socialism

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  • SmellymanSmellyman Asia Posts: 4,524
    Smellyman wrote:
    Do you have a passport?


    Such an elitist bullshit comment. Get over yourself. There are lots of people that will never have the means to travel outside their country.

    Well then don't claim America is the best and it is no contest if you haven't traveled elsewhere.

    I would call that elitist...or perhaps ignorance.
  • fife wrote:
    don't worry about it. i find that many americans don't actually know that much abotu our health care system. some believe that we can't pick our doctors which is not true. some believe that we can't decide what meds we take which is not true. some believe that its free which is not true. we die faster, not true. i saw on CNN one day a commercial from the GOP about some women from canada who had to go to america to save her life because she had to wait here. that might be true but there are more people who have had better experiences tham her's. if youy look at our polls, teh majority of canadians are very happy with our health care system.


    what are your typical wait times up there for appointments in Canada? i have a friend here in the US who started having some sort of imbalance, she saw her doctor a few times who referred her to a specialist saying some forms of cancer behave the way that is happening to her....she had insurance, even worked at a hospital but it still took nearly 3 months to get seen by a specialist!
    don't compete; coexist

    what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?

    "I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama

    when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
    i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
  • Smellyman wrote:
    Smellyman wrote:
    Do you have a passport?


    Such an elitist bullshit comment. Get over yourself. There are lots of people that will never have the means to travel outside their country.

    Well then don't claim America is the best and it is no contest if you haven't traveled elsewhere.

    I would call that elitist...or perhaps ignorance.


    I didn't claim it. And I've been to Ireland, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Mexico, Canada, and a few islands in the Atlantic....I know I am missing 1 or 2....can't remember.

    People just always throw out the passport card...when many don't have the means. I would also suggest than that no one that hasn't been to America is allowed to comment on how bad it is. Boy, there will be nothing to talk about on this thread.
    hippiemom = goodness
  • gimmesometruth27gimmesometruth27 St. Fuckin Louis Posts: 23,303
    [ I would also suggest than that no one that hasn't been to America is allowed to comment on how bad it is. Boy, there will be nothing to talk about on this thread.
    blame your foreign policy for that. you forget that whatever the US does internationally affects many more people than just americans. that is why people have such a negative opinion of americans.
    "You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry."  - Lincoln

    "Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
  • fifefife Posts: 3,327
    fife wrote:
    don't worry about it. i find that many americans don't actually know that much abotu our health care system. some believe that we can't pick our doctors which is not true. some believe that we can't decide what meds we take which is not true. some believe that its free which is not true. we die faster, not true. i saw on CNN one day a commercial from the GOP about some women from canada who had to go to america to save her life because she had to wait here. that might be true but there are more people who have had better experiences tham her's. if youy look at our polls, teh majority of canadians are very happy with our health care system.


    what are your typical wait times up there for appointments in Canada? i have a friend here in the US who started having some sort of imbalance, she saw her doctor a few times who referred her to a specialist saying some forms of cancer behave the way that is happening to her....she had insurance, even worked at a hospital but it still took nearly 3 months to get seen by a specialist!

    thats a good question. it really all depends are where you live. for example my father had cancer and was able to see a specialist in 3 days. but we live in a main city. in other smaller cities teh wait times can be longer due to lack of doctors in those parts. myself, i can book an appointment with my GP the same day. agian this is just my experience. others might say differently. i don't think you will find any health care system that is perfect. in canada we have a lack of doctors in rural areas. this is a very big issue and it puts a drain on services in main cities.
  • fifefife Posts: 3,327
    Such an elitist bullshit comment. Get over yourself. There are lots of people that will never have the means to travel outside their country.[/quote]

    Well then don't claim America is the best and it is no contest if you haven't traveled elsewhere.

    I would call that elitist...or perhaps ignorance.[/quote]


    I didn't claim it. And I've been to Ireland, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Mexico, Canada, and a few islands in the Atlantic....I know I am missing 1 or 2....can't remember.

