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Gee, looks like the topic is the evils of socialism and the example Greece allegedly sets Or do you prefer to limit it to Grecian socialism in which case its relevance to the US is non-existent?
YOU are the one who brought the other countries into the topic, as usual.
My only point is to point out the absurd, ridiculous and ever so sadly uninformed, need I say immature and your posts are exactly that.
I have no agenda, no soap box.
You have no gender? and you don't use soap! ughh!
Like your boorish and boring banter - stank
Spamming a thread as you are want to do with your idle prattle and attacks on the OP adds nothing to discussion or thinking.
You've only proved that the OP has gotten under your skin... and many of us enjoy seeing you squirm and dig your own credibility (the little you have left) into a deeper grave.
The country is at the mercy of civil servants (government) and unions. They want to keep their 14 monthly paychecks, their lavish benefits and compensation and their very generous holiday/vacation schedule.
This is the system that would be the ideal for a whole lot of people in and out of the current administration.
All is equal, all is fair, the government provides for everyone - utopia.
Thanks for posting this thread on the imminent collapse of the Greek Socialist form of Government and its implications for the future of the U.S. if it continues to maintain this same path.
What our deaf, dumb and blind friends who champion the cause of Socialism (aka as Communism lite) fail to see and are loath to point out when they point to what they see as shining examples of socialist societies like Norway, Sweden and Denmark; for that matter most of Europe, especially what we now refer to as the financially ruinedPIIGS countries of Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain is this....
They fail to see that these countries are and have been for a long time - STAGNANT. Short of blue-eyed blondes, dynamite (invented over a century ago), SAAB and Volvo (two ugly cars that liberals seem to enjoy driving), and Ingemar Johannsen who fought Floyd Patterson for the ?heavyweight? title over 50 years ago. What the hell else have these stellar societies of Socialism done lately to be proud of?
In a word - NOTHING! Thanks for the Olympic's Greece
They say that these are happy and prosperous societies that should be emulated. On the contrary!Sheep are happy and DOCILE and probably feel prosperous until its time to be led to market.
So in effect these champions of failed societies would have U.S. be fat, lazy, docile, entertained and STAGNANT!
Now take China which seems to be on the ascendancy! Vibrant, moving, changing, innovating and prospering! Why? CAPITALISM and FREE ENTERPRISE!
And if they don't watch out may soon revert to a less authoritarian form of government. Like they say... "How you going to keep them down on the farm, once they have seen Paris"?!
In other words, the people of China are starting to taste free enterprise and they are not going to be happy in Socialist communes growing rice.
Give me VIBRANT CAPITALISM over safe, stale, welfare plagued STAGNANT DYING SOCIALISM!
Last edited by ArtinChicago; 03-07-2010 at 05:08 AM..
Reason: bold ideas
Please do not consider yourself an expert on the Swedish situation now that you have read one article from the Christian Science Monitor. Yes, there is a lot of privatization going on as well.
I did say they were hybrids- nothing fully socialist about them.
Still, uhc and free higher education (two elements I believe any "1st world Western country" should be able to afford for its citizens) are still very much in place and will be for decades to come. That said, no, I don't believe the USA will, at least in our life, ever get UHC rolling so I don't know why people are freaking out.
In Sweden, 80% of schools might be privatized but in terms of the citizens perspective and how things have changed for them- not so much. I'm not going to claim to be an expert on how everything under the sun is run in Sweden, but having lived, studied, worked and paid into that system as well, I can see the benefits. No society is paradise but some people do see different benefits in different societies. Personally, I am uncomfortable with the extent of poverty I see in the States. But it's been that way for awhile.
And please also don't feel like a sudden expert on Norway. I've also spent considerable time in Northern Norway and know Oslo well too and the picture one of those articles paints of Oslo is ridiculous. It's as if the writer didn't even leave the train station (which is typically the seediest part of any city, US or European).
Finding a couple of articles can barely help you understand the full picture. I promise you, average Norwegians are faring pretty darn well.
The following article barely grazes the surface of how looking at any of these countries as "socialist" or "capitalist" hits the mark entirely.
But I'm not one to debate back and forth with carefully chosen articles to support my view alone. I guess one thing I learned in university was that to fully understand an issue you need to move out of your own viewpoint and not selectively choose references that only prove you're right. Reporters and column writers have bias too and just cause it's out there on the web doesn't mean it's "truth." Learn Swedish, start reading the Swedish newspaper and then send me some links on the issue. I think that might be more interesting than reading what the Christian Science Monitor has to say.
