MovieChat Forums > The One Percent (2006) Discussion > Why the hell is socialism a dirty word t...

Why the hell is socialism a dirty word to Americans?

posted 13 years ago by wozser666
13 replies | jump to latest

In his interview with Friedman he says 'well im not advocating socialism of course' as if it were the most prepostorous idea in the world. That annoyed me a lot. Through the cold war you have been made to equate socialism to communism to evil russians with big bombs.

Now the definition of socialism is:

A political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

That's a hard concept to understand from that but a lot of European countries would consider themselves socialist and it's not a dirty word over here.

In the UK we have free health care and in Norway one of the most equal places in the world they have a brilliant welfare system and very high average wages.

In my opinion not all people should earn the same amount as I believe in rewarding hard work and merit to a certain extent but I do believe that everyone should get the same chances in life and more importantly get paid a fair amoount for their time.

Social policies do NOT EQUATE TO COMMUNISM. I put that in capitals as many Americans (not all of course) seem to get them confused. Having well funded public schools and free health care for all should be a top priority for America and yes there should be a redistribution of wealth through raising minimum wages and increasing taxes on the rich.

That's another dirty thing to say for Americans. Redistribution of wealth... well it's happening now but it's being redistributed to the richest and away from the poor. Rich people don't summon money out of thin air. It comes from me and you. It's not their god given right to own more money than they could possibly spend when they could be slightly less insanely rich and live in a country where everyone earns enough to live a decent life.

[–] fireyhope 13 years ago

one word.

REPUBLICANS

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] dvanpat 13 years ago

You say you object to the federal gov't, but you beg them for bailouts when your companies fail. You beg the government for tax breaks so you can become richer.

[–] justshovejayohbe 12 years ago

Throwing "owning companies, over regulating businesses, controlling the economy, and generally dislike most government involvement with business" as one broad definition is a cop-out. Your definition of "over-regulation" and mine are completely different and the truth is conservatives decry even the most BASIC regulatory action. I'm an inter-modal regulator for DOT. When the majority of truck drivers or safety directors bitch about the government, regulations, and fines when they are operating 26,000 lbs. dangerous machines 80 mph down a highway with families, teenagers, school buses, etc. you begin to realize that regulations protect the public and anti-government people are generally bad citizens who have no empathy for their fellow Americans or care or concern for anyone's well-being except for their own (financially). "Come on man give me a break, I can just drive down the road and I promise I'll fix my tire that's hanging off the rim and put something other than a couple bungies on my steel girders.... Or companies: "What? You mean we have to make sure our driver's have valid CDL licenses and test to see if they're high on cocaine after they get into fatal accidents? GO TO HELL GOVERNMENT DEVIL!!!"

Large corporate activities affect Americans all across this country. The United States Federal Government has constitutional authority to regulate all interstate commerce, and state governments are sovereign entities that may regulation intrastate authority. Government is legitimate authority and has always been since freaking Sumeria, why Republicans think this is against the notion of "traditional values" is beyond me!

[–] Yanksrule-2 12 years ago

It's mostly because we don't want to pay close to a 50% tax rate for inefficient government-run programs. Granted the Scandinavian nations are doing it right somehow. But we Americans value property and buying things we don't need, far too much to commit to something like that.

[–] worldofbong 12 years ago

Not exactly correct on socialism. The Socialist economy, the means of producing/distributing goods is owned collectively OR owned by a government that often plans and controls the economy. Soooo...we "evil Republicans" object to the Federal government: owning companies, over regulating businesses, controlling the economy, and generally dislike most government involvement with business. xo xo, crazy conservative

The government has just as much interplay with our current capitalist system (if not more so) than it would under socialism..

& actually Republicans would label the 1950s American tax code as socialist if someone tried to present it today, and yet say they want a return to 1950's America.. I guess they just mean before black people were guaranteed the right to vote and women were more subservient. Or maybe Republicans are just stupid.

