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When you crash that car, the other people who pay their insurance policies will avtuallt be paying for damages and medical bills. Everyone pays into the pool and the pool pays for everyone's needs.
I am also an American living here for 10 years. Can anyone explain me the history behind it?
It's simple history.
Labor activists in America were smeared with the tag of "Red" as far back as the eighteen seventies. Eugene Debs was a Socialist who opposed entry of America into WW 1. Workers killing workers he said for the enrichment of the capitalist bosses. He was jailed for his opposition to WW 1.
Fast forward to WW 2. We cooperated with the Russians but the honeymoon ended when the Cold War started. Stalin got the bomb from the Rosenbergs and N. Korea invaded the South. We were in a low intensity war with the Russians and Chinese. Hearings were started. Communists and others were black listed during the nineteen fifties. We almost went to war with the Russians in 1962. The remainder of the Cold War lasted until 1991.
Americans have been indoctrinated into believing that they can all get rich through capitalism and hard work. To some extent this was true in the fifties and the sixties. Education, hard work, and a bit of luck was a good combination for success. The evils of Communism were said over and over and over.
As far as communism is concerned, it doesn't reward hard work. The idea that hard work in a collective fashion falls flat.
By the American corporations with the assistance of the American media Social Democracy is equated to Socialism. This is all because it will cost the rich money. Even Social Security and old age medical care are under attack.
Socialism means workers owning the means of production.
Look in this thread. No one has even mentioned it. Instead people talk about taxes and some about how they hate taxes.
Socialism is just a totally meaningless phrase in America.
What people really are talking about is social democracy. This is generally very popular in America as witnessed by the popularity of the three biggest social democratic programs in America; Medicare, Social Security and public schools. And the main reason why a certain section of the population are critical of "socialism" (the right term is social democracy) is because of the extraordinary amount of means testing of social programs taking place, where the middle class will pay and the desperately poor will get the benefits, it's meant to create division and tax revolts and has nothing to do with social democracy. A social democratic system tries to make EVERYONE pay into the system and makes sure EVERYONE benefits from social programs they pay for. Americans are no different than anyone else. They like social democratic programs. Its no coincidence that the most popular president in the last 100 years was the the social democrat Franklin D Roosevelt.
I am also an American living here for 10 years. Can anyone explain me the history behind it?
Hating the government is very American. You've got a very old anti-government undercurrent in the United States, which in my opinion is even true of our leftists (compared to say, europeans or south americans).
On top of that, you have a generation of american kids born in the 40's, 50's, and 60's where many were taught to hate the Soviet Union and communism. Many of them got half-assed educations and don't know the difference between communism, democratic socialism, and the U.S. Democratic Party. Many of them got kind of middle-class-rich during the 80's/90's/00's boom(s), thanks to financial deregulation, tax cuts, benefit increases, and borrowing. So they've reaped the benefits of capitalism much, much more than other generations, and have developed a big libertarian, "don't tax or regulate me" mentality.
Americans are brainwashed to some extent. Still plenty of boomers running around that don't know the difference between socialism and communism, and they don't care to learn or understand the difference.
Why should someone who doesn't drive pay to maintain the roads you drive on?
Because even though that person doesn't drive, they still benefit from America having an advanced system of roads and freeways.
Unless they totally live off the grid, grow their own food, etc, they are in some way benefitting from having roads.... I.E. not socialism.
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