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Old 09-05-2018, 05:48 AM
 
Location: Fredericktown,Ohio
7,168 posts, read 5,368,672 times
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Thought I would share a good article that has the view point of several democratic socialist on what they think the U S would look like under democratic socialism. One of the key points of all of them is of course using the vehicle of democracy to bring about socialism. Some of the writers suggest that workers have a say through democratic means on how their company is being operated. Some have suggested that workers should have a seat on the board of directors.

Some have ideas on how to pay for their socialism besides sky high taxes and are suggesting that there be a wealth fund ran by the gvt and the profits from investment will pay for their socialism. In other words the gvt will be a major player in the stock market and will grow to be the biggest investor this country has ever seen.

This a good and fair article because it comes right out of the mouths of the socialist themselves. Take time to read the article I would love to hear views of will the U S ever become a democratic socialist nation? Will the U S become more democratic with workers having votes on how a company is run? Is our nation at the point of the Benjamin Franklin quote " “When the people find that they can vote themselves money that will herald the end of the republic.”

https://www.politico.com/magazine/st...ok-like-219626
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Old 09-05-2018, 07:20 AM
 
45,585 posts, read 27,209,359 times
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I'll surf thru the article, but people are worried about influence from Russia (officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics).

I don't think it's an accident that socialism is becoming more popular.
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Old 09-05-2018, 07:31 AM
 
26,694 posts, read 14,576,036 times
Reputation: 8094
Quote:
Originally Posted by Swingblade View Post
Thought I would share a good article that has the view point of several democratic socialist on what they think the U S would look like under democratic socialism. One of the key points of all of them is of course using the vehicle of democracy to bring about socialism. Some of the writers suggest that workers have a say through democratic means on how their company is being operated. Some have suggested that workers should have a seat on the board of directors.

Some have ideas on how to pay for their socialism besides sky high taxes and are suggesting that there be a wealth fund ran by the gvt and the profits from investment will pay for their socialism. In other words the gvt will be a major player in the stock market and will grow to be the biggest investor this country has ever seen.

This a good and fair article because it comes right out of the mouths of the socialist themselves. Take time to read the article I would love to hear views of will the U S ever become a democratic socialist nation? Will the U S become more democratic with workers having votes on how a company is run? Is our nation at the point of the Benjamin Franklin quote " “When the people find that they can vote themselves money that will herald the end of the republic.”

https://www.politico.com/magazine/st...ok-like-219626
How many people do you plan to slaughter?

Please name one socialist policy that doesn't require violence or a threat of violence to implement.
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Old 09-05-2018, 07:32 AM
 
12,772 posts, read 7,982,264 times
Reputation: 4332
Quote:
Originally Posted by Swingblade View Post
Thought I would share a good article that has the view point of several democratic socialist on what they think the U S would look like under democratic socialism. One of the key points of all of them is of course using the vehicle of democracy to bring about socialism. Some of the writers suggest that workers have a say through democratic means on how their company is being operated. Some have suggested that workers should have a seat on the board of directors.

Some have ideas on how to pay for their socialism besides sky high taxes and are suggesting that there be a wealth fund ran by the gvt and the profits from investment will pay for their socialism. In other words the gvt will be a major player in the stock market and will grow to be the biggest investor this country has ever seen.

This a good and fair article because it comes right out of the mouths of the socialist themselves. Take time to read the article I would love to hear views of will the U S ever become a democratic socialist nation? Will the U S become more democratic with workers having votes on how a company is run? Is our nation at the point of the Benjamin Franklin quote " “When the people find that they can vote themselves money that will herald the end of the republic.”

https://www.politico.com/magazine/st...ok-like-219626
Nah, its garbage. There is a reason that the US had such a long successful run of prosperity. As we got further away from actual capitalism and had too much more government involvement, things changed yet people didn't realize that we were getting away from the model that made us successful. Now this whole Democratic Socialism issue is a "solution" that isn't needed. Just return to what made us so successful.
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Old 09-05-2018, 07:35 AM
 
26,694 posts, read 14,576,036 times
Reputation: 8094
Quote:
Originally Posted by DRob4JC View Post
I'll surf thru the article, but people are worried about influence from Russia (officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics).

