Why is socialism so bad?

[flyingimam]

all that shit u just typed, for sake of space

IOU another + rep man!

flyingimam Reviewed by flyingimam on 10-27-2008. Why is socialism so bad? Hello Everyone! I have been following the presidential race and the arguments in these forums for the past few weeks. One of the new issues is SOCIALISM. I lived in the United States for 17 years, but moved back to my home country of Finland a couple years ago. Finland is a Socialist Democracy. We have free health care, free education through your bachelor's degree (when you turn 18, the gov. also pays for 80% of your rent and grocery money(240â?¬/month), and allows you to take out Rating: 5

[JeffersonBud]

Want to know why a socialist party is bad? Watch the movie "The Lives of Others" (its a German flick). you can rent it at blockbuster. One of the best movies ever to grace the screen.

[bigtopsfinn]

Want to know why a socialist party is bad? Watch the movie "The Lives of Others" (its a German flick). you can rent it at blockbuster. One of the best movies ever to grace the screen.

YES!!! Great movie actually... but as iamkowalski explained earlier, this is the society where everyone wears gray and in the militaristic society. This is hard-core socialism, and it is actually a true story.

When communism was first "invented", it was a great idea, and many people embraced it. Over time, we saw that it was great on paper, but just didn't work in practice (the only exception being Cuba). Now, who is to say that capitalism works either? We human beings have a problem, where we tend to do things for our own good, and not the greater good. This happens in communism and capitalism...

Thanks everyone for replying, and not letting this get out of control like some of the other political threads!

[maladroit]

"Socialism and Capitalism are unable to coexists."

- they coexist in the usa where some financial institutions are privately owned, some are part private and part government, and some of the largest are 100% government owned

[ralphbuick]

Socialism is Bad = Greed is Good

[theforthdrive]

sadly, one problem with profit oriented healthcare is that it plays with people's quality of life and even their death, over what? profit and money? I don't think money is worth everything. At least a companies' or a few in individuals (shareholders) profit aint worth nobodies life.

its called healthcare how can u take "care" of someone's health when the first order of business is to take care of your money even if its at expense of someone's life. these two will not always go along, u know...

Love it. this is a major issue with me! Im guessing stoned88911, youve never been placed in a position of being at the mercy of insurance co. and medical bills. We can beat this dead horse all we want, but some people dont see that we do have social aspects in the US gov't. Where do you stand on the 700 bil. bailout? thats direct socialism if you ask me. we just nationalized a large portion of the banking industry but somehow the mention of allowing proper health care is socialist propaganda. I just think that if we are not going to have a complete laissez faire gov't two things should be the right of every American, greatest nation on earth , healthcare and education. maybe we should start making everyone pay to go to school too, huh?

[bigtopsfinn]

I may have found my answer:

For those who don't know Geert Hofstede, he is a Dutch researcher who studied cultural differences from country to country (I think about 80 countries in total). He had 5 different dimensions, and individualism was one of them:

"There are only seven (7) countries in the Geert Hofstede research that have Individualism (IDV) as their highest Dimension: USA (91), Australia (90), United Kingdom (89), Netherlands and Canada (80), and Italy (76).

The high Individualism (IDV) ranking for the United States indicates a society with a more individualistic attitude and relatively loose bonds with others. The populace is more self-reliant and looks out for themselves and their close family members."

Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Americans (in general) to not favor socialist ideas... just thought it was interesting. here's the link if you want to see more: United States - US or American Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Explained

[thcbongman]

Question.. if Other countries who have socialist practices are so much better.. why are we #1 in GDP? Socialism directly impacts your ability to control the direction in which your life takes.

Case in point and I hope someone here can chime in to acknowledge as what i'm saying is true, because I'm sure everyone here who hasn't lived in the netherlands will call me a liar.. but here we go.

In the netherlands the government for the most part tells you where to live. If you have a 4 person household then you are told where to live. If your household downsizes to 2 people then you are moved right away to a smaller home.

Recently a friend of mine's grandmother lost her husband. Within 1 day she was notified that she would be being relocated to a smaller home.

When someone has rule over where you live then where is your motivation to aspire for more in life. A person could say that all their aspirations in life revolve around a person's home. To change it to their liking.. to update it.. to make it a comfortable environment for themselves. What aspiration do you have to make the money to do this when the government tells you where to live (taxes are also way high there too).

I love Europe.. I love visiting; but I wouldn't want to live there primarily for the number of social programs and fairly socialist governments there. I don't like being told what I can and can't do... which is the same problem I have with the direction the American Government is going. Our government is starting to get so bloated it's ridiculous.

Less government now please!

Were #1 in GDP because we have a lot of capital, a lot of resources and a ton of land. It has little to do with the social services that could be provided or how much the government controls.

