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Federal (Federation) - a form of government in which sovereign power is formally divided - usually by means of a constitution.
The Soviet Union was a federation, the United States is a federation.
You are working under the assumption that there are clear semantical distinctions between political economies and forms of governance, there aren't. We can go through a list of nations and find a hodgepodge of mixed and matched economies and government structures.
Every modern nation is socialist to varying degrees of significance, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's actually a good thing. It's just here in America where you have a lot of hicks who can't define the term but jump two feet in the air at the mention of the "Socialism!" boogeyman.
Every modern nation is socialist to varying degrees of significance, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's actually a good thing. It's just here in America where you have a lot of hicks who can't define the term but jump two feet in the air at the mention of the "Socialism!" boogeyman.
Calling people names never get them to see your point of view.
I agree that America is partially socialist. I think the smart way to run a society is a combination of capitalism and socialism.
Look at power utilities. Look at the Enron disaster with the deregulation experiment. How many employees lost everything? How many people were gouged for high rates? All the time they were playing these games there were allowing the infrastructure of their company to go to hell with minimum maintenance ect. They basically gleaned all the wealth out of the company, left a shell and moved on. That is what Capitalists do.
I worked for one of the companies that formed Enron from 1981-1988 so I know. When I started they were a very solid company. They took pride in having the top facilities, the top safety accomplishments. And being a dependable source of Natural Gas was their #1 mission. They were partially regulated by the government but they also returned a very consistent dividend to their shareholders. They had over a billion dollars cash in their employee pension fund. All employees had lifetime medical when they retired. It really and truly was a great company.
Then the deregulation. The first thing they did was merge with several other previously well run companies to form Enron. They borrowed money from the employee pension fund to pay for the merger. All allowed by new rules of the government.
They immediately cut maintenance on facilities drastically. We used to have nice lawns and sidewalks in all our town border stations (natural gas delivery points to towns). They had us haul in rock and covered everything up and sprayed chemicals to kill all the vegitation and they basically let everything go to hell.
All in the name of bigger profits. Pipeline projects were cancelled and standards were scrimped on and corners were cut, all in the name of profits.
The employee pension fund was essentially ripped off. They just kept replacing the cash with company stock that they KNEW would be worthless when they were done in the end.
It was a terrible thing that happened to a lot of people including their customers.
This is a perfect example of why some socialism is good for a free market economy.
Socialized medicine would be a great thing for exactly this reason.
I now work for a big power utility that is completely regulated and it's a monopoly. Most of the people I work with make more than $40 per hour and some up to $50. We have full pensions, good medical.
With all that, our rates are among the lowest in the country, even lower than smaller utilities without unions, without the pay. It's because we do our jobs well and keep the company's overhead down. The profits are controlled by the government. The dividends are consistent to the shareholders. Everyone wins, the employees, the customers and the investors.
The answer? Keep the capitalists OUT.
Last edited by PullMyFinger; 03-13-2016 at 08:31 AM..
I agree that America is partially socialist. I think the smart way to run a society is a combination of capitalism and socialism.
Look at power utilities. Look at the Enron disaster with the deregulation experiment. How many employees lost everything? How many people were gouged for high rates? All the time they were playing these games there were allowing the infrastructure of their company to go to hell with minimum maintenance ect. They basically gleaned all the wealth out of the company, left a shell and moved on. That is what Capitalists do.
I worked for one of the companies that formed Enron from 1981-1988 so I know. When I started they were a very solid company. They took pride in having the top facilities, the top safety accomplishments. And being a dependable source of Natural Gas was their #1 mission. They were partially regulated by the government but they also returned a very consistent dividend to their shareholders. They had over a billion dollars cash in their employee pension fund. All employees had lifetime medical when they retired. It really and truly was a great company.
Then the deregulation. The first thing they did was merge with several other previously well run companies to form Enron. They borrowed money from the employee pension fund to pay for the merger. All allowed by new rules of the government.
They immediately cut maintenance on facilities drastically. We used to have nice lawns and sidewalks in all our town border stations (natural gas delivery points to towns). They had us haul in rock and covered everything up and sprayed chemicals to kill all the vegitation and they basically let everything go to hell.
All in the name of bigger profits. Pipeline projects were cancelled and standards were scrimped on and corners were cut, all in the name of profits.
The employee pension fund was essentially ripped off. They just kept replacing the cash with company stock that they KNEW would be worthless when they were done in the end.
It was a terrible thing that happened to a lot of people including their customers.
This is a perfect example of why some socialism is good for a free market economy.
Socialized medicine would be a great thing for exactly this reason.
I now work for a big power utility that is completely regulated and it's a monopoly. Most of the people I work with make more than $40 per hour and some up to $50. We have full pensions, good medical.
With all that, our rates are among the lowest in the country, even lower than smaller utilities without unions, without the pay. It's because we do our jobs well and keep the company's overhead down. The profits are controlled by the government. The dividends are consistent to the shareholders. Everyone wins, the employees, the customers and the investors.
The answer? Keep the capitalists OUT.
Super late reply. But I agree with a lot of what you said. Tell that to Libertarians though.
better, but... ah well... I like it though. I'm not certain, however, as to whether the agencies cited are examples of socialism, or are they rather, examples of civilization?
Noticed that, did you? Google can give us a definition of "socialism", but it might not fit some folks' agenda.
A socialist system actually allocates work to people, not just hands out money to people.
For example, before the 1980s, Chinese students were assigned jobs after they graduated from university. Farmers are always allocated field to farm on. But at that time no one could get money for free.
The big recipients of government welfare in this country are the folks in the upper 10% of the income range. The rest is just crumbs from the big table.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyTexan
The bottom have over 125 social welfare programs costing near $1 trillion a year.
That is 1/3 of the budget.
That's one big pile of "crumbs".
A family of 5 in the 90's would receive a rough estimate in food benefits $450.00.
Today that same family would receive a rough estimate in food benefits $750.00.
You're right $ 1 trillion is a big pile of crumbs. Interesting enough crumbs is all that it will purchase today.
Do you like ice cream? I love ice cream. Even as a kid I loved going to the ice cream parlor for a scoop of my favorite flavor. I'd sit up the stool counter, big, you know like an adult. Then slide my nickle over the counter top and ask, for a one scoop on a cone of chocolate. One of my best memories of being a kid.
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Google can give us a definition of "socialism", but it might not fit some folks' agenda.