I don't think it's an accident that socialism is becoming more popular.
Right, because the world has plenty of evil people who would support this evil ideology.
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Old 09-05-2018, 07:42 AM
 
45,585 posts, read 27,209,359 times
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You have to get down to the middle and lower regions of the article for the real reasons to stay away from socialism.

A democratically elected government should own natural monopolies such as utilities and rail transport; provide social services like health care, education, housing, child care and banking; and create a general welfare state that eliminates poverty through guaranteeing a minimum income, with assistance for people with disabilities, the elderly and families with children.

But we have to go beyond that. We need measures to establish democratic ownership over the wider economy, and eliminate our dependence on industries that rely on pollution and war for their existence. There need to be strategies to allow workers in the defense, aerospace and fossil fuel industries to repurpose their facilities for more socially useful production, drawing on the example of the Lucas Plan in Britain, where workers designed and published a viable “alternative corporate plan” that included funding for renewable energy, public transport and medical technology. We need a mechanism to transfer corporate equity into sector-oriented social wealth funds controlled by diverse and accountable stakeholders, which would gradually transfer ownership away from unaccountable elites and toward inclusive institutions.


Basically they want a mass transfer of society into centralized control. They make it seem like these socialized institutions will be more inclusive, but they won't be.

The people in government will have control over more of society - because we would be giving it to them. Look at the first sentence above - the "government should own". That doesn't sound inclusive to me.

Here's something else - it mentions unaccountable elites. That's not true. They are accountable. There are laws in place to govern activity. But for various reasons, they are not held accountable for illegal activities. You don't have to change the system to regain control - you just have to have people enforce the laws in existence. I really think that's a big part of the problem here. Laws are not enforced... which leads to new problems... and people want to solve those problems by scrapping a good system that has worked and run rings around the world, when all we really need is people to follow in rules in place.
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Old 09-05-2018, 07:45 AM
 
Location: In the reddest part of the bluest state
5,752 posts, read 2,784,113 times
Reputation: 4925
I liked a lot of the ideas, but the problem would be that if corporations were to have their rapacious greed somehow checked, they would leave the country. Corporations would never allow their shareholder primacy model to be interrupted and with the economy being global, it wouldn’t be a far stretch of the imagination to see many of the largest ones that already have global operations, just up and leave.

I know government participation in the ownership market would inhibit that, but it sure would be a race to see who can get their way first.
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Old 09-05-2018, 07:47 AM
 
12,772 posts, read 7,982,264 times
Reputation: 4332
Quote:
Originally Posted by DRob4JC View Post
You have to get down to the middle and lower regions of the article for the real reasons to stay away from socialism.

A democratically elected government should own natural monopolies such as utilities and rail transport; provide social services like health care, education, housing, child care and banking; and create a general welfare state that eliminates poverty through guaranteeing a minimum income, with assistance for people with disabilities, the elderly and families with children.

But we have to go beyond that. We need measures to establish democratic ownership over the wider economy, and eliminate our dependence on industries that rely on pollution and war for their existence. There need to be strategies to allow workers in the defense, aerospace and fossil fuel industries to repurpose their facilities for more socially useful production, drawing on the example of the Lucas Plan in Britain, where workers designed and published a viable “alternative corporate plan” that included funding for renewable energy, public transport and medical technology. We need a mechanism to transfer corporate equity into sector-oriented social wealth funds controlled by diverse and accountable stakeholders, which would gradually transfer ownership away from unaccountable elites and toward inclusive institutions.


Basically they want a mass transfer of society into centralized control. They make it seem like these socialized institutions will be more inclusive, but they won't be.

The people in government will have control over more of society - because we would be giving it to them. Look at the first sentence above - the "government should own". That doesn't sound inclusive to me.

