000 per year or more with a maximum deduction of $10.00 per paycheck. The true judge of how great a country is is how well it takes care of its least fortunate citizens.
Now onto a different yet related subject; Corporate Welfare. If it is not the governments job to support its least fortunate citizens, then it most certainly is not the governments job to support the country's most fortunate citizens. If Socialism is a redistribution of wealth from rich to poor, then what is a redistribution of wealth from poor and middle class to the rich? Our government bails out banks, the auto industry, etc. If YOU started a business and it failed, would the US government bail YOU out? NO! So why are we doing it for companies that had their chance. In a "free" market economy the government doesn't interfere. Apparently, our own government doesn't know that. And if one of those businesses were to fail, another business would spring up to take its place to meet the demand for their goods or services. It is not our governments job to bail out special business interests by propping them up on the backs of the US taxpayers. If you insist we can or must, then we can and must take care of our least fortunate citizens as well. For if we can help the most fortunate among us, we can most certainly help the least fortunate Americans among us as well.

Answer 2

It's so hard to answer such a generalized question. How about do conservatives really understand socialism? As someone else here said, police, fire, schools, etc are socialized meaning that we should all be supporting them because we all need them. Our american values are what separate us from other countries. (Individualism, personal responsibility, work ethic (we are the most productive country on the planet), ethics in general, etc.) As much as our current system solves problems, it also creates problems. We are limiting our resources because we have a lot of human capital that is not being used. Do we really need more people like Paris Hilton? That seems to be what is happening. Have you seen our kids? Fat and lazy, too many of them? Have you listened to Dennis Kucinich? He wants to put more people working and at making this a better place to live? Have you seen the roads lately, for example? Have you noticed our crumbling infrastructure? Do you need to get hit by a brick before you think maybe there is a serious problem occurring? A lot of people are worse off than they were 30 years ago even. Is this a trend that we want to continue? There are big problems. The only ones I see dealing with it are the Dennis K's of the world.

Our system doesn't work for everyone. Mental illness. Learning disabilities. These are inherited genetically. People think differently. I would think that is a good thing but society doesn't seem to value it too much unless it comes in a very attractive package. If there is good luck then there is bad luck. When someone is sick, that person shouldn't have to even think about finances. They have enough to worry about. A lot of people don't have the money to afford healthier foods or get preventative care.

Our system is penny wise and Dollars foolish.

Answer 3

The one thing that I believe confuses liberals about the way conservatives view Socialism is that conservatives see it as a stepping stone toward Communism and liberals just see it as a humanitarian thing that is a normal progression for government. I believe that both sides are correct. The problem that concerns conservatives so much is that we are moving to this larger government with more social services at a time when we have and are building insurmountable debt. With the debt it makes Communism much easier to attain for those who seek to move us in that direction. As Capitalism fails due to poor economy and is bailed out by government, government gains more and more control of all aspects of society and this is how Socialism can eventually turn into Communism. Communism in it's truest sense is not really possible on a large scale, so I have no choice but to base my definition on the type that we are familiar with, state run communism.

Answer 4

Do you understand what socialism is and its long term effect? Because I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Parts of our society have to be socialized or our society would fall apart. Its why we have collective defense, police protection, fire protection, transportation, education, etc. Its probable that energy supply will also have to be socialized to some degree as resources get rarer. Sometimes socialism is what works best. I'm not saying that capitalism should be abolished, it plays its part also. But we live in a large, complex, and ever growing society and we have to do what works best. If that means socializing some aspects of our industry, so be it. Idealism like yours is noble (I guess I am assuming you are idealistic capitalist, maybe I shouldn't!), but it usually doesn't work, except in very small populations.

I assume you are vaguely pointing towards universal health care proposals. I think if people actually took the time to look at all the proposals, instead of knee-jerk reacting, they would see that all the proposals, Dem & Repub, are pretty similar, and that none of them could really be considered socialist, including Hillary's.

Answer 5

I think so. You have to realize that there are many aspects of the US that are based on socialist ideas, that have been very successful. Our police, firefighters, and even are military are socialized. There are good parts to any system, and you must find a balance. Yet everyone has a different opinion on what that balance should be.

Also, I think a lot of liberal ideas get mislabeled as socialism. For example, many claim the democrats universal health care ideas are socialized medicine.

Answer 6

Most liberals are not socialists.

We do socialize medicine in a sense - we pay a small amount (in relative terms) for health insurance and have large amounts of money paid on our behalf if we need medical care. But this kind of socialism is managed by private businesses rather than the government. It is more costly and less efficient than most national insurance programs and it excludes 42 million people

Answer 7

My question is, do Conservatives truly understand socialism?
Socialism is a broad array of ideologies and political movements with the goal of a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community for the purposes of increasing social and economic equality and cooperation.[1] This control may be either direct, exercised through popular collectives such as workers' councils, or indirect, exercised on behalf of the people by the state. As an economic system, socialism is often characterized by state or community ownership of the means of production.

The modern socialist movement largely originated in the late-19th century working class movement. In this period, the term socialism was first used in connection with European social critics who criticized capitalism and private property. For Karl Marx, who helped establish and define the modern socialist movement, socialism would be the socioeconomic system that arises after the proletarian revolution, in which the means of production are owned collectively. This society would then progress into communism.

Our democrats running for office do not advocate complete central planning and/or ownership of all property by the state.

Answer 8

well maybe you should stop listening to the far-far left fringe !!

and don't pretend that they speak for the Majority of Liberals !!
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John A. is 100% correct

Answer 9

I don't think it matters because the vast majority of liberals don't advocate socialism.

Answer 10

I'm with you on this one. Especially with health care. I'm not sure they understand that we already have a system in place that provides health care. It's not free, but regardless, it does provide care for anyone who is ill. More socialist systems would be the worst thing that could ever happen to our country.