Please do not consider yourself an expert on the Swedish situation...
Quote:
but in terms of the citizens perspective and how things have changed for them- not so much.
Ditto.
Quote:
I did say they were hybrids- nothing fully socialist about them.
I was addressing another poster.
Quote:
And please also don't feel like a sudden expert on Norway. I've also spent considerable time in Northern Norway and know Oslo...
Quote:
Finding a couple of articles can barely help you understand the full picture. I promise you, average Norwegians are faring pretty darn well.
And being the "expert", you would know, right? Your opinion is no better than any other, especially those that have spent time in both countries. According to the author, he has a different opinion.
Quote:
The following article barely grazes the surface of how looking at any of these countries as "socialist" or "capitalist" hits the mark entirely.
She already admitted herself that she is wrong. Even "owning an airport" or" a bank" ( don't remember what she exactly made up ) wouldn't mean it's Socialism. She just needs to start reading and comprehending the definition of Socialism.
But the poor reading and comprehension skills of the right wingers are already known.
What our deaf, dumb and blind friends who champion the cause of Socialism (aka as Communism lite) fail to see and are loath to point out when they point to what they see as shining examples of socialist societies like Norway, Sweden and Denmark; for that matter most of Europe, especially what we now refer to as the financially ruinedPIIGS countries of Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain is this....
They fail to see that these countries are and have been for a long time - STAGNANT. Short of blue-eyed blondes, dynamite (invented over a century ago), SAAB and Volvo (two ugly cars that liberals seem to enjoy driving), and Ingemar Johannsen who fought Floyd Patterson for the ?heavyweight? title over 50 years ago. What the hell else have these stellar societies of Socialism done lately to be proud of?
In a word - NOTHING! Thanks for the Olympic's Greece
Deaf, dumb and blind? Are you that frigging stupid?
It just doesn't work to attack the entire idea of Socialism by conveniently only searching for examples of where it may be failing. Do you really believe that anyone mildly attracted to socialistic concepts thinks it's the end all, greatest thing that can ever happen to a society? Again, are you that friggin stupid?
SAAB and Volvo are great cars. You'd be surprised by how many brunettes and red heads are in Scandinavia. Oh but wait I forgot, people in this thread who talk about these other countries are experts but only learn through carefully chosen web articles.
I don't know if you get out of the house much or where you live, but in my 30 some years in this country I've lived in 10 states and many cities. I've worked in a lot of schools as well as social service agencies. I've seen a lot of poverty, schools with no books, entire urban neighborhoods falling apart, many young people without health care- or with jobs that just barely afford them to pay rent and eat. Do you have kids? Do you ever imagine what's going to be going on in this country after you are dead?
People who tend to refer to Scandinavian societies are probably people who find it commendable and practical that other "1st rate Western countries" have implemented systems that allow for citizens to have equal access to a number of things. Do these societies have problems? Of course they do. Please do not get so elementary in your arguments.
She already admitted herself that she is wrong. Even "owning an airport" or" a bank" ( don't remember what she exactly made up ) wouldn't mean it's Socialism. She just needs to start reading and comprehending the definition of Socialism.
But the poor reading and comprehension skills of the right wingers are already known.
Sorry, no such luck admitting I was wrong. The links I provided confirm the argument.
More than a bank or an airport, as you would know if you read the report.
Sorry, no such luck admitting I was wrong. The links I provided confirm the argument.
More than a bank or an airport, as you would know if you read the report.
Must suck to be wrong all the time.
It does suck. But you still keep doing it. But hey, at least we get a good laugh out of it. And even if it would be more, it's still not Socialism.
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Or do you prefer to limit it to Grecian socialism in which case its relevance to the US is non-existent?
change your sox and smell the socialism
Baa, baa black sheep have you any wool ?
Short of blue-eyed blondes, dynamite (invented over a century ago), SAAB and Volvo (two ugly cars that liberals seem to enjoy driving), and Ingemar Johannsen who fought Floyd Patterson for the ?heavyweight? title over 50 years ago. What the hell else have these stellar societies of Socialism done lately to be proud of? 
Like they say... "How you going to keep them down on the farm, once they have seen Paris"?!
I forgot, people in this thread who talk about these other countries are experts but only learn through carefully chosen web articles.
