Were JFK, LBJ, and Nixon (who with Milton Friedman proposed a negative income tax for the poor)? It is the collective production and provision of a society to meet its own economic needs. These highways were funded almost entirely with public funds. Zero government control. Post office at Alamo, May 1972. Which seems more socialist in such case Lincolns, Reagans and Sanderss labor republican capitalism, which actually produces outputs from inputs, or Mr. Trumps state-funded oligarchical feudalism, which simply brands already existing entities that earn money by luring working people into gambling casinos and overpriced low-quality hotel accommodations? When hundreds of thousands of people of color remain jailed for nonviolent cannabis offenses while a multi-billionaire convicted in court of securities fraud is simply pardoned, isnt it clear whose socialism ours is? To understand what is meant by socialism and its contrast term individualism, then, you must first clarify which dimension or phase ofasocietys process of production you have in mind. He is best known for his book Enemies Within: Communists, Socialists and Progressives in the U.S. Congress and his similarly themed documentary film Enemies Within.. President Dwight Eisenhower built the U.S. superhighway system in the 1950s and the government seized lots of private land to do it. One question is to what degree all of these sub-questions themselves should be decided by all of us, democratically as one nation, and to what degree they should be consigned or delegated to what social scientists call private ordering. Another question is whether the answer to that question itself might differ from industry to industry maybe more national deciding and supervising for strategic or defense industries, for example, with more private deciding for most consumer goods? Thats about as big a collective as you can imagine it is maximally social and not at all individual and so we can say that where matters political are concerned democracy is itself socialist. The opposite, individualist extreme where only one person decides for all on political matters is what we call monarchy from the Latin mono, or one and the slightly less extreme case is oligarch, where but a few decide for all. Why Joan Robinson Blamed Unions for Inflation While Milton Friedman Did Not. Last week, the Left hit Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney with the supposedly shaming accusation that he wants to cut funding for these state and local functions. But still not consistent with the concept of the means of production., Are the Police socialist? Every day the staff of Intellectual Takeout come to work eager to do their part to restore and improve our great nation. Already on our list? Those fares pay for maintenance, but your taxes are supposed to do that since the system technically belongs to the entire city. Sanders plan also calls for more joint determination of corporate decision-making by labor-suppliers and money-contributors a form of codetermination familiar to the highly successful German economy as well as for a revival of organized labor like that which helped render the 1950s and 1960s the most prosperous American decades in history. Bail out shortfalls in state and local treasuries is not a core function of the federal government. To avoid national bankruptcy and the mass destitution of the elderly and middle classes that will inevitably follow, these corrupt schemes must be phased out, beginning as soon as possible. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. There is a postage fee. Much of the United States is already socialistalmost all of the bad parts, for example. Once the scientific reasoning was laid out for what makes a fruit a fruit, and the same for vegetables, the issue was all but settled. Language. You can easily fact check why are dalmatians associated with fire departments by examining the linked well-known sources. "No Bernie, the Police and Fire Departments Are Not Socialism"; A Primer on Socialism VS. A Free Society The Epoch Times "In their incessant propaganda war to move the United States leftwards, leftists often claim that this country already is partly socialist. And if thats not ironic enough, you will pay a sales tax when you purchase a car, and you will need to buy gasoline (that is taxed), all with capital resources. If roads are socialist, then they do a great job enabling Capitalism/Free Enterprise to function. Socialist Programs like Medicaid, welfare, social security, can and do exist in capitalist countries. Every modern country has roads, public schools and police officers, that doesn't make them inherently socialist. No. So they are capitalist entities brought into being by socialist means. KANSAS CITY, Mo. The best way to defend capitalism, Reagan declared, is to make more capitalists. Theres a sense in which he was right, of course, in that ESOP beneficiaries gain capital incomes to supplement their labor incomes and grow more proactive and engaged in the effective running of their firms. Its because these bureaucracies provide terrible service and concentrate huge amounts of money in governmental hands. Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Canada, Australia, pretty much all of Western Europe, etc. Should ownership and control be, in other words, more individualized, more socialized, or something in between like corporate ownership, which socializes the ownership of corporate assets over however many shareholders there are? At one campaign stop last year, he endorsed the thinking behind the most simplistic of these memes: When you go to your public library, when you call your fire department or the police department, what do you think youre calling? But what sorts of things are we describing when using the S word? You pay a water bill based on your use. For too long now, fire departments across the United States have been socialist organizations, resulting in taxes on the American people. For inputs and processes are as constitutive of our productive arrangements as outputs are, and in a way they are far more important because they are more determinative than anything else in determining the distribution of outputs themselves. Not all government action is socialist just because you happen to enjoy or benefit from it. The question virtually answers itself. Senator Sanderss Corporate Accountability and Democracy Plan, on which full disclosure this author assisted, does likewise. In todays United States, there are a plethora of government agencies handing out all sorts of benefits to almost anyone who asks. For one thing, the rich and powerful invest heavily in political activity to promote their interests and block progressive reforms. Why not just name and discuss policies rather than dropping vague ism names? Certainly FDRs Republican opponents called it that. By the end of last year, the contributions of just 158 families