..or at least I think so lol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXVnoEAWNN4

[–] annieapplez 12 years ago

well said -- not partisan myself by any means but at the end I agree with your analysis of much of the reality of modern socialism -- how many people are losing there lives thank to "free" health care (I have heard and experienced too many stories) -- no thanks

[–] VirtualPundit 13 years ago

nor does Canada, Cuba nor anywhere else except the Starship Enterprise.
Services cost money. Whether it's health care, housing, water, food, gas or liquor, everything costs money. Your "free" healthcare is paid through your taxes (believe it or not). Your basic premise shows you to be totally ignorant of the economy.
So the question is: What is the role of the federal government in the fulfillment of the needs of the citizens?
The United States was designed originally (in the early 1800's) to have enumerated federal powers, to defend the nation, establish justice and to promote the general welfare.
The conflict here is how much should the U.S. federal government do to promote business, invest in research, provide for transportation, etc. And with that, the questions have to include (1) who pays for it? and (2) how much?.

Socialism is basically liberal fascism whereby the government dictates who has to pay, how much they have to pay, and who the benefactors are. Socialism has been creeping in dominance since Woodrow Wilson.

This documentary is probably the worst I've ever seen (and I've seen most of Michael Moore's). This idiot Johnson is truly unintelligent, insightful, and has never has no idea how to understand Milton Friedman, whether he disagrees with him or not. It's sad because his documentary could have been pretty interesting because of his access to extremely wealthy people.

[–] fireyhope 13 years ago

yeah because the ENTIRE world is suffering from Socialism. LULZ.
you are a joke.

Socialism does work.

[–] Mickyfinn 12 years ago

Socializing parts of government do work. Social Security = Socialism, Medicare = Socialism. And plenty other 'smaller' programs are exactly that. And they work.

Too bad the most important thing that should also be socialized (Health Care) is not.

You just have to be resigned-
You're crashing by design

[–] worldofbong 12 years ago

nor does Canada, Cuba nor anywhere else except the Starship Enterprise.
Services cost money. Whether it's health care, housing, water, food, gas or liquor, everything costs money. Your "free" healthcare is paid through your taxes (believe it or not). Your basic premise shows you to be totally ignorant of the economy.
So the question is: What is the role of the federal government in the fulfillment of the needs of the citizens?
The United States was designed originally (in the early 1800's) to have enumerated federal powers, to defend the nation, establish justice and to promote the general welfare.
The conflict here is how much should the U.S. federal government do to promote business, invest in research, provide for transportation, etc. And with that, the questions have to include (1) who pays for it? and (2) how much?.

Socialism is basically liberal fascism whereby the government dictates who has to pay, how much they have to pay, and who the benefactors are. Socialism has been creeping in dominance since Woodrow Wilson.

This documentary is probably the worst I've ever seen (and I've seen most of Michael Moore's). This idiot Johnson is truly unintelligent, insightful, and has never has no idea how to understand Milton Friedman, whether he disagrees with him or not. It's sad because his documentary could have been pretty interesting because of his access to extremely wealthy people.

And yet government forces are what have spun the health care industry so out of control in the first place. I say the government should be completely hands off, hell let's get rid of all the politicians too - they're just middlemen ruining the system for their own gain (stuffing their pockets with lobbyist contributions to decide their voting behavior). When a 4 hour hospital visit costs $12,000 it gets hard for the average person to afford.

Government should also stay out of any corporate bailouts, tax rebates or other such nonsense if they're going to stay so out of the picture. Provide the bare minimum of services and nothing else. If you want to build a football stadium or an oil field - do it on your own dime. Let's also not let the leading banks borrow money from the FED at zero percent interest. That's tax payer money that we're already in the hole for and paying interest on, loaning it out at zero interest is costing everyone of us money and putting the country further in debt.

It's odd to me too how much higher socialist countries are ranking on overall happiness, health and education though compared to rampantly capitalist and bureaucratic America.

..or at least I think so lol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXVnoEAWNN4

[–] hobbit_mania 11 years ago

Through the cold war you have been made to equate socialism to communism to evil russians with big bombs.

I think you answered your question right there. Generations of Americans have been taught "socialism=evil" and that idea continues to spread. No one wants to hear of any possible good that might come from more socialist policies, when their first thoughts are of the Soviets.

American culture is also big on individualism. Anything that can be associated with handouts is seen as laziness. Everyone is supposed to be able to make it on their own steam. That's a great ideal, but the problem is that the continuing wealth gap limits the possibilities for most Americans.

[–] Keelai (31892) 2 years ago

Americans brought into the propaganda from media and the GOP which is controlled by rich people.