If you look at GDP per capita, already two "socialist" countries beats the USA, Norway and Ireland. Both countries have mixed economies, welfare systems, and free education to everyone. Look at the countries slightly behind. Switzerland is one of the most capitalistic countries in the world, home to a gluton of multinational corporations and bankers, yet they offer a ton of social programs. The Netherlands, despite being told where they are housed have about $5000 less than Amerca per capita.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publicat.../2004rank.html

I believe a capitalistic with elements of socialism can help American continue to prosper, plus re-focus on education and health and in the long-run it'll continue long-run prosperity. I believe the American government should pay for students that deserve it. Not only would it raise academic standards for institutions, but would inspire a population to focus on education knowing they have the opportunity to get an education for free without incurring a rack of debt.

And lack of choice? Most those school systems allow you to attend private schools like anyone else. No one is telling anywhere where to go to school or where they should be hospitalized. If you don't have the money, you really don't have an option have you? But it's better than nothing at all. So much for being told what to do. There are some restrictions when it comes to some social programs but they aren't so hampering as everyone makes it out to be. You have the choice to pay your own way.

[flyingimam]

Please go to a socialist country.


Goverment is suposed to supply people wth diffence.

Not pay there bills, buy insurance, or wipe are butts.

Ya socialism sounds good, ya sounds sweet dont have to work as hard to get good things, why wouldnt anyone want that.

Oh ya if we do that, we wont have the largest military.

Im sure your not worried about it u didnt live threw ww1 or ww2 and neither did i.
But when ww3 comes, and dont kid urself it WILL HAPPEN, id rather have trouble paying for insurance then having to dig a hole to live in.

hahaha :S2:

duuuuude!!! what kind of weed are u smoking, it must be some real strong sativa, share the secret with me

what u typed here sounds very paranoid, i mean on scale of 1-10, 1 being the most laid back or careless person u have known to date and 10 being the simpletons who stared at me while I was in the plane, thinking I'm a terrorist or something just cuz of my facial hair, my unibrow or skin color (that shit was as funny as it was annoying to me then) u stand at 11

[8182KSKUSH]

Ur right i dont have insurance problems

Because im not lazy and i work and make a buncha money.

Im sorry u should get insurance or a job with insurance benefits.

And im so glad my goverment doesnt take my very hard earned money and give it to the person who stays home all day and watches tv. Becuase they deserve nothing from the goverment GET JOBS!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds like usa has 45 million lazy people.

No reason to steal from the hard working.

Please go to a socialist country.


Goverment is suposed to supply people wth diffence.

Not pay there bills, buy insurance, or wipe are butts.

Ya socialism sounds good, ya sounds sweet dont have to work as hard to get good things, why wouldnt anyone want that.

Oh ya if we do that, we wont have the largest military.

Im sure your not worried about it u didnt live threw ww1 or ww2 and neither did i.
But when ww3 comes, and dont kid urself it WILL HAPPEN, id rather have trouble paying for insurance then having to dig a hole to live in.

I love it!:thumbsup:
You are probably better off talking to your plants though! The "True Believers" they are many here!
Sadly though, we already have socialist programs and have had them for some time. I have realized that we are on the fast track to this if someone doesn't step up in the next 20 years and straighten shit up quick fast and in a hurry. (And apparently McCain ain't the one to do it, but of course on the other hand you have...duhdaduah! So of course I will support McCain.)(Lesser of 2 evils, another thread).
I have never, in my life, ever, met anyone that attributes their life's success to any kind of "social, welfare program." Never.
Not ever.
You know, like, "Aw, thank you, thank you, I would like to thank so and so and oh yeah, I could have never made it to where I am today if it were not for my subsidized housing and welfare food stamps! Thank you big brother for "helping" me out.Golly, I could have never done it without you,"
and of course, Big Brother saying all the while,
"yes you are helpless, and you can't make it without my help, that's why it's so important to vote for me, the other guy is rich and he hates poor people. And he has all your money you should have, (if you actually worked of course) and you have no chance now, the rich guy has all the money there will ever be and there's none left for you yes!!!"
Does anyone not clearly see why it is not a good thing for the "people" to become dependant on the federal government?
How would you feel if the government legalized cannabis, but only goverment grown cannabis. They of course use a secret police to literally destroy any and all remnants of any other cannabis genetics, except for theirs, (which in the hypothetical scenario, sucks.) Then they make you go to one place, that is 100 times more crowded and slow than the post office if the people from the DMV were all filling in. And you get 1 gram, per day, that's it, because that's the way it is because that's what big brother says. Digg.
Everyone gets cannabis now if they want it, and everyone gets the same too, so there is no more "oh waa, I only get this and so and so gets that", everyone just gets the same, shit ass brick. Oh and did I mention the gram included seeds that were sterile and stems.
So is that what you want?
Of course the joke here is that even as a socialist republic we would still not legalize cannabis. But just a scenario folks could relate to.