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Here's a good definition of socialism from the American Heritage Dictionary:
socialism
An economic system in which the production and distribution of goods are controlled substantially by the government rather than by private enterprise, and in which cooperation rather than competition guides economic activity. There are many varieties of socialism. Some socialists tolerate capitalism, as long as the government maintains the dominant influence over the economy; others insist on an abolition of private enterprise. All communists are socialists, but not all socialists are communists.
Lesson: None of the countries listed in the poll are socialist countries. As others have said, they may have some social programs where wealth is shared among its citizens, but by no means is it accurate to say that any of their economies are predominantly socialist. Every one of the them has a capitalist economy.
The fallacies and contradictions in the economic theories of socialism were exposed and refuted time and time again, in the Nineteenth Century as well as today. This did not and does not stop anyone: it is not an issue of economics, but of morality.
The intellectuals and the so-called idealists were determined to make socialism work. How? By that magic means of all irrationalists: somehow. Ayn Rand
“Each activity and each need of the individual will thereby be regulated by the party as the representative of the general good. There will be no license, no free space, in which the individual belongs to himself.
This is Socialism—not such trifles as the private possession of the means of production. Of what importance is that if I range men firmly within a discipline they cannot escape? Let them then own land or factories as much as they please. The decisive factor is that the State, through the party, is supreme over them, regardless whether they are owners or workers. All that, you see, is unessential. Our Socialism goes far deeper . . . .
“The people about us are unaware of what is really happening to them. They gaze fascinated at one or two familiar superficialities, such as possessions and income and rank and other outworn conceptions. As long as these are kept intact, they are quite satisfied.
But in the meantime they have entered a new relation; a powerful social force has caught them up. They themselves are changed. What are ownership and income to that? Why need we trouble to socialize banks and factories? We socialize human beings.”
This is from a famous Socialist. We all know of him.
"I am not dogmatic in favor of the state, and I am not dogmatic in favor of the market. I think when we have dogmas, they have hidden special interests, and they have hidden, very often, very, very strong interests, whether it be the state in the Soviet Union or whether it was Wall Street in the United States and the financial system.
What we need—what we need is these—the market and the state to democratically work for us, put them to work for people. And that, I think, is what we need to do."
So there you have it, straight from the horse's mouth, the head of the Socialist international party believes in the private sector along with the government working together to serve the general public.
What that means is that Papandreou, like Zapatero and most other nominally socialist leaders, has evolved from socialist to social-democrat. The number of socialists in the true, old-fashioned sense of the world is negligible.
The word "Socialist" is thrown around constantly now, and most of the time it's used inaccurately (in my opinion).
What is your definition of a Socialist country, and why is Socialism either good or bad?
Socialism = gov sector X taxation ...
The bigger
the gov sector ( = socialised healthcare + education + bureaucracy)
&
the overall taxation are ,
the more socialistic a country is...
Socialism is bad because of the confiscation of the income of the people through taxation ,which happens against their will
& the lack of economic freeedom...
The only non socialist country in the world is...USA...
So long as the socialism (social programs) is paid for by a highly progressive income tax, that I am exempt from, I see nothing wrong with it. I would like to see all the "natural monopolies" owned by the government and operated at cost. I would also like to see a return to the income tax rates of the 1940's with a base deductable equal to two to three times the median income.
I will gladly trade your desire for economic freedom to take risks with other people’s money for my income security. That benefits me and others in my economic class. I do not want a lot of income but I do want it nailed down and risk free.
None of these countries are full socialist.
They have socialist policies via the government force and laws.
Programs like welfare, social security, national healthcare are socialist policies in nature.
Also a country that has everyone AGREE to share their income all their income, wealth, assets etc would be full on socialism.
So it really is a question of if you agree to let government spend the money you earn for you. Socialist policies like the government decide what programs will better society or in some cases be better for the few elite in government. For those who watch bad government take over you are left hating socialism and the government policies it breeds. For those who like to live off the work of others, believe everyone should be regulated and money is to moved from people to people they love socialism. They vote for more government, more programs and believe equailty comes from the hand of force, regulation and general stealing of the working to pay for the monster we call washington.
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