Isms.

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Capitalism, socialism, communism.

I keep reading these terms used here and other places and it gets me thinking. For starters, many people are using the terms incorrectly. Second, people act as if they are exclusive of one another when in practice they are not. Then many people keep saying we are sliding into socialism when truth be told we are far, far, and away, further away from socialism now than we were in the 1950s when there were wage, price and production controls in place.


The majority of economists recognize that there are no true of these isms in any country. All countries are what are referred to as mixed market economies. What matters more is the type of government you have.

Besides why do people think these three isms are the only choices?? They were all "invented". Invent something new. Several european countries call themselves democratic socialists. Why limit it to these terms/ideas?

 

[OccamsTazer]

*cheers for this post*

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Love your name BTW!

 

[michickenwrangler]

Very true. I keep explaining to people that profit sharing, Medicaid, Medicare are all forms of socialism and while this country is capitalist in a broad sense, it has some socialist institutions as mentioned above. Socialist countries like Uruguay still allow for private ownership and investments, in fact, it is considered a stable country to invest in because of price and wage regulation and the strong middle class. There's pros and cons in everything.

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

The health care system we have came about because of the wage controls of the 50s. The first universal health care bill was proposed in the 20s!!! When Medicaid was introduced people screamed Socialism! People swore the country would come to an end.

Any country's stability economically, politically and socially is tied closely to the existence and strength of the middle class. The US has destroyed ours. Take a closer look at how it was destroyed and maybe just maybe you'll be able to see more clearly what needs to be done to bring her back. Stop listening to the talking heads from any channel and try reading some history and thinking for yourself.

 

[Hoosiermomma]

I love threads like this. Thanks for posting...