Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The notion of a welfare state has had an independent history from that of the economics notion of socialism (that is, state ownership or control of the major sectors of the national economy). The problem is, today, the Repubs conflate these two ideas in a SCARE TACTIC-type attempt to gain traction with conservatives.
There has never been socialism in the United States, and there most likely never will be. Our economy today is a modified (that is, regulated) capitalist economic system, as is the case for all the major national economies in the world today.
In response to the Great Depression of the 1930s, the political establishment of both major parties in America began embracing the European notion of welfare state. That is, we accepted and institutionalized the idea that the state has an interest in preventing major portions of the population (in the case of Social Security, the elderly and disabled) from falling into poverty. Over time, and as the Western economies gained experience at managing their economies and tax policies, and as the science of economics progressed, the United States implemented additional "social welfare" measures such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children and many other programs of social welfare and financial assistance.
The Dems could gain their own traction with the voters if they could remind the people of this deception in the mouths of the Repubs. The Dems could remind the people that no one in either party has set out to abolish, for instance, Social Security (the so-called "third rail" of American politics) since its inception.
Last edited by ParkTwain; 10-28-2008 at 03:35 PM..
You are right. It's like saying a handgun is a machine gun because they are both called guns. The USA and the UK both have socialism and Capitalism. The only difference is that the UK isn't afraid of Socialistic ideas and the USA is. They both practice Socialism but the USA, for some reason, need to sugar coat it before anyone will accept the fact it exists.
The notion of a welfare state has had an independent history from that of the economics notion of socialism (that is, state ownership or control of the major sectors of the national economy). The problem is, today, the Repubs conflate these two ideas in a SCARE TACTIC-type attempt to gain traction with conservatives.
There has never been socialism in the United States, and there most likely never will be. Our economy today is a modified (that is, regulated) capitalist economic system, as is the case for all the major national economies in the world today.
In response to the Great Depression of the 1930s, the political establishment of both major parties in America began embracing the European notion of welfare state. That is, we accepted and institutionalized the idea that the state has an interest in preventing major portions of the population (in the case of Social Security, the elderly and disabled) from falling into poverty. Over time, and as the Western economies gained experience at managing their economies and tax policies, and as the science of economics progressed, the United States implemented additional "social welfare" measures such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children and many other programs of social welfare and financial assistance.
The Dems could gain their own traction with the voters if they could remind the people of this deception in the mouths of the Repubs. The Dems could remind the people that no one in either party has set out to abolish, for instance, Social Security (the so-called "third rail" of American politics) since its inception.
There are a few examples of socialism in today's USA. They came out of the Depression, WW2 and Eisenhower's America. They are TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority), BPA (Bonneville Power Admistration), the Manhattan Engineering District now DOE-NNSA(Dept. of Energy-National Nuclear Security Admin.). and National Defense and Interstate Highway System. These organizations either generate electricity on a huge scale, make nuclear weapons or provide much of our nations transport. All were built and now operated with public money. The American people through their government own these things.
the problem of the new definitions outlined by the far right is that they see any attempt to veer from the current attitude towards labor, as a communist threat.
the reaction was the same to labor in the 1930s. somehow the far right has gone from rugged individualism to john wayne posing to marie antoinette posing. the real issue is labor not socialism.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