    People just always throw out the passport card...when many don't have the means. I would also suggest than that no one that hasn't been to America is allowed to comment on how bad it is. Boy, there will be nothing to talk about on this thread.[/quote]

    i have been to american, and i have to say that i have never had a bad time. i have learned that i can't blame teh people for everything that the government does. i however, will always say that no country is perfect including my own. there are things that we can all learn from other countries.
  • fifefife Posts: 3,327
    [ I would also suggest than that no one that hasn't been to America is allowed to comment on how bad it is. Boy, there will be nothing to talk about on this thread.
    blame your foreign policy for that. you forget that whatever the US does internationally affects many more people than just americans. that is why people have such a negative opinion of americans.

    i don't think you should blame the people for all the faulths of the government.
  • AndiMAndiM Posts: 102
    And again I get confused by American notions of Europe being "socialist". I always considered Socialism to be a sort of undemocratic, totalitarian form of government and not what I see here in Europe or in Canada for that matter ;). But maybe that's rather a language issue with English not being my first language.
  • CommyCommy Posts: 4,984
    A capitalist society is motivated by greed and selfishness at its core. Life is an endless competition.

    A socialist society has individuals that want to be a part of the society, is motivated by a desire to help your fellow human beings. Life is spent working together, not against one another.


    There are 0 examples of socialist countries around the planet.
  • AndiMAndiM Posts: 102
    *Sigh* ... The good old argument about no socialist country out there. For all that I can see both extrems would be good ideas in a perfect world, but both fail due to human nature. And, as odd as it might be, both fail to a certain degree for the same reason: man being first and foremost an egoistic being.
  • Commy wrote:

    A socialist society has individuals that want to be a part of the society, is motivated by a desire to help your fellow human beings. Life is spent working together, not against one another.

    In theory my marriage, and most people's out there, should be like that. It's hard enough to do it with just two people working together all the time, let alone a whole country! The theory is wonderful, but the reality is often terribly flawed, ask my wife...
    we're all going to the same place...
  • Drifting is doing just that.
    Acting like you're incredibly repressed by the government is inane and completely false.
    If there were no society, civilization, you would be crouched in your basement with a shotgun right now. You don't like the modern world? Go up to f'in Walden Pond like Thoreau and do without all the luxuries of modern life if they're so taxing on you. (pun intended) Paranoid anyone?
    A lot of places have it a lot worse. Get real.
    Well, anyway, I hear American Gladiators is back on!
  • [ I would also suggest than that no one that hasn't been to America is allowed to comment on how bad it is. Boy, there will be nothing to talk about on this thread.
    blame your foreign policy for that. you forget that whatever the US does internationally affects many more people than just americans. that is why people have such a negative opinion of americans.


    Nope, unless you've been here, you can't say a word. That's the rules previously set by Smellyman.

    I didn't forget anything, I'm just following the new rules.
    hippiemom = goodness
  • yahamitayahamita Posts: 1,514
    Mortality wrote:
    Drifting has it right folks.
    He usually does...He must stay up hours into the night researching and typing..thanks for all your info!
    I knew all the rules, but the rules did not know me...GUARANTEED!

    Hail Hail HIPPIEMOM

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  • fifefife Posts: 3,327
    AndiM wrote:
    And again I get confused by American notions of Europe being "socialist". I always considered Socialism to be a sort of undemocratic, totalitarian form of government and not what I see here in Europe or in Canada for that matter ;). But maybe that's rather a language issue with English not being my first language.

    i can see why you think that as usually when people say socialism as a government it does beccome somewhat dictatorish
  • SmellymanSmellyman Asia Posts: 4,524
    [ I would also suggest than that no one that hasn't been to America is allowed to comment on how bad it is. Boy, there will be nothing to talk about on this thread.
    blame your foreign policy for that. you forget that whatever the US does internationally affects many more people than just americans. that is why people have such a negative opinion of americans.