and the companies they own (a staggering $176 million) made up about half the total funding in the 2016 presidential race. Preserving business confidence is a major constraint on the formation of policy, and is one of the main reasons why government action is so often favorable to capitalist interests. The states are the repository of police powers. The middle and upper classes also hold the most important posts in government, elected and appointed alike. A week later, three lions encountered the group and chased the men off. If the level of economic activity declines perhaps , because capitalists are unhappy about new legislation that benefits workers the state will find it increasingly difficult to fund its activities. If you spend much time on social media, youve probably seen the memes purporting to show just how socialist the United States already is by listing a bunch of government programs, services, and agencies. For if some people disproportionately benefit relative to others under productive arrangements that are primarily socially or publicly determined as are ours by our publicly promulgated and enforced property law, contract law, employment law, business law, tax law, banking law, etc. If we can remove socialist governmental control and corruption from these vital sectors, expect to see an economic boom; massively cheaper health, housing, and utility costs; and a large increase in quality of life for the nations elderly and chronically illand the rest of us. If its the latter, then is it about ownership? Only a united public effort can adequately defend a whole nation or territory from invasion or defeat a dangerous enemy abroad. Interestingly, now that Yangs out of contention for President this year, there are no outright Resource Socialists running for President. Please check to see if you are reading a blog, opinion column, or academically viable information before disputing this fact. A case in point can be found at Big Think, a publication whose videos and short articles I often enjoy. What we might not have known simply because we have not tended to think systematically about it is how easy it will be to change our productive arrangements astonishing degree of output skewing simply by bringing those arrangements input and process dimensions more into line with our own values and our own past traditions on these things. Not so. The government owns the land, the facility, all the books inside, and cuts the paychecks to the people working there. Its like saying rocks are big., Let us begin to disaggregate, then, by starting at the front end of the production process with inputs. No. (Well soon get to why thats mistaken.) And as it happens, different questions that implicate our moral and political values come up in connection with each. Virtually all public pension and health schemes get repeatedly lootedto the detriment of those who rely on them most. All we would have to do is elect sympathetic politicians to office and let them legislate their way to even more socialism. Again, then, it seems that where matters political are concerned, we are all of us socialist, be we republic-name-checking Republicans or democracy-name-checking Democrats. Control? Only under these conditions would government activity be synonymous with democratic socialism. Socialism means that the means of production are owned by the workers. Some combination of such things? Lets start by observing two readily confirmed facts. By the end of last year, the contributions of just 158 families and the companies they own (a staggering $176 million) made up about half the total funding in the 2016 presidential race. Its possible the Facebook comment was written by some poor unpaid intern who has not yet taken a political theory class. Key questions about that state activity always need to be asked: does it reinforce or undermine the power of those who own capital? The police and justice systems are essentially organized force. Indeed each one has. The cooperative government has control over the economy. Not all countries are socialist. In any true form of deterministic socialism, the government is always the one signing,as well as cashing your paycheck, eventually eliminating the need for a paycheck altogether. The Obama administration has been very clear about keeping the status quo when it comes to taxpayer-funded fire departments. Socialism is about redistribution of wealth. The White House?). Why, our fire and police departments. Fire departments could be considered a socialist program if the government was only made up of, and meant to represent, the proletariat MozeoSLT 4 yr. ago As are the police, yes. Then Youll Love Socialism! isnt a slogan that will win many converts. In classical socialism, there are two major forms: State Socialism = Marxist/Leninist socialism where an oligarchic state has the final say in economic affairs. Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Canada, Australia, pretty much all of Western Europe, etc. Trump, who passes himself off as a corporate whizz, has not in fact worked within multiple-shareholder-controlled corporations, and has only once issued shares publicly in a Trump family enterprise. Sign up for ourDaily Digestemail newsletter to receive intellectually engaging content and updates from our organization straight to your inbox. There should be a huge range of options including church schools, cooperative schools, home schooling, apprenticeship training, and trade schools, plus privately run professional training institutions and universities. under our present form of socialism? The DSA is a political movement with adherents in both the current U.S. Congress and fourteen state legislatures. Some of the institutions socialists claim as examples of socialism are anything but. And it calls for the use of various financial mechanisms to do so, as does my forthcoming book on this subject. Only a united public effort can adequately defend a whole nation or territory from invasion or defeat a dangerous enemy abroad. If a politician does it, he gets reelected. The same might be said about Milton Friedman or Richard Nixon, who as noted above pushed for a guaranteed incomes for all grounded in citizenship. Well have you ever heard of this little thing called the fire department? Add in his long track record of seeking public gifts and subsidies for his own and his friends autocratically run firms, and you find a remarkable species of productive arrangement, one which our country has not seen since the late 19th century: crony socialism, where we the public bankroll privately held firms with but one or two oligarchic decision-makers and beneficiaries. In order to withstand the inevitable backlash from capitalist and conservative forces, a socialist transition would need to draw on mass popular support and direct participation in the affairs of government. 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