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Filed in National by on October 17, 2008

What is the downside of socialism?

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  1. Not Brian says:
    October 18, 2008 at 12:31 am

    OK…. no one will read this, and if they do, no one will care…

    I am not an ‘ist’

    That said, a lot of people throw around a lot of negatives about socialism. It is a not bad word.

    As a free-market economics guy, I normally reject the concept in theory… but I have witnessed it in practice…

    I think anything that is called ‘socialist’ but in practice saves money can not be called socialist. For example, treatment for drug offenders rather than incarceration and things like that…

    The downside of socialism is the perversion of incentives. People should not be rewarded for doing things that are not productive for society (say like leveraging a corporation 30x and then having everyone pay for it ).

    The system we live in is socialist, the question is where do you draw the line…

  2. liberalgeek says:
    October 18, 2008 at 12:40 am

    Yes, it is all about degrees, NB. But if everything looks black and white to someone, they miss out on the glorious shades of gray… 🙂

  3. Donsquishy says:
    October 18, 2008 at 12:44 am

    go to bed hippies

  4. Not Brian says:
    October 18, 2008 at 1:06 am

    Go change a diaper hippie!

  5. Duffy says:
    October 20, 2008 at 9:44 am

    Having lived for a brief time in a socialist state I can tell you a few things you’d notice right off the bat:

    1. Taxes are absolutely insane. You think they’re bad now, go to a socialist state.

    2. Striking workers are de rigeur. You’ll find yourself inconvenienced quite a bit by them.

    3. Economic stagnation is normal. No one is hired but nobody is fired either. Nobody advances much either.

    4. Everyone goes to college for a decade.

    5. Ironically, classism is much more prevalent. What class you’re born into determines where you’ll be in the workforce.

    6. Strange subsidies and price controls keep some goods artificially cheap.

    7. Domestic products are highly favored due to import restrictions and taxes on imports

    8. Economic stability. Since the economy moves at a snails pace it is usually exempted from either bubble or burst.

  6. Joanne Christian says:
    October 20, 2008 at 10:32 am

    Oh thank you Duffy from whatever part of the state/world you are writing. May “they” post this list to see what was wished for.

  7. anon says:
    October 20, 2008 at 10:40 am

    Duffy – with a few exceptions, your list sounds pretty good. High taxes are a social choice which of course are balanced by high levels of services.

    And… if social democracy is so awful, why is the Euro kicking the dollar’s butt?

    Maybe it has something to do with everyone going to college for a decade?

  8. Duffy says:
    October 20, 2008 at 3:51 pm

    Joanne,

    I’m in DE. I’m no fan of socialism but there is a “bread and circuses” element to the whole thing.

    Anon,

    The Euro isn’t doing all that great and the dollar is actually rising.

    http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?from=EUR&to=USD&amt=1&t=5y

    There is value in college education but it’s not for everyone. Some people would rather work than go to any more school and the idea that you need it to work in an office job just isn’t true. In all, I think most diplomas are overvalued and very expensive for the $$$.

  9. liberalgeek says:
    October 20, 2008 at 3:54 pm

    Oh, please SkyDad, make the dollar strong again. My travel bug is starving on a diet of domestic travel.

  10. jason330 says:
    October 20, 2008 at 3:56 pm

    What is the downside of socialism?

    Too much free time caused by not having 100’s of choices to make when purchasing breakfast cereal and shampoo.

  11. RSmitty says:
    October 20, 2008 at 4:00 pm

    Toilet paper, too, Jason. Dude, Charmin now has THREE-ply! Clogging toilets since 2008! WOO!

    I call it a plumbers’ conspiracy.

  12. Joanne Christian says:
    October 20, 2008 at 4:05 pm

    Keep posting Duffy!!

    And they’ll be no boutique dog food either!

  13. Duffy says:
    October 21, 2008 at 10:28 am

    “Keep posting Duffy!!

    And they’ll be no boutique dog food either!”

    I don’t even know what that means.

  14. Joanne Christian says:
    October 21, 2008 at 10:57 am

    Psst Duffy–Unlike the US, in not too long ago gray Poland, product choice was unheard of. When friends finally got out and landed in Philly to settle, I’ll never forget them commenting about how we (US) sell dog food, and that 2 aisles in the grocery store are committed to dog/cat food. That’s all–a no choice reference.

  15. Von Cracker says:
    October 21, 2008 at 11:12 am

    Many of you on the right confuse socialism with communism.

    I suggest taking a Political Systems class at UofD.

  16. Joanne Christian says:
    October 21, 2008 at 11:20 am

    VC- I weighed that distinction prior to posting, but the people were from Poland. So let me amend that to–you may have dog food–but only one brand. Again–a no choice reference.

  17. Von Cracker says:
    October 21, 2008 at 11:33 am

    My comment wasn’t really pointed at you, JC, but to the non-knowers here that conflate the distribution of tax dollars as ‘Socialism’.

    Even the poorest of the poor pay taxes….maybe not traditionally through income tax, but through other taxation, be it sales, utility, etc…

  18. Joanne Christian says:
    October 21, 2008 at 11:45 am

    Thank you VC for the civil discourse.

  19. Von Cracker says:
    October 21, 2008 at 11:47 am

    You’re quite welcome. 🙂

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