Its unlikely especially with the big-business administration currently running the country that the United States will ever make a complete switch to socialism. However, socialism is the closest thing, realistically, to a Utopian society.
A workingdefinition of socialism is a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. Many people hate socialism because they think its the same thing as Communism, but its not.
Asimple and funny explanation helps clear upthe differences between communism, capitalism and socialism. Communism is where you have one cow and the government takes it and sells you some milk. Capitalism is where you have two cows and you sell one to buy a bull. Socialism is where theres a cow farm that everyone goes to and you get as much milk as you need.
China, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, New Zealand and Belgium are all socialist countries. In these countries, unemployment and homeless rates are very lowand college graduate rates are very high. America runs on capitalism and is in permanent debt to China. In America, small businesses struggle because you apparently must spend money to make money and competition with big business usually edges them out. But in places like Sweden, small businesses are the foundation of their economy and are extremely successful. Since everyone has what they need in socialist societies, class systems begin to fade. In this sense, Its the opposite of Capitalism. Capitalism thins out the middle class, making everyone either rich or poor. Socialism increases the middle class, because noone company can monopolize all the money and resources. The biggest problem with socialism, that Im aware of, is that it gives government more control, but is it necessarily a bad thing for a people to need its government?
People who hate taxes usually say its because theyview taxationas stealing. Really, taxation ishow the government pays for things we need, like hospitals, schools, police officers, firemen and the military. In Canada, teachers can make up to a hundred thousand dollars a year, once they hit tenure. Most teachers in America make thirty thousand dollars a year, and rarely make more thanfifty thousand. The average police officer in America makes fifty-five thousand dollars a year, while theymake seventy thousand in Canada.
In a socialist society, everyone can afford education and health care. In America, people who dont know better tend tohate universalhealth coverage like Obamacare. That is, until they need it. Having to pay a little more every paycheck so that poor people can have health coverage might sound unfair, until youre the one in need of an expensive surgery youd have no way to pay for if it werent for taxes.
Its not fair that my hard-earned money allows lazy homeless people to remain jobless, critics decry. Why should I have to pay for other peoples medical problems and poor work ethics? Newsflash, this systembenefits you as well. You would get just as many advantages as everyone else.
Per the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, everyone on the planet has a right to the things they need to survive, like food, a home or the ability to be seen by a doctor if they break their arm. If a little bit more of my paycheck has to go toward paying for a roof to go over a struggling families head, then Im happy with that. Allowing for other people to have a home wont take mine away from me. I would rather share my cow and get all the milk I need than watch my neighbors starve because they dont have a cow at all.
a.patience@dailyutahchronicle.com
Original post:
The Case for Socialism in the US - Daily Utah Chronicle