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Question for millennials who want socialism, how were you influenced?
Probably by seeing how badly the generations ahead of them f*cked everything up through their capitialistic greed, running up a massive debt they will have to take on, destroying the environment, and allowing the majority of the wealth and power to be amassed in the hands of the 1 percent at the expense of the 99 percent.
All they had to do was see the world that was being handed to them. That's all the "influence" they needed to know there had to be a better, less destructive, more equitable way to run a country.
I would say that the Millennials are for Socialism because that is all they know.
They have lived in their parents house since birth and had everything provided for them.
Now that their parents have finally kicked them out of the house they are looking for a new Mommy and Daddy to take care of them and they are looking toward the Government to adopt them.
The thing is that people that are in Love with socialism have very little real life experience.
Socialism is great until the people paying for it run out of money.
You don't know many millennials, do you?
Certainly not the case with me or most of the other people in my age cohort who identify as socialist. I've been on my own since I was 18 and was even helping support my parents from afar before my cancer diagnosis. I went through stage IV cancer alone. Every major life milestone has been done by my own hand.
And that's why I'm liberal. I recognize that I'm of above average intelligence, had above average luck, and was blessed with the foresight of planning. Had any one of those elements not been in place, my experience with life threatening illness would have been far worse - and as it was, I flirted with homelessness. How can people in the United State of America fear homelessness because of illness? How can so many of us be just a paycheck away from losing everything? And all of this happening while our wealthiest citizens get wealthier? Yes, many of them worked hard to get where they were, but there are plenty of people who work far harder that due to luck of birth, health, intelligence, or simple circumstance will always struggle. Those people are no less deserving of healthcare, education, and security in the richest country in the world than the wealthy.
Socialism is a broad concept and people mean different things by it.
Are you talking about government programs for the poor or about property rights?
Many European countries have expansive government entitlements but also have strong property and business rights with a free market economy.
This is fundamentally different from government takeover of whole industries like occurred in Soviet Russia or more recently in Venezuela. That never works and always leads to economic catastrophe.
explain how you were influenced by socialism and why you think it needs to be implemented here?
By the hypocrites who said they hated socialism then opted to participate in every socialist program they could find. That's when I realized the problem those people had isn't socialism, it's who looks like they benefit from socialism.
I was influenced by living in Iceland and the UK (which is not a democratic socialist country, but has some policies that I admire), as well as spending time in Sweden and Israel (again, the latter is not a democratic socialist country but there are some political parties that are heavily influenced).
That influence grew stronger when I was diagnosed with stage IV cancer at 23. Here I was in the wealthiest country in the world with access to some of the best doctors in the world at one of the top 10 cancer centers in the world, and yet my insurance plan ensured that my treatment was far more expensive and far less effective than peers in Canada, Sweden, the UK, and Israel who received a superior chemotherapy at no-to-limited out of pocket cost to them with no questions asked and got it more than a month faster than I was able to get into treatment. I had done everything right - gone to college on a full scholarship, worked hard, saved - and yet when push came to shove, that was nothing compared to the cost of being sick in our country. And thank G-d my chemotherapy worked and I was able to work (thanks to overly generous employers since I had no legal protection) throughout treatment! There were no social safety nets for me, and that firmed my resolve that no one should be in that or a worse position simply because they get sick, or maybe because they're less intelligent or had less luck than me.
Interesting. What year were you diagnosed? What insurance did you choose to buy and hold when you were diagnosed?
Your treatment worked and you were able to stay employed during the process. How did you know your specific chemo treatment was inferior and less effective than those in the other countries?
Did you have an option for your job for short term disability? Did your employer provide it? Could it have been a rider on your insurance policy?
Certainly not the case with me or most of the other people in my age cohort who identify as socialist. I've been on my own since I was 18 and was even helping support my parents from afar before my cancer diagnosis. I went through stage IV cancer alone. Every major life milestone has been done by my own hand.
And that's why I'm liberal. I recognize that I'm of above average intelligence, had above average luck, and was blessed with the foresight of planning. Had any one of those elements not been in place, my experience with life threatening illness would have been far worse - and as it was, I flirted with homelessness. How can people in the United State of America fear homelessness because of illness? How can so many of us be just a paycheck away from losing everything? And all of this happening while our wealthiest citizens get wealthier? Yes, many of them worked hard to get where they were, but there are plenty of people who work far harder that due to luck of birth, health, intelligence, or simple circumstance will always struggle. Those people are no less deserving of healthcare, education, and security in the richest country in the world than the wealthy.
What makes someone deserving of some good or service that others have to provide?
We've had this discussion here many times -- half the people can't agree on what socialism is.
There are people of all ages that do like to have social programs funded with their tax dollars. Some don't even benefit from those programs. But saying they want 'socialism' is kind of misleading.
Canada has more social programs than the USA but it isn't socialism and there hasn't been a slow progression to full on socialist country. Having lived in both countries, day to day -- not much difference.
I think it is a healthy discussion of what we think our tax money should be used for. A few social programs do not make a country socialist. It just doesn't.
1.) Spending portions of my life living in more socialist countries then America. Realizing the quality of life in America is rather poor in contrast to many other countries around the world.
2.) Studying philosophy, history and economics
3.) Witnessing the devastating effects capitalism has had on American culture and society
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