    Nope, unless you've been here, you can't say a word. That's the rules previously set by Smellyman.

    I didn't forget anything, I'm just following the new rules.

    How is it you can say one system is the best without experiencing another one? Sorry, but I would never be that arrogant.

    And he doesn't have the means to travel, after he sings the praises of free markets and making as much money as he wants to? That if you work hard you are rewarded? He must be one of those lazy welfare liberal losers....then

    AND I was talking about supposedly spooky "socialism" with him. You can talk about foreign policy all you want. We all get to experience that.

    But thanks for taking up Mortality's battle for him and making no sense.
  • Commy wrote:

    A socialist society has individuals that want to be a part of the society, is motivated by a desire to help your fellow human beings. Life is spent working together, not against one another.

    In theory my marriage, and most people's out there, should be like that. It's hard enough to do it with just two people working together all the time, let alone a whole country! The theory is wonderful, but the reality is often terribly flawed, ask my wife...

    THIS IS THE MOST INTELLIGENT THING I HAVE EVER READ ON THE TRAIN.............

    good analogy :D
    BRING BACK THE WHALE
  • ever use a public library?

    call 911?

    send a child to public school?

    have your garbage picked up?

    Used the post office?

    driven on a smooth paved road?

    taken public trasportation?

    If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are socialist.

    that is to say, everybody pays in, everybody benefits.

    If that's socialism I'll take it.
  • SongburstSongburst Posts: 1,195
    breath123 wrote:
    ever use a public library?

    call 911?

    send a child to public school?

    have your garbage picked up?

    Used the post office?

    driven on a smooth paved road?

    taken public trasportation?

    If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are socialist.

    that is to say, everybody pays in, everybody benefits.

    If that's socialism I'll take it.
    Socialism is all well and good for things like garbage pickup and mailing letters and national defense but we are talking about health care here. Somebody should be able to get rich off of the misfortune of others --- it's the American way.
    1/12/1879, 4/8/1156, 2/6/1977, who gives a shit, ...
  • LauriLauri Posts: 748
    Europeans are just a better adopted culture for socialism. Most Europeans live modestly compaired to Americans, and it would be hard for the average slob to give up his large house, gas guzzling SUV, and half their pay to taxes. I like the way Europe does things, but that works for Europe, not here. There would be a fundimental change in the way we live here....and I don't ever see that coming....sadly. :cry:

    This isn't the reason, it's the symptom. Why do Americans dislike socialism AND cling to big houses and gas guzzling SUVs is a better question. The fact is the U.S. was born and raised on capitalism. We're only a few generations away from pioneer days, when people ventured out west with nothing and tried to build themselves up (of course people tend to forget the government gave land away out there for anyone willing to go...). We're a country of immigrants who came from nothing and used entrepreneurship and ingenuity to establish themselves. If you think about it, historically, it's been pretty hard to be an American. You really have (had?) to be quite determined and self sufficient to survive. People cling to that because they're proud of it. If you ask someone why they are against government assistance of any kind, they might cite the fact that their grand parents came to this country with nothing but the shirts on their backs and managed to create a lucrative business, so why shouldn't everyone else. Or if they managed to provide health care for their kids, why shouldn't someone else. Most people aren't saying these things out of privilege but quite the opposite- even if their generation had things easy, they know their parents or grandparents did not.

    It's also the "country of immigrants" thing that makes socialism, and a lot of other things that work in Europe, work not so well in the U.S. It is a REALLY big and diverse country. It's definitely no Sweden, where everyone is the same race and religion and it's so small there's a good chance you're related to the guy down the street. People in the U.S. do not necessarily identify with each other, even if they have the same problems. It makes it hard to convince people that they should be contributing to the overall well-being.

    Finally, Americans equate socialism with communism, and communism was the enemy of the state for decades. I can see that if you grew up being taught to fear commies, you would resist the concept of socialism.
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