Long live socialism! The great right-wing swindle has hoodwinked too many

[Donnachaidh]

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/jack-lessenberry/38063/long-live-socialism-the-great-right-wing-swindle-has-hoodwinked-too-many

Here's the truth: I love socialism, and so do you, even though you may well neither know it, nor admit it. Matter of fact, so do most of the poseurs trying for the Republican presidential nomination.

They, however, want socialism only for the rich, and never call it that. Instead, they pretend what they call "socialism" is the problem. Well, if you want to see someone who lived a life free of socialism, go to Italy.

There, you can visit the body of the so-called "Ice Man," who was found after being frozen for 5,000 years. He was in his 40s; his teeth were decayed, his body was pretty much worn out, and, oh, yes, he had been murdered. But at least he didn't have to pay taxes.

Nor did he have police protection, schools, health care, roads or any agency in charge of seeing he wasn't sold tainted reindeer meat.

More at the link --

[Drale]

1. I'm not convinced that any one pure system can work

A pure Socialism system is just as prone to corruption as a pure Capitalist system. I think we need a combination of the best traits from several systems, in order to get a system that will work well over the long term.

[Owlet]

2. Any system is only as good as its leaders.

The past few years have rather painfully demonstrated that.

[duhneece]

4. A blend of both seems workable and rational

I agree that neither pure socialism nor pure free-market capitalism provides the best for the majority of citizens. And we all need to stay informed and be active in our governments.

[Ozymanithrax]

3. Capitalist, Socialist, Mercantile Systems are neither good not bad.

It is humans that are bad and prone to corruption.
The moment we include real human beings in a system, humans will rise and try to subvert the system for their own profit.

Any system without rigorous safeguards to make sure that one group in power does not reap a disproportionate benefit for themselves and guarantee their own power will eventually collapse under the weight of its own corruption.

I do know what socialism is, and think that many programs that borrow ideas from socialism are great and humane, up until some group of humans subverts those programs.

I think that free market capitalism is a great system, right up to the point where a few free market capitalists subvert the system to keep profit and power only in their hands.

What keeps these things from happening in any system is a government willing to regulate human behaviors of greed and and lust for power and spread the benefits of a system to all its members.