| Donald Tees 2006-04-18, 6:55 pm |
| Holly wrote:
> Good posts! I never understood why "socialism" became a dirty word,
> kind of like "liberal" has become. There are many movements within
> socialism, spanning from a more communist ideal to a democratic
> socialism to a libertarian (anarchic) socialism. I think that people
> should really understand the term before using it like a catch phrase
> talking point. It's one of those Talk Radio Angry White Man lingo
> terms that is too easy to use, one can dismiss anything involving
> responsibility to the community as "socialist". Any kind of regulation
> or government sponsored program becomes "socialist". I don't think
> that unconstrained capitalism, deregulation, and private control of our
> country's infrastructure is a great idea. Look at what happened to the
> airlines with deregulation. You can thank the neo-cons for that (at
> least my dad, a retired pilot from a bankrupt airline who lost all of
> his pension money does).
>
> Some might even say that Jesus' Sermon on the Mount was socialist. And
> we wouldn't be enjoying w ends or limited work hours without
> socialism (which those are being eroded again, unfortunately). There
> are good and bad things that arise from any movement. The problem is
> when people are unwilling to compromise their ideals, whether they be
> capitalist or socialist, that not everything should be treated the same
> way.
>
Yes, there are lots of good things about socialism, and lots of bad
things about unfettered capitalism. As soon as people start talking in
terms of capital letters, though, it beomes simple jingoism.
We have state paid medicare here, and it is a more humane as well as a
cheaper system than capitalism.
I recently went in for my 60 year checkup. Full cat scan, ultrasound on
my lungs/heart(I am a smoker) a dozen blood tests, and an hour with a
specialist. My bill is $27 as a few of the blood tests my doctor
ordered were not paid for.
I had to wait a w for the cat scan, and my USA neighbours are
screaming that the capitalist system in the states is so much better
because there is no wait time. If it had been an emergency(as was the
case when my roomy had a heart attack last year), the cat scan would be
close to immediate.
I find it hard to believe that it is *better* stateside, though the
stateside medical corporations are screaming that we *must* allow them
to compete in Canada because they can give *immediate* treatment and to
not let them institute a faster service for the privileged rich is an
unfair trade practice. They can do the same thing for only $13,000 per
cat scan. The rest is extra.
Unfettered capitalism is really the same as "everyone must have their
price" and not to be that way is immoral. What bullshit. I know of few
American citizens that feel *anything* is ok as long as you can pay for
it, but the American government has been treating it's neighbours that
way for years. All in the name of capitalism, and with tones of moral
outrage. Then they wonder why people do not trust them.
Donald
|