Here's something else - it mentions unaccountable elites. That's not true. They are accountable. There are laws in place to govern activity. But for various reasons, they are not held accountable for illegal activities. You don't have to change the system to regain control - you just have to have people enforce the laws in existence. I really think that's a big part of the problem here. Laws are not enforced... which leads to new problems... and people want to solve those problems by scrapping a good system that has worked and run rings around the world, when all we really need is people to follow in rules in place.
Couldn't agree with this more. Seems like all we do is write laws to pile on top of existing laws that we don't enforce.
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Old 09-05-2018, 07:47 AM
 
45,585 posts, read 27,209,359 times
Reputation: 23898
From the article...

The problem with capitalism is not just that a system fueled by a wealthy, profit-hungry elite is inherently unstable, or that it leaves whole layers of society starving in the streets. It is that it relies on the dictatorship of the rich.


Newsflash... people don't change just because an economic system changes.

People will still be focused on greed... they just will now flow into to government and make their money there, kind of like what is happening now. Hopefully people seriously looking at socialism as an option are not fooled into thinking rich elite people will be eliminated. They will in fact have even more control than they do now - because they will control the laws as well. And as my previous post stated - we will be giving them ownership of numerous sectors of society.

--------------------------------

The political system will be truly democratic, rather than run by those who have bought the politicians. Family life will be more democratic, and no one will have to depend on a breadwinner to survive because public services like health care will be available to all, and will be run with community oversight.


You don't have to depend on a breadwinner.

1- People will be less inclined to work and produce once they understand they can get money for nothing.
2- Who's going to pay? And how much?

--------------------------------

The moral motivation for a move to socialism is egalitarianism, taken from John Rawls or Jesus Christ or whomever. The basic objective would be to harness the wealth developed by the collective operation of the economy on behalf of the entire population, because it is unjust for a tiny elite minority to hoover up a gigantic fraction of income and wealth while millions are destitute or just scraping by.


Don't put that on Jesus Christ... Jesus is about voluntary charity and gifts from the heart... not forced government redistribution.

They say it is unjust for a few to gain a large share of wealth. I disagree. If individuals work for their money, and are smart enough to take advantage of the resources available, they should absolutely get what they earn.

To me, it is unjust for people to do nothing, and receive a regular stipend. I'm fine with voluntarily giving to those in need, but an economic principle of systematically giving to those who produce nothing is terrible policy. And since Jesus was mentioned - read His parable of the talents where those who produced received more, and the one who sat and did nothing had his talent taken away.

Last edited by DRob4JC; 09-05-2018 at 08:01 AM..
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Old 09-05-2018, 07:51 AM
 
27,307 posts, read 16,233,828 times
Reputation: 12102
Quote:
Originally Posted by Swingblade View Post
Thought I would share a good article that has the view point of several democratic socialist on what they think the U S would look like under democratic socialism. One of the key points of all of them is of course using the vehicle of democracy to bring about socialism. Some of the writers suggest that workers have a say through democratic means on how their company is being operated. Some have suggested that workers should have a seat on the board of directors.

Some have ideas on how to pay for their socialism besides sky high taxes and are suggesting that there be a wealth fund ran by the gvt and the profits from investment will pay for their socialism. In other words the gvt will be a major player in the stock market and will grow to be the biggest investor this country has ever seen.

This a good and fair article because it comes right out of the mouths of the socialist themselves. Take time to read the article I would love to hear views of will the U S ever become a democratic socialist nation? Will the U S become more democratic with workers having votes on how a company is run? Is our nation at the point of the Benjamin Franklin quote " “When the people find that they can vote themselves money that will herald the end of the republic.”

https://www.politico.com/magazine/st...ok-like-219626
Churchill once said or was it Thatcher that the inherent problem of capitalism was the unequal sharing of wealth while socialism is the equal sharing of misery.

I don’t want other people’s misery put on me therefore I prefer capitalism as I can work for me to better me and not thee.

Want socialism, go where it exists.
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