Socialist Alternative - Why you should be a socialist Socialism is not the great evil that it is painted to be... It is a real alternative to the corrupt parasites that hold the power today...
"The problem with Socialism is, eventually you run out of other peoples' Money." - Margaret Thatcher If you want to live with an 40% Income Tax Rate, feel free to move to one of the successful EU Countries. The most socialist countries are also the ones that are economically imploding. These are known as the "PIGS of Europe": Portugal Ireland Greece Spain My wife and I are 1st Generation Americns, both of our Father's were from the EU. They came here to escape the constraints of socialism, the Free Market Capitalism gave them limitless opportunities here. They don't come here for the boring indigenous food, they come here to have a more successful life.
Ireland is a Socialist country ? You might want to rethink that one... The reason Ireland is in a financial mess is because of the free market... A lack of regulation and political hands off attitude has caused the financial recession. What parts of Europe did your fathers come from ?
By creating more government officials ... and given them more money and power over your lives, your creating an alternative to corrupt parasites holding the power? How exactly?
Governments such as those in control of the US are self serving money making machines... There main purpose is to serve the hand that feeds them. In a Socialist state the government would serve the people not the corporations...
Ireland has a central bank, does it not? Communist Manifesto Plank #5: Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and exclusive monopoly. Just like everywhere else in the world, your banksters operate without risk because the taxpayer has their backs. Moral hazard. As to the OP, equality isn't as important to me as freedom, never will be. Freedom implies equality of opportunity, which we do not currently have. Even under socialism the state would work in favor of special interest groups, so the solution would be to take away the state's power to serve said groups.
Then you clearly do not understand the Economics of Socialism, there several different levels. And you are wrong about Ireland, my company's divisional headquarters is located there. 6 Months of Maternity? 6 weeks vacation? 2 weeks sick time? <- all that mandated by the state. Public health centers? Sounds damned socialist to me. The problem wasn't the free market per se, the problem was more entitlements handed out to freeloaders then what tax revenue the could take in. The government cut the corporate taxes, in order to lure business; it worked like a charm, it was an economic miracle. But the Liberal Politicians stump to feed public projects and handouts, when the economy was hot there was plenty of money in the tax coffuers; however, when the economy tanked that evaporated and they were instantly financially de-rated their stance. If they raise the Corporate Taxes, the companies will flee; then there will be no jobs, and those folks will go back to being drunken impoverished potato farmers. Those Liberal morons ran up the crap out of their credit card, and got caught with their pants down. You can't have it both ways. What is the "Economic Engine" of the EU, it is Germany and they are the most "Conservative" of the countries. Socialism costs Taxes, you put more taxes on businesses - then all we in business do is pass it on with margin to the customer, so it actually costs you MORE than the Taxes the Government imposed on us. There is a big reason Britain did not accept the Euro, they knew those ignorant socialist half-wit countries would drag down the worth of the Sterling. People who are gung-ho Socialists who think it is a solution, generally have never owned a truly successful business - or at least worked in a Corporate environment, where everyone's jobs depend on us maximizing enough profit to keep the parent corporation from shutting us down. More Taxes = Less Jobs.
All governments make this same exactly claim. " a government by the people for the people" How can you say that without a doubt, under socialism, the government does not become self serving? What does socialism offer to guarantee that corruption does not exist? Or even that corruption will have a harder time taking root. Im not asking about your ideal society ...... because every government works well in an ideal society. What i'm asking, is what exists inside a socialist economy/government that prevents the corruption we see in the real world.
Any type of gov't that serves the need of the people sounds good, but socialism, communism, etc although seemingly different "ideologies" on the surface are actually the same. it just depends how much power gov't has and in this scenario it has too much. why not a limited gov't whose simple function would be to protect the freedoms of people.
And while were at it, what religion should we all have? We grew way beyond Mayberry. The population has grown past a point that is forcing more and more of govt regulations over areas it did not in the past. This increase in power almost assures corruption as thats part of human nature. Has been since time of kings. Maybe for once people should change. In the meantime, I have my spot picked out to watch the glow.
Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis | by Ludwig von Mises The Quotable Mises - Ludwig von Mises Institute Why Intellectuals Still Support Socialism - Peter G. Klein - Mises Daily [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbPuINIqhEE]YouTube - Selling Liberty: National Delusions and the Madness of Crowds | Yuri N. Maltsev[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76frHHpoNFs]YouTube - Milton Friedman - Socialism vs. Capitalism[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNbYdbf3EEc]YouTube - Hayek on Socialism[/ame] Good/relevant quotes, anyone know the source? "By the skillful and sustained use of propaganda, one can make a people see even heaven as hell or an extremely wretched life as paradise." "He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future." "How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think." "If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed." "Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it." "The broad masses of a population are more amenable to the appeal of rhetoric than to any other force." "The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one." "What good fortune for governments that the people do not think."
Well i happen to live in Ireland and can tell you that the reason that Ireland sank like a whores knickers at the sight of a $20 bill was lack of regulation. The Irish Central Bank adopted a hands off approach and gave the banks free reign to lend and finance as they wished... It was lack of regulation and a devil may care attitude adopted by the ruling government that got us into the mess we are in. Because revenue has fallen, cuts in the public sector have had to be made. The maternity leave, holidays and sick pay might sound alien to you but this is the norm in Europe. Entitlements such as these were not to blame. Unemployment was at an all time low. As for your assertion that the Irish will Please refrain from the ignorant insults...
Economic calculation problem - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This is why Socialism has never, and will never work.
Earth Humor, you should try it. And yes, every insufferable time I had to do penance in that rainy moldy shitehole called Galway, all those stupid F'rs did was get completely shattered drunk all the time - all the time - it was rather pathetic actually. Nothing to do there other than slurp 12 pints of whatever followed by drowning in Jameson, oh well you can go golfing on the 3 sunny days a year. Stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason...
Spoken like a true Yob. And yes, I think The Clash and all those rebellion rock bands can suck it - a bunch of phonies, every